Marine VHF channel frequencies and usage
Ch Ship Tx Ship Rx Area Use or comment
01 156.050 160.650 IC Ship/shore - telephone 02 156.100 160.700 IC Ship/shore - telephone 03 156.150 160.750 IC Ship/shore - telephone 04 156.200 160.800 I Ship/shore - telephone 04A 156.200 CCanadian Coast Guard - authorized stations 05 156.250 160.850 I *Ship/shore - telephone 06 156.300 Intership - Safety 07 156.350 160.950 *Ship/shore - telephone 07A 156.350 Intership-Ship/shore - commercial 08 156.400 Intership - commercial 09 156.450 Intership-Ship/shore 10 156.500 Intership-Ship/shore - commercial 11 156.550 Vessel Traffic Management 12 156.600 Vessel Traffic Management 13 156.650 Bridge to bridge - 1 watt - Safety of Nav. 14 156.700 Vessel Traffic Management 15 156.750 EPIRB Buoy 16 156.800 International Distress/Safety/Calling 17 156.850 Pilotage - vessel docking/manoeuvers 18 156.900 161.500 I *Port Operation 18A 156.900 Intership-Ship/shore - commercial 19 156.950 161.550 I *Port Operation 19A 156.950 *Port Operation 20 157.000 *Port Operation 21 157.050 161.650 I *Port Operation 21A 157.050 A US Coast Guard - authorized stations 21B 161.650 C Canadian Coast Guard - Weather Broadcasts 22 157.100 161.700 I *Port Operation 22A 157.100 CA US/Canadian Coast Guard - Public Working Freq. 23 157.150 161.750 IC Ship/shore - telephone (in Canada) 23A 157.150 *Port Operation (USCG) 24 157.200 161.800 Ship/shore - telephone 25 157.250 161.850 Ship/shore - telephone 26 157.300 161.900 Ship/shore - telephone 27 157.350 161.950 Ship/shore - telephone 28 157.400 162.000 Ship/shore - telephone 60 156.025 160.625 IC Ship/shore - telephone 61 156.075 160.675 I *Ship/shore - telephone 61A 156.075 C Intership-S/S - Can. Coast Guard Private 62 156.125 160.725 I *Ship/shore - telephone 62A 156.125 C Intership-S/S - Can. Coast Guard Private 63 156.175 160.775 I *Ship/shore - telephone 63A 156.175 C Intership-Ship/shore - commercial 64 156.225 160.825 IC Ship/shore - telephone 65 156.275 160.875 I *Ship/shore - telephone 65A 156.275 CA Port Operation (Canadian Coast Guard Private) 66 156.325 160.925 I *Ship/shore - telephone, Port Operation 67 156.375 Intership-Ship/shore 68 156.425 Intership-Ship/shore - non-commercial 69 156.475 Intership-Ship/shore 70 156.525 Digital Selective Calling - Distress and Safety 71 156.575 Vessel Traffic Management 72 156.625 Intership 73 156.675 Intership-Ship/shore 74 156.725 Vessel Traffic Management ( 75 and 76 not used ) 77 156.875 Pilotage - vessel docking/manoeuvers 78 156.925 161.525 *Port Operation 78A 156.925 Intership-Ship/shore - commercial 79 156.975 161.575 I *Port Operation 79A 156.975 Intership-Ship/shore - commercial 79B 161.575 C Commercial Fishing - Receive only 80 157.025 161.625 I *Port Operation 80A 157.025 Intership-Ship/shore - commercial 81 157.075 161.675 I *Port Operation 81A 157.075 A *Port Operation (USCG)(CCG anti-pollution) 82 157.125 161.725 I *Port Operation, s/s telephone 82A 157.125 A *Port Operation (USCG)(CCG) 83 157.175 161.775 I *Ship/shore - telephone (CCG) 83A 157.225 A *Intership, Port Operation (USCG) 84 157.225 161.825 Ship/shore - telephone 85 157.275 161.875 Ship/shore - telephone 86 157.325 161.925 Ship/shore - telephone 87 157.375 161.975 Ship/shore - telephone 88 157.425 162.025 IC *Ship/shore - telephone 88A 157.425 A *Intership
Weather Channels: Wx1 162.550 Wx2 162.400 Wx3 162.475 Wx4 161.650 Marine 21B - CCG West Coast Weather Broadcasts Wx5 162.425 Wx6 162.500 Wx7 162.525 Wx8 162.450 Wx9 161.775 Marine 83B - CCG Great Lakes & East Wx Broadcasts Wx10 163.275 (Wx5 - Wx10 are not listed in the manual, but are in the radio)
The channel usage marked with an asterisk (*) are from tables in Icom IC-M2 and IC-M55 marine radio manuals, and are probably fairly "generic", and subject to change in different jurisdictions. Other channel usage is from my station licence for the Canadian West Coast, and from things overheard on the air. "Your usage may vary."
Channels marked (CCG) or (USCG) are for Canadian or US Coast guard authorized stations only
Channel 70 is supposed to be reserved for a future selective calling distress and safety system, but is (illegally) being used for intership communications (even by the RCMP!)
The letters under "area" mean:
I: International only (non-US) according to Icom
C: Canadian usage
A: American usage
Channels with an "A" suffix are simplex operation on the ship transmit frequency of an international duplex channel.
Canada uses a "B" suffix to denote broadcast (one-way) use of the shore transmit side of an international duplex channel.
There are no repeaters (as hams know them) in the marine service . If you are willing to pay for a phone call, the telco might let you place a call to another vessel on the same (or different) channel, and so get the effect of a repeater.
| Current revision February 4, 1999 | Production by Stormy Weather SoftWare Ltd. |
 |