If you think you may want to make a link call, you must first make arrangements with a Maritime Radio Accounting Authority (MRAA). There are several MRAAs in the UK. The Ship Radio Licence Guidance Notes (available from Ofcom) includes a list, but they are independent businesses whose terms and conditions vary: do not be surprised if they quote a fairly substantial deposit, or an annual subscription, as well as a surcharge on each bill.


Having signed up with an MRAA whose terms suit you best, their details, including a four character identity code known as the AAIC (Accounting Authority Identity Code), should be entered in the relevant space on your Ship Radio Licence application.


When you make a link call, the coast station that receives it will pass on the bill to your MRAA. Each MRAA pays all the bills it receives, but of course it also takes care to collate the all the bills relating to each vessel, and pass them on accordingly.


Link calls — Operating procedures


Some coast radio stations accept incoming calls on Channel 16, but in general, they should be called on one of their working channels, listed in the Admiralty List of Radio Stations, Admiralty Maritime Communications, or yachtsmen’s almanacs.


Before transmitting, however, it is important to listen to the channel, to make sure you do not interrupt someone else’s call. You may hear:-


an operator at the coast radio station, talking to another vessel;


one end of a telephone conversation;


various “telephone noises” such as clicks, squeaks, dialling or ringing tones;


a series of regular beeps;


or silence.


 


Only if you hear silence can you go ahead with your call, using exactly the same procedure as if you were calling any other kind of coast radio station:-

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