---
kind: "section"
citation: "33 C.F.R. § 26.03"
title: "33"
number: "26.03"
heading: "Radiotelephone required."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/33/26.03"
---

# §26.03. Radiotelephone required.

- (a) Unless an exemption is granted under [§ 26.09](/cfr/33/26.09.md) and except as provided in [paragraph (a)(4)](#a-4) of this section, this part applies to:
  - (1) Every power-driven vessel of 20 meters or over in length while navigating;
  - (2) Every vessel of 100 gross tons and upward carrying one or more passengers for hire while navigating;
  - (3) Every towing vessel of 26 feet or over in length while navigating; and
  - (4) Every dredge and floating plant engaged in or near a channel or fairway in operations likely to restrict or affect navigation of other vessels except for an unmanned or intermittently manned floating plant under the control of a dredge.
- (b) Every vessel, dredge, or floating plant described in [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section must have a radiotelephone on board capable of operation from its navigational bridge, or in the case of a dredge, from its main control station, and capable of transmitting and receiving on the frequency or frequencies within the 156-162 megahertz (MHz) band using the classes of emissions designated by the Federal Communications Commission for the exchange of navigational information.
- (c) The radiotelephone required by [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section must be carried on board the described vessels, dredges, and floating plants upon the navigable waters of the United States.
- (d) The radiotelephone required by [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section must be capable of transmitting and receiving on VHF FM channel 22A (157.1 MHz).
- (e) While transiting any of the following waters, each vessel described in [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section also must have on board a radiotelephone capable of transmitting and receiving on VHF FM channel 67 (156.375 MHz):
  - (1) The lower Mississippi River from the territorial sea boundary, and within either the Southwest Pass safety fairway or the South Pass safety fairway specified in [33 CFR 166.200](/cfr/33/166.200.md), to mile 242.4 AHP (Above Head of Passes) near Baton Rouge;
  - (2) The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet from the territorial sea boundary, and within the Mississippi River-Gulf outlet Safety Fairway specified in [33 CFR 166.200](/cfr/33/166.200.md), to that channel's junction with the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal; and
  - (3) The full length of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal from its junction with the Mississippi River to that canal's entry to Lake Pontchartrain at the New Seabrook vehicular bridge.
- (f) In addition to the radiotelephone required by [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section, each vessel described in [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section while transiting any waters within a Vessel Traffic Service Area, must have on board a radiotelephone capable of transmitting and receiving on the VTS designated frequency in Table 161.12(c) (VTS and VMRS Centers, Call Signs/MMSI, Designated Frequencies, and Monitoring Areas).

## Notes

### Amendments

[CGD 91-046, 57 FR 14485, Apr. 21, 1992; 57 FR 21740, May 22, 1992, as amended by CGD 90-020, 59 FR 36322, July 15, 1994; CGD 95-033, 60 FR 28328, May 31, 1995; CGD 92-052, 61 FR 45325, Aug. 29, 1996; CGD-1999-6141, 64 FR 69635, Dec. 14, 1999; USCG-2003-14757, 68 FR 39364, July 1, 2003; USCG-2024-1103, 90 FR 52876, Nov. 24, 2025]

### Authority

Authority: 14 U.S.C. 102, 33 U.S.C. 1201-1208; Pub. L. 107-295, 116 Stat. 2064; DHS Delegation No. 00170.1, Revision No. 01.4. Rule 1, International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea.

### Source

Source: CGD 71-114R, 37 FR 12720, June 28, 1972, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[CGD 91-046, 57 FR 14485, Apr. 21, 1992; 57 FR 21740, May 22, 1992, as amended by CGD 90-020, 59 FR 36322, July 15, 1994; CGD 95-033, 60 FR 28328, May 31, 1995; CGD 92-052, 61 FR 45325, Aug. 29, 1996; CGD-1999-6141, 64 FR 69635, Dec. 14, 1999; USCG-2003-14757, 68 FR 39364, July 1, 2003; USCG-2024-1103, 90 FR 52876, Nov. 24, 2025]