[Jimbuna]

Coastguard forced to email BBC for help as ship blocks emergency channel for 12 hours by listening to Radio 4

A Coastguard emergency channel was blocked by a ship that was accidentally playing BBC Radio 4 over it.

A sailor afloat somewhere near the Shetland islands accidently sent the Radio 4 station onto the maritime emergency channel all day.

The incident forced the coastguard in Shetland, one of 300 rescue teams around the UK to email the BBC for help.

It was only flagged up after a shift change where the team leader, nicknamed Laura K realised before changing over.

Speaking to the BBC’s Broadcasting House programme on Sunday, it was part of the Coastguard’s policy that if a radio station can be heard over the channel, the broadcaster can be contacted. They can be asked to broadcast a safety message to get all vessels in the area to check their sets.

The safety message, as broadcast on February 5, said: "This is an important safety-related message on behalf of His Majesty’s Coastguard. This radio message is being transmitted over VHF channel 16 by a vessel with an open mic.

"This is blocking all distress, urgency and safety broadcasts. All vessels in the vicinity of south east Shetland are requested to check their radios and ensure that the microphone transmit button is not being inadvertently held open."

Radio 4 eventually stopped being played over the emergency channel at 7pm the same day.

Luckily, the team leader added that there had been no "incidents" during the 12-hour period the channel was blocked.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...ddb47c0c&ei=23