FLAG SIGNALING

The Semaphore flag signaling system is an alphabet signalling system based on the waving of a pair of hand-held flags in a
particular pattern.

IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases (IMO SMCP)

The IMO SMCP includes phrases which have been developed to cover the most important safety-related fields of verbal shore-
to-ship (and vice-versa), ship-to-ship and on-board communications. The aim is to get round the problem of language
barriers at sea and avoid misunderstandings which can cause accidents.

Single-letter signals which are very urgent, important, or common. Two-letter signals for other messages, sometimes
followed with a numerical "complement" which supplements or modifies the message.

The International Code of Signals (ICS) was created to overcome these language
barriers and allow ships to communicate with each other especially in situations relating
to safety of navigation and people..

The International Code of Signals is an international system of signals and codes used by
ships to communicate short but important message between themselves..

The International Code of Signals achieved this by firstly creating a standardised alphabet
and number scheme through the use of flags and phonetics.. The Phonetics were used in
order to avoid similar sounding alphabets such as D, T, B, P etc..

The 26 English Alphabets were allocated a phonetic code as below :

Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, Novem
ber, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee,
Zulu..

These standardised set of signals are communicated using a variety of methods such as
Flag Semaphore, Flag Hoist, Radio Telegraphy and Radio Telephony..

Semaphore
The Semaphore signaling system is a system based on the positioning of a pair of hand-
held flags in a particular pre-set pattern..
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One flag is held in each hand in various positions representing each of the letters of the
alphabet.. The pattern is divided into eight positions: up, down, out, high, low, for each of
the left and right hands..

The flag used is usually a red and yellow square divided diagonally..

The alphabets are represented as below..

If you look closely, the semaphore flag signals follow a circular path with the
first circle consisting of letters A to C made with the right arm, and E to G with the left
arm.. D is shown using either hand.. In the second circle, the right arm is stationary at the
position of letter A and the left arm makes the movements..
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Similarly in the remaining circles (works out to about 7 circles in total), the right arm is
stationary while the left arm moves.. The arms are kept straight when changing from one
position to another..

Flag Hoist
These symbols and signals are most useful in cases where there are nearby ships but there
is a communication failure.. Say for example you are on board a ship but your
communication equipment is faulty and you have engine problems that makes
maneuvering difficult..

If you need assistance from a nearby ship or you wish to notify the nearby ship about your
problem, you could hoist the

“D for Delta” Flag which when raised alone, says “Keep clear of me; I am
maneuvering with difficulty.”

or you could raise the

“F for Foxtrot” Flag to tell the other ship “I am disabled; communicate with
me.”

Here is the full list of flag hoists, what they mean when used individually and the phonetic
alphabets attached to these flags..
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Image from [Link]

international-code-pennants/
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These flag hoists may also work in combinations to convey some important messages such
as “I need a Doctor” which is conveyed with the hoisting of A for Alfa and N for
November (AN) flags together..

All seafarers go through training in the International Code of Signals and irrespective of
language used or the language that they have been taught in, the flags mean the same and
all seafarers are able to decipher what is being communicated..

Radiotelegraphy
Radiotelegraphy is another means of communication between ships.. Radiotelegraphy
uses radio communication by means of Morse Code or other coded signals..

Morse code was a system of transmitting

alphabets, numbers and punctuation marks
using an arrangement of dots, dashes, and
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spaces. Morse code was transmitted as electrical pulses, mechanical or visual signs using a
series of tones, clicks or flashing lights.

If you were skilled in the art of Morse code, you could hear or see the code and decipher
the message without any equipment. Each Morse code symbol represented a letter,
number or punctuation character and character was represented by a unique sequence of
dots and dashes. The duration of the dot was the basic unit for the measurement of time in
the transmission of morse code. A dash takes three times the duration of a dot to transmit.
Letters in a word had space equal to three dots whereas words were separated by space
equal to seven dots. Even now in some cases where there are emergencies, the standard
emergency signal SOS is transmitted using Morse code..

SOS is represented by three dots, three dashes and three dots like ...–––...
Radiotelegraphy uses a narrow
frequency bandwidth and this
allows for communicating without
any interference or noise like with
radio telephony which involves
speech over radio.

Because of this advantage and also

the fact that morse code also maybe transmitted using
flashing lights like the Aldis Lamp shown in the image,
radiotelegraphy is used in certain types of marine
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ship-to-shore communication (such as emergency calls), for weather and sea state
bulletins by national maritime services, for point-to-point communication between fixed
points, and for various special services that do not require high-speed transmission of
information..

Some of the old timers (or even some of the current mariners) may have some interesting
stories to share.. Maybe something for “A day in the life of…….”