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NavalSounding the general alarm
An emergency starts on board a commercial fishing vessel. From the operating station you activate the general alarm so that everyone, in every accommodation and work space, hears it and goes to their station. Activating the general alarm and reporting alarm systems that do not work are two of the contingencies every crew drills each month.
Free to startScenarios
- The monthly drill, run on board as if it were a real emergency.
- A work space where background noise makes the alarm hard to hear.
- A vessel that uses a public address system instead of a general alarm.
The steps
- Activate the general alarm with the contact-maker at the operating station.
- Give the signal for the emergency: the fire and emergency signal or the abandon ship signal, as posted in the emergency instructions.
- When the alarm sounds, everyone goes to their station.
- At the stations, see that everyone is properly dressed and has put on a lifejacket or immersion suit, assemble them and direct them to their appointed stations.
- Report any alarm system or fire detection system that does not work.
To pass
- The alarm reaches every accommodation space and every work space where people normally work; where noise makes it hard to hear, a flashing red light is installed too.
- Each alarm bell and flashing red light is marked in red letters at least 1/2 inch (13 mm) high: Attention, General Alarm, When Alarm Sounds Go to Your Station.
- The general alarm is tested before the vessel operates and at least once a week after that, and every alarm and detection system is tested in the monthly drill.
- A public address system can replace it only if it reaches every space, has the red light where it is noisy, is tested the same way and can be activated from the operating station.
- On inspected vessels, the abandon-ship drill starts by summoning everyone to the muster stations with the general alarm, followed by drill announcements on the public address or another communication system.
Official source
U.S. Coast Guard · 46 CFR 28.240, 28.265 and 28.270
46 CFR Part 28: Requirements for Commercial Fishing Industry Vessels (28.265 Emergency instructions, 28.270 Instruction, drills, and safety orientation)
The eCFR publishes 46 CFR Part 28 free: the emergency instructions every commercial fishing vessel posts, its lifesaving equipment and the monthly drills.
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