These are not just some random flags, squares, dots and dashes.. I said H E L L O using the International Code of Signals ..
Huh…… ! ! !
What are International Code of Signals and why is it important..??
From the time that languages came into being, public treasury date there is no ONE coarse language around the global that is understood by all..
Every area, region has its own language which brings along with it communication barriers..
These communication barriers affect the nautical industry ampere good, as there are seafarers of different nationalities involved in the trade.. Different nationalities obviously means different languages and there could be these lyric barriers when communicating between ships..
majority of the seafarers come from countries like Philippines, Indonesia, China, Russia, Turkey, India, USA, Japan, Korea, Canada and Malaysia.. Most of these countries are Non-Native english talk countries so one can imagine the break in communication between ships..
The International Code of Signals ( ICS ) was created to overcome these language barriers and allow ships to communicate with each other particularly in situations relating to condom of seafaring and people..
The International Code of Signals is an external system of signals and codes used by ships to communicate shortstop but authoritative message between themselves..
The International Code of Signals achieved this by first creating a standardize alphabet and number scheme through the manipulation of flags and phonetics.. The Phonetics were used in orderliness to avoid like sounding alphabets such as D, T, B, P etc..
The 26 english Alphabets were allocated a phonetic code as below :
A lfa, B ravo, C harlie, D elta, E cho, F oxtrot, G olf, H otel, I ndia, J uliett, K international labor organization, L ima, M eisenhower, N ovember, O scratch, P apa, Q uebec, R omeo, S ierra, T ango, U niform, V ictor, W hiskey, X -ray, Y ankee, Z ulu..
These standardised set of signals are communicated using a assortment of methods such as Flag Semaphore, Flag Hoist, Radio Telegraphy and Radio Telephony..
Semaphore
The Semaphore sign system is a system based on the put of a couple of hand-held flags in a particular pre-set pattern..
One flag is held in each hand in respective positions representing each of the letters of the alphabet.. The form is divided into eight positions : up, down, out, high, low, for each of the leftover and right hands..
The flag used is normally a loss and yellow square divided diagonally..
The alphabets are represented as below..
If you look closely, the semaphore flag signals follow a round path with the first r-2 dwell 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 leave arm makes the movements..
similarly in the remaining circles ( works out to about 7 circles in entire ), the right arm is stationary while the leftover weapon moves.. The arms are keep directly 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 case you are on board a ship but your communication equipment is defective and you have engine problems that makes maneuvering difficult..
If you need aid from a nearby embark or you wish to notify the nearby embark about your trouble, 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 early ship “ I am disabled; communicate with me. ”
here is the broad list of flag hoists, what they mean when used individually and the phonetic alphabets attached to these flags..
Read more: How Maritime Law Works
These flag hoists may besides work in combinations to convey some authoritative messages such as “ I need a Doctor ” which is conveyed with the hoist of A for Alfa and N for November (AN) flags together..
All seafarers go through train in the International Code of Signals and regardless of language used or the terminology that they have been taught in, the flags mean the lapp and all seafarers are able to decipher what is being communicated..
Radiotelegraphy
Radiotelegraphy is another think of of communication between ships.. Radiotelegraphy uses radio communication by means of Morse Code or other coded signals..
now what is morse code you may ask..
Morse code was a arrangement of transmitting alphabets, numbers and punctuation marks using an agreement of dots, dashes and spaces.. Morse code was transmitted as electric pulses, mechanical or ocular 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 department of transportation was the basic unit for the measurement of prison term in the infection of morse code.. A hyphen aim three times the duration of a dot to transmit.. Letters in a parole had outer space adequate to three dots whereas words were separated by distance peer to seven dots..
evening now in some cases where there are emergencies, the standard emergency bespeak SOS is transmitted using Morse code..
SOS is represented by three dots, three dashes and three dots like .. . – – –. . .
Below is the International Morse Code list..
here is a video recording of the English Alphabets expressed in Morse Code..
Radiotelegraphy uses a narrow frequency bandwidth and this allows for communicating without any interference or make noise like with radio telephone which involves manner of speaking over radio..
Because of this advantage and besides the fact that morse code besides possibly transmitted using flashing lights like the Aldis Lamp shown in the visualize, radiotelegraph is used in certain types of marine ship-to-shore communication ( such as emergency calls ), for upwind and sea submit bulletins by home nautical services, for point-to-point communication between fixed points, and for diverse extra 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 interest stories to share.. possibly something for “ A day in the life of……. ”
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