The rules state that the adjustments to the GMDSS Radio Station must be made by the holder of a GMDSS Radio Maintainer's license or someone under their direct supervision.
A record must be kept of all incidents connected with the Radio communications service which appear to be of importance to safety of life at sea. (80.1075) This means we must establish a radio station log.
To establish a Radio Station Log. (47CFR 80.409 (e), (f) There are certain requirements that must be met.
1) Station logs must be established and properly maintained and kept in a orderly manner, this required information must be readily available.
2) Erasures, obliterations or willful destruction within the retention period are prohibited. Corrections may be made only by the person originating the entry by striking out the error, initialing the corrections and indicating the date of correction.
3) Ship station logs must identify the vessel name, country or registry, and official number of the vessel.
4) The station licensee and the radio operator in charge of the station are responsible for the maintenance of the station logs
5) Station logs must be made available to authorized Commission employees upon request and retained as follows:
a) Logs must be retained by the licensee for a period of one year from date of entry; and
b) Log relating to a distress situation or disaster must be retained for three years from date of entry.
c) If the commission has notified the licensee of an investigation, the related logs must be retained until the licensee is specifically authorized in writing to destroy them.
d) Logs relating to any claim or compliant of which the station licensee has notice must be retained until the claim or complaint has been satisfied or barred by statue limiting the time for filing suits upon such claims.
6) Logs containing entries required by item 47CFR 80.409 (e) Ship radiotelephone logs must be kept at the principal operating position while the ship is being navigated. All entries in the original form must be retained on board the vessel for 30 days. Logs concerning inspections must be retained on board the vessel for a period of 2 years from the last inspection of the ship radio station.
Ship Radiotelephone Logs (47CFR 80.409 (e) which are compulsorily equipped for radiotelephone must contain the following log entries and time of their occurrence:
1) A summary of all distress, urgency and safety traffic;
2) A summary of communications on other than VHF frequencies between the ship station and land or mobile stations;
3) A reference to important service incidents;
4) The position of the ship at least once a day;
5) The name of the operator at the beginning and end of the watch period;
6) The time the watch begins when the vessel leaves port, and the time it ends when the ship reaches port;
7) The time the watch is discontinued, including the reason, and the time the watch is resumed;
8) The times when the storage batteries provided as part of the required radiotelephone installation are placed on charge and taken off charge
9) Results of required equipment tests, including specific gravity of the lead-acid storage batteries and voltages readings of other type of batteries provided as part of the compulsory installations;
10) Results of inspections and tests of compulsorily fitted lifeboat radio equipment;
11) A daily statement about the condition of the required radiotelephone equipment, as determined by either normal communications or test communications;
12) When the master is notified about improperly operating radiotelephone equipment.
