Not every problem at sea is a MAYDAY. PAN-PAN asks for help when nobody is in immediate danger, and SÉCURITÉ warns other vessels of a hazard. Choose the right word and the right stations listen, with the right priority.
What is the difference between MAYDAY, PAN-PAN and SÉCURITÉ?
MAYDAY is for grave and imminent danger to a vessel or a life; PAN-PAN when you need help urgently but nobody is in that danger yet; SÉCURITÉ when you need nothing yourself and only warn others.
The test is grave and imminent danger to the vessel or to a person. If it is there, the call is MAYDAY. If you need help urgently but nobody is in that danger yet, it is PAN-PAN, the urgency signal. If you need nothing yourself and only want to warn others, it is SÉCURITÉ, the safety signal.
| Call | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| MAYDAY | Grave and imminent danger to the vessel or a life | Fire out of control; a guest who cannot breathe |
| PAN-PAN | Urgent, but no such danger yet | Engine dead, drifting offshore; dismasted with a sound hull; a broken arm |
| SÉCURITÉ | A warning for others | A container or a log adrift in the fairway |
Judge the people as well as the boat: a sound yacht with a guest whose throat is swelling shut is in distress.
How do I make a PAN-PAN call on the VHF?
On channel 16 say PAN-PAN three times, ALL STATIONS (or the one station you want) three times, THIS IS and your name three times; then your position, what is wrong, the help you need, and OVER.
Make the call on channel 16. Say PAN-PAN three times, then the station you are calling three times, then THIS IS and your own name three times. ALL STATIONS reaches everyone in range. If only one station needs to hear you, name it instead: PAN-PAN three times, then Olympia Radio three times.
After the opening comes the message, in the order a rescuer needs it: your position, what is wrong, what help you want. Then OVER, and listen.
PAN-PAN ×3 · who you call ×3 · THIS IS · your name ×3 · position · problem · help needed · OVER
When should I cancel a PAN-PAN, and when upgrade it to MAYDAY?
Upgrade to MAYDAY the moment the danger becomes grave and imminent. If the problem goes away, say the engine starts again, cancel the PAN-PAN by telling all stations you need no help, so nobody keeps looking for you.
Once a coast station has your call, stay reachable: keep a listening watch on 16, or on the channel it gave you, until help arrives. If the problem goes away, say the engine starts again, cancel the PAN-PAN: tell all stations you need no help, so that nobody keeps looking for you.
If things get worse, do not wait. The moment the danger becomes grave and imminent, upgrade to MAYDAY.
Nothing stops the drift: the danger is now grave and imminent, so the PAN-PAN becomes a MAYDAY.
How do I get a doctor's advice over the VHF?
Make a PAN-PAN asking for medical advice on 16; the coast station moves you to a working channel and puts you through to a doctor. Have the patient's age, symptoms and the first aid given ready.
An injury or illness that needs a doctor's view, but does not threaten life right now, is a PAN-PAN asking for medical advice. The coast station acknowledges on 16 and usually asks you to change to a working channel. Change, and carry on there: long urgency traffic moves off 16 to keep it free. The station then puts you through to a doctor.
| The doctor needs | For example |
|---|---|
| The patient | Age |
| Symptoms | Conscious? Breathing normally? Where is the pain? |
| First aid given | What you have done and any medicine given |
A patient who is getting worse by the minute or struggling to breathe is a life in grave and imminent danger: that is MAYDAY.
How do I warn other boats on the VHF about a container adrift?
Announce it on 16: SÉCURITÉ three times, ALL STATIONS, your name, what the warning is about and which working channel to listen on. Then give the warning itself on that working channel.
SÉCURITÉ introduces a navigational or weather warning. Coast stations use it for gale warnings and dangers to navigation. Any station may send one, your yacht included: for a drifting container, a mooring buoy adrift in a harbour approach, an unlit mark.
Channel 16 carries only the announcement: what the warning is about and which working channel to listen on. The message itself goes out on that working channel. When a coast station announces a gale warning on 16 and names a channel, switch to that channel and listen.
What do I do if a PAN-PAN breaks in while I am sending a SÉCURITÉ?
Stop, listen and note it: calls rank in a fixed priority, distress, urgency, safety, routine, and the higher one takes the channel. Finish your SÉCURITÉ later, when 16 is clear.
Calls rank in a fixed order, and the higher one takes the channel. If a PAN-PAN breaks in while you are giving a SÉCURITÉ, stop, listen and note it, and finish your message later, when 16 is clear.
| Rank | Signal | Other stations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Distress | MAYDAY | Keep off the channel unless they are helping |
| 2 Urgency | PAN-PAN | Give way and listen: they may be able to help |
| 3 Safety | SÉCURITÉ | Listen; routine calls wait until it ends |
| 4 Routine | none | Wait their turn |
Safety traffic comes before routine calls but imposes no radio silence. If a coast station is reading a SÉCURITÉ when you want to call a friend, wait until it ends, then make your call.
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
You need help, but nobody aboard is in danger yet. Which call do you make on channel 16?
A. PAN-PAN
Urgent help needed but no grave and imminent danger: PAN-PAN.
Your problem has gone away on its own. What do you do about your earlier call?
A. Cancel the PAN-PAN: tell all stations you need no help
Cancel an urgency call once the urgency is over, so nobody keeps looking for you.
Things have changed since your urgency call went out. What do you do on the radio now?
B. Upgrade to MAYDAY — the danger is now grave
When the danger becomes grave and imminent, the urgency call is upgraded to MAYDAY.
Your crew member needs a doctor's view on what to do next. Which call do you make?
C. PAN-PAN, asking for medical advice
Medical help needed but no immediate threat to life: PAN-PAN with medical advice requested.
You pass this hazard in a busy channel. Which call warns the other vessels about it?
B. SÉCURITÉ
A danger to navigation is a safety message: SÉCURITÉ.
Halfway through your own message, someone else breaks in on channel 16. What do you do?
C. Stop, listen, and finish later if 16 is clear
Urgency outranks safety: give way to the PAN-PAN, note it, and resume afterwards.
All 20 questions of this topic are in the app: practice by topic with the reason after every answer, your mistakes brought back, and a timed mock exam. Free, no sign-up, in the browser or in Telegram.