---
kind: "section"
citation: "47 C.F.R. § 80.1117"
title: "47"
number: "80.1117"
heading: "Procedure for receipt and acknowledgement of distress alerts."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/47/80.1117"
---

# §80.1117. Procedure for receipt and acknowledgement of distress alerts.

- (a) Normally, distress calls received using digital selective calling are only acknowledged using a DSC acknowledgement by a coast station. Ships should delay any acknowledgement in order to give sufficient time for a coast station to acknowledge the call. In cases where no acknowledgement has been heard and no distress traffic has been heard, the ship should transmit a distress alert relay to the coast station. Upon advice from the Rescue Coordination Center, the ship may transmit a DSC acknowledgement call to stop it from being repeated. Acknowledgement by digital selective calling of receipt of a distress alert in the terrestrial services must comply with ITU-R M.541-9 (incorporated by reference, see [§ 80.7](/cfr/47/80.7.md)).
- (b) Acknowledgement through a satellite of receipt of a distress alert from a ship earth station must be sent immediately (see [§ 80.1119](/cfr/47/80.1119.md)).
- (c) Acknowledgement by radiotelephony of receipt of a distress alert from a ship station or a ship earth station must be given in the following form:
  - (1) The distress signal MAYDAY;
  - (2) The call sign or other identification of the station sending the distress message, spoken three times;
  - (3) The words THIS IS (or DE spoken as DELTA ECHO in case of language difficulties);
  - (4) The call sign or other identification of the station acknowledging receipt, spoken three times;
  - (5) The word RECEIVED (or RRR spoken as ROMEO ROMEO ROMEO in case of language difficulties);
  - (6) **The distress signal MAYDAY.**
- (d) The acknowledgement by direct-printing telegraphy of receipt of a distress alert from a ship station must be given in the following form:
  - (1) The distress signal MAYDAY;
  - (2) The call sign or other identification of the station sending the distress alert;
  - (3) The word DE;
  - (4) The call sign or other identification of the station acknowledging receipt of the distress alert;
  - (5) The signal RRR;
  - (6) **The distress signal MAYDAY.**
- (e) The acknowledgement by direct-printing telegraphy of receipt of a distress alert from a ship earth station must be given by the coast earth station receiving the distress alert by retransmitting the ship station identity of the ship transmitting the distress alert.

## Notes

### Amendments

[57 FR 9065, Mar. 16, 1992, as amended at 68 FR 46980, Aug. 7, 2003; 73 FR 4491, Jan. 25, 2008; 76 FR 67618, Nov. 2, 2011]

### Authority

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151-155, 301-609; 3 U.S.T. 3450, 3 U.S.T. 4726, 12 U.S.T. 2377.

### Source

Source: 51 FR 31213, Sept. 2, 1986, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[57 FR 9065, Mar. 16, 1992, as amended at 68 FR 46980, Aug. 7, 2003; 73 FR 4491, Jan. 25, 2008; 76 FR 67618, Nov. 2, 2011]