HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 2/6
adopted 17 February 1981, having regard to Article 13, Paragraph b) of the Helsinki Convention
RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING RADIO COMMUNICATIONS IN JOINT COMBATTING OPERATIONS
THE COMMISSION,
RECALLING the provisions of Regulation 8 of Annex VI to the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1974 (Helsinki Convention), concerning assistance to a Contracting Party by other Contracting Parties called upon,
TAKING into consideration that assistance can be rendered in the form of strike teams consisting of one or more ships,
BEING AWARE of the need for radio communication in joint combatting operations at sea,
NOTING that in order to avoid disturbance and traffic jamming in a joint combatting operation, there is a strong need for different radio communication frequencies on one hand between the Operational Control ashore and the Supreme On-Scene Commander/Coordinator (SOSC) and on the other hand, between the SOSC and the participating National On-Scene Commanders/Coordinators (NOSC) as well as between the different NOSCs and their respective strike team units,
RECOMMENDS to the Governments of the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention, in accordance with the attached scheme of radio communications for joint combatting operations, that:
a) consideration should be given to the possibility of using wireless teleprinter or telex (Maritex) for communication between the Operational Control ashore and the SOSC which is the concern of the lead country of a combatting operation;
b) communication between the SOSC and the NOSCs should be performed on one or, if needed, more of the international maritime VHF channels 10, 67, and 73;
c) the vessels from which the SOSC operates should, as a rule, have at least two maritime VHF stations on board with a stand-by function on channel 16;
d) communications between a NOSC and the strike team units should be performed on special domestic (internal) frequencies;
e) the working language, between On-scene Commanders/ Coordinators from different countries, should be English if not otherwise agreed; and
f) the broad aspects of the radio communication problems in joint combatting operations at sea should be presented to the telecommunication authority in each country for information and internal consideration.
