Marine VHF Radios and Communications

Marine Communications

Marine VHF

A marine radio is the primary communication and safety device for any activities on water. Any distress transmission broadcast over VHF radio is heard by all radios in range, whereas a cellphone call is an exclusive direct call, and cannot be heard by any vessels in range. From rowboats to ocean cruisers, any boat that shoves off from shore should carry a marine radio. For more on marine radios and why every boater needs one, see the USCG Navigation Center website, in particular, the page MARINE RADIO INFORMATION FOR BOATERS

The following table of marine VHF radio channel frequencies is put together by the USCG, on the USCG Navcenter page U.S. VHF Channels & Freqs

U.S. VHF CHANNELS

Channel Number	Ship Transmit MHz	Ship Receive MHz	Use
01A	156.050	156.050	Port Operations and Commercial, VTS.  Available only in New Orleans / Lower Mississippi area.
05A	156.250	156.250	Port Operations or VTS in the Houston, New Orleans and Seattle areas.
06	156.300	156.300	Intership Safety
07A	156.350	156.350	Commercial
08	156.400	156.400	Commercial (Intership only)
09	156.450	156.450	Boater Calling.  Commercial and Non-Commercial.
10	156.500	156.500	Commercial
11	156.550	156.550	Commercial.  VTS in selected areas.
12	156.600	156.600	Port Operations.  VTS in selected areas.
13	156.650	156.650	Intership Navigation Safety (Bridge-to-bridge).  Ships >20m length maintain a listening watch on this channel in US waters.
14	156.700	156.700	Port Operations.  VTS in selected areas.
15	--	156.750	Environmental (Receive only).  Used by Class C EPIRBs.
16	156.800	156.800	International Distress, Safety and Calling.  Ships required to carry radio, USCG, and most coast stations maintain a listening watch on this channel.
17	156.850	156.850	State Control
18A	156.900	156.900	Commercial
19A	156.950	156.950	Commercial
20	157.000	161.600	Port Operations (duplex)
20A	157.000	157.000	Port Operations
21A	157.050	157.050	U.S. Coast Guard only
22A	157.100	157.100	Coast Guard Liaison and Maritime Safety Information Broadcasts.   Broadcasts announced on channel 16.
23A	157.150	157.150	U.S. Coast Guard only
24	157.200	161.800	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
25	157.250	161.850	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
26	157.300	161.900	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
27	157.350	161.950	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
28	157.400	162.000	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
63A	156.175	156.175	Port Operations and Commercial, VTS.  Available only in New Orleans / Lower Mississippi  area.
65A	156.275	156.275	Port Operations
66A	156.325	156.325	Port Operations
67	156.375	156.375	Commercial.  Used for Bridge-to-bridge communications in lower Mississippi River.  Intership only.
68	156.425	156.425	Non-Commercial
69	156.475	156.475	Non-Commercial
70	156.525	156.525	Digital Selective Calling (voice communications not allowed)
71	156.575	156.575	Non-Commercial
72	156.625	156.625	Non-Commercial (Intership only)
73	156.675	156.675	Port Operations
74	156.725	156.725	Port Operations
77	156.875	156.875	Port Operations (Intership only)
78A	156.925	156.925	Non-Commercial
79A	156.975	156.975	Commercial.  Non-Commercial in Great Lakes only
80A	157.025	157.025	Commercial.  Non-Commercial in Great Lakes only
81A	157.075	157.075	U.S. Government only - Environmental protection operations.
82A	157.125	157.125	U.S. Government only
83A	157.175	157.175	U.S. Coast Guard only
84	157.225	161.825	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
85	157.275	161.875	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
86	157.325	161.925	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
87A	157.375	157.375	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
88A	157.425	157.425	Commercial, Intership only.
AIS 1	161.975	161.975	Automatic Identification System (AIS)
AIS 2	162.025	162.025	Automatic Identification System (AIS)

VHF Maritime Spectrum Chart

NOAA Weather Radio Frequencies

Channel	Frequency (MHz)
WX1	162.550
WX2	162.400
WX3	162.475
WX4	162.425
WX5	162.450
WX6	162.500
WX7	162.525

See the NOAA Weather Radio Homepage for more information.

Additional Information, Frequencies, & Charts

Frequencies are in MHz. Modulation is 16KF3E or 16KG3E.

Note that the letter "A" indicates simplex use of the ship station transmit side of an international duplex channel, and that operations are different than international operations on that channel. Some VHF transceivers are equipped with an "International - U.S." switch for that purpose. "A" channels are generally only used in the United States, and use is normally not recognized or allowed outside the U.S. The letter "B" indicates simplex use of the coast station transmit side of an international duplex channel. The U.S. does not currently use "B" channels for simplex communications in this band.

Boaters should normally use channels listed as Non-Commercial. Channel 16 is used for calling other stations or for distress alerting. Channel 13 should be used to contact a ship when there is danger of collision. All ships of length 20m or greater are required to guard VHF channel 13, in addition to VHF channel 16, when operating within U.S. territorial waters. Users may be fined by the FCC for improper use of these channels.

See the Federal Communications Commission's Marine VHF Radio Channels page. The FCC page does not include frequency information, but has more complete information on the use of the channels. If you notice any discrepancy between these two lists, please notify us at cgcomms@uscg.mil.

Also available are International VHF Maritime Radio Channels and Frequencies, Narrowband VHF Maritime Channels and Frequencies, Radio Information for Boaters , and U.S. Coast Guard VHF Distress and Safety Coverage Charts

Please visit the USCG Navigation Center website for more information directly from the authority in marine band radio usage.