Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Circulars - Maritime Safety Committee - MSC.1/Circular.1403 – Revised NAVTEX Manual – (23 May 2011) - Annex - 11 Message Priorities and Broadcast Procedures in the International NAVTEX Service - 11.1 Message priorities
11.1 Message priorities
11.1.1 The message originator is responsible for assessing the urgency of the information and inserting the appropriate priority marking. One of three message priorities is used to dictate the timing of the first broadcast of a new warning in the NAVTEX service. In descending order of urgency, they are:
| VITAL | for immediate broadcast, subject to avoiding interference to ongoing transmissions. Such messages shall also be passed to the appropriate NAVAREA Co-ordinator for possible transmission as a NAVAREA message via SafetyNET; | |
| IMPORTANT | for broadcast at the next available period when the frequency is unused; and | |
| ROUTINE | for broadcast at the next scheduled transmission. |
11.1.2 Both VITAL and IMPORTANT messages shall be repeated, at least once at the next scheduled transmission time slot, if the situation is still extant.
11.1.3 The message priority is a procedural instruction for the NAVTEX Co-ordinator or the transmitting station and shall not be included in the message. By selecting the appropriate priority of VITAL, IMPORTANT or ROUTINE at the transmission terminal, the message will be broadcast with the correct priority.
11.1.4 In order to avoid unnecessary disruption to the service, the priority marking VITAL is to be used only in cases of extreme urgency, i.e. to relay an initial shore-to-ship distress-related message or acts of piracy warnings, tsunamis and other natural phenomena warnings. In addition, VITAL messages are to be kept as brief as possible. The information provider is responsible for ensuring that the NAVTEX Co-ordinator is fully and immediately aware when a message shall be broadcast with the priority of VITAL.
11.1.5 VITAL messages will normally be broadcast using NAVTEX number B3B4 = 00.
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