At sea, radio transmission of information must be clear and understandable to speakers of any language. And if this is not so critical for communication with a marina when booking a berth, then in an extreme situation on the open water it can play a decisive role in a rescue operation or to prevent a collision of vessels.
To achieve this, code words assigned to each letter of the alphabet are used for the most important data during voice transmission, which helps to avoid confusion or misinterpretation of information, for example, in the case of radio signal distortion and strong interference.
For example, NOAA-123 would be November-Oscar-Alfa-Alfa-123.
This phonetic alphabet has many names: the nautical alphabet, the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), the international aviation alphabet and even the meteorological alphabet. In fact, the code words were approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in the 50s and subsequently adopted as a standard by all departments, including the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The familiar ICAO alphabet is slightly modified in the standard for data transmission through automatic ATIS terminals. In particular, the code word Alfa has the English spelling Alpha, and in the word Juliett the second letter “t” disappears at the end: Juliet.
However, such variations may slightly alter perception and pronunciation. For example, for French-speaking people, the absence of the second consonant in the ending may mean that the remaining letter is not pronounced. In this regard, the ICAO phonetic alphabet is firmly entrenched in voice transmission, and when implementing radio communications in the international format, only it is used, since it is equally well perceived by a native speaker of any language.
| Symbol | Codeword |
| A | Alfa |
| B | Bravo |
| C | Charlie |
| D | Delta |
| E | Echo |
| F | Foxtrot |
| G | Golf |
| H | Hotel |
| I | India |
| J | Juliett |
| K | Kilo |
| L | Lima |
| M | Mike |
| N | November |
| O | Oscar |
| P | Papa |
| Q | Quebec |
| R | Romeo |
| S | Sierra |
| T | Tango |
| U | Uniform |
| V | Victor |
| W | Whiskey |
| X | X-ray |
| Y | Yankee |
| Z | Zulu |
| – (dash) | Dash |
Do not forget about the basic rules of radio exchange:
- Make sure the selected channel is free.
- Follow radio call protocol.
- Speak in a calm and clear voice.
- After pressing the transmit button, do not speak immediately, but wait a second, otherwise the interlocutor will not hear the beginning of the sentence.