On VHF channel 16, at full power: say MAYDAY three times, your vessel's name three times, then your position, the nature of the distress, the number of people aboard and the help you need — then "OVER", and listen. No radio? Call 112 (Europe) and say the same things in the same order.
Then release the transmit button and listen. If no one answers within about a minute, repeat. This is the international structure taught in VHF/SRC courses — the order matters, because rescue centres write it down in that order.
The two calls exist so that the distress channel carries only distress. Choosing the right one is not politeness — it decides how every station that hears you reacts.
Grave and imminent danger to a vessel or a life — sinking, fire, person overboard, serious injury.
Everyone who hears it must stop transmitting and assist if they can. False MAYDAYs are an offence in most countries.
Urgent, but no immediate danger to life — engine failure in a shipping lane, a drifting vessel, a medical issue that isn't critical.
Same structure, "PAN-PAN" three times instead. If nobody's life is at risk and you just need a tow, see Mayday or a tow?
Most small craft — dinghies, jet skis, paddleboards — carry no VHF at all. Call 112 (Europe) or your national emergency number, say you are on the water, and give the same items in the same order: who you are, where you are, what is wrong, how many people. The hardest part under stress is the position — read latitude and longitude straight from a GPS app, don't describe scenery.
Where possible, call the responsible maritime rescue centre directly instead of the general number — it removes a transfer step. Numbers for the Baltic are in our emergency numbers list.
The app keeps this exact script filled in with your vessel's name, MMSI and live position — large type you can read aloud with the mic in one hand. It doesn't replace the radio or the training; it replaces the remembering. See how it works →
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