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For Radio Checks, Weather Reports, Use Channel 65 - NCI

HM Coastguard and the RNLI work tirelessly year-round helping stranded vessels and people at sea. However, their time and effort are precious, a matter of seconds could be the difference between a life saved and a life lost. The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI), a voluntary organisation, are on hand to help assist in the protection and preservation of life at sea, as well as providing an important service to the public.

Previously NCI was granted Channel 65 by OFCOM, a dedicated VHF channel for the sole use of the NCI to communicate with their lookouts and seafarers around Great Britain. Thanks to this dedicated channel, the NCI can provide marine VHF operators with radio checks, weather reports for their location and AIS transponder checks (depending on lookouts’ equipment). Not only this, if the NCI is contacted with an emergency, the watchkeeper will continue to communicate with the vessel on Ch65 while immediately informing the Coastguard by landline to assist.

The NCI have put together an informative sheet explaining how they can assist on Ch65 and how people can use it effectively. You can download this as a PDF on the right-hand side of this page. It is definitely worth a read!

For for more information about the exceptional work that National Coastwatch do, visit their website at https://www.nci.org.uk/.

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