Operating a marine radio in Australia legally requires a certificate of proficiency, and the Yachtmaster exam requires one too. There are three you will hear about and the choice matters more than it seems, because the wrong one has to be repeated later.
The certificates
- SROCP (Short Range Operator Certificate of Proficiency): marine VHF including Digital Selective Calling (DSC). Enough for the Yachtmaster exam and for any recreational yacht with a VHF. Not enough for AMSA commercial certificates.
- LROCP (Long Range Operator Certificate of Proficiency): VHF plus MF/HF radio, DSC on both, and the GMDSS distress procedures for long-range equipment. Required for AMSA commercial certificates including Sailing Master Offshore, Coxswain Grade 1 and Master under 24 m. Also what you want if you fit an HF radio for ocean passages.
- RYA SRC (Short Range Certificate): the UK equivalent of the SROCP, taught by some RYA centres in Australia. Accepted for the Yachtmaster exam and recognised for the commercial endorsement, but AMSA requires the LROCP for its own certificates.
The practical advice is simple: if there is any chance you will work commercially, sit the LROCP straight away. The extra content is modest (HF frequencies and procedures) and it saves a second course and a second exam later.
How the exams work
Certificates are issued by the Australian Maritime College's Office of Maritime Communications on behalf of the Australian Communications and Media Authority. You study the handbook (or take a one-day course), then sit a written exam with an accredited invigilator; many yacht clubs, volunteer rescue bases and training centres run sessions. The certificates do not expire. No certificate is needed for 27 MHz sets, which are being phased out of use in any case.
What examiners test
A Yachtmaster examiner will not ask you to recite frequencies but will expect fluent radio procedure in scenarios:
- A MAYDAY by DSC alert followed by voice: MAYDAY three times, this is (vessel three times), MAYDAY (vessel), position, nature of distress, assistance required, number of persons, other information, over.
- A PAN PAN for an urgent but not life-threatening situation (an injured crew member, an engine failure near a lee shore).
- A SECURITE for a navigational warning.
- Routine calls to a marina, a port authority (Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne VTS) and a volunteer rescue base to log on and off a passage.
- The role of Channel 16, working channels, and the local rescue and weather channels.
- What an EPIRB does, that it must be registered with AMSA, and how it fits with the radio in a distress situation.
Australian procedure worth knowing
- Volunteer marine rescue organisations (Marine Rescue NSW, Volunteer Marine Rescue and Coast Guard in Queensland and elsewhere) monitor VHF 16 and working channels, take trip reports (log on with your route and ETA, log off on arrival) and broadcast weather. Examiners like to hear you use them.
- Port vessel traffic services in the major ports require yachts to call before entering or crossing the shipping channels.
- AMSA's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra coordinates search and rescue nationally, alerted by DSC, EPIRB or a rescue base relaying your call.
Questions people ask
Does my overseas radio certificate count?
For the RYA exam, any GMDSS-compliant certificate counts. To operate a radio legally on an Australian vessel and for AMSA certificates you need the Australian SROCP or LROCP, or a certificate ACMA recognises as equivalent; check with the Australian Maritime College.
Do I need a radio licence for the boat as well?
Recreational vessels in Australia no longer need a separate ship station licence for VHF, but a DSC-equipped radio must be programmed with an MMSI obtained through AMSA, and an EPIRB must be registered with AMSA.