From 1 January 2017 it is planned that
five of the existing duplex channels, those that
transmit on one frequency and receive on another, will be made into simplex
channels with new channels being allocated. The channels affected were
some of the old Seaphone channels. The repeater channels will not be
changed.
The changes are summarised below.
From 1 January 2017 in Regions 1 and 3 (basically, everywhere apart
from the Americas), channels 78, 19, 79 and 20 will be split into single
frequency channels, as follows:
Using 78 as an example - it has 2 frequencies: 156.925 MHz (ship transmit)
and 161.525 MHz (Coast Station transmit). The ship transmit frequency
becomes new channel 1078 (156.925 MHz) and the Coast transmit frequency
(161.525 MHz) becomes new channel 2078.
So, the new channels will be numbered:
1078 2078 1019 2019 1079 2079 1020 2020
Another change mooted for the VHF radio system is the
VHF data exchange system (VDES). In its simpliest description, it is a shore
to ship data communication system that exchanges navigational and other
information for the safety of vessels at sea.
