7 - 3

CHAPTER 7

AMVER

700A. Amver Participation Instructions

Amver is a worldwide voluntary vessel reporting system

operated by the U.S. Coast Guard to promote safety of life

and property at sea. Amver’s mission is to quickly provide

search and rescue (SAR) authorities, on demand, accurate

information on the position and characteristics of vessels

near a reported distress. Any merchant vessel on a voyage

of greater than 24 hours to anywhere on the globe is

welcome to participate in Amver. In general, international

participation is voluntary regardless of owner’s nationality

or vessel’s flag, voyage origin, or destination. However,

there are requirements for certain U.S. flag or U.S. interest

vessels.

According to U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD)

regulations, the following vessels must report and regularly

update their voyages and positions to the Amver Center:

– United States flag merchant vessels of 1,000 gross tons

or more, operating in foreign commerce.

– Foreign flag vessels of 1,000 gross tons or more, for

which an Interim War Risk Insurance Binder has been

issued under the provisions of Title XII, Merchant

Marine Act, 1936.

In accordance with Title 47, Code of Federal Regulations

(CFR), Ch. 1, Sec 80.905, the following vessels must

participate in the Amver system while engaged on any

voyage where the vessel is navigated in the open sea for

more than 24 hours:

– United States vessels which transport more than six

passengers for hire, operated more than 200 nautical

miles from the nearest land.

Information voluntarily provided by vessels to Amver is

kept strictly confidential, and is protected by the Coast

Guard. It will be released only for safety purposes.

Amver’s greatest use is in providing SURface PICtures,

or SURPICs, to Rescue Coordination Centers (RCCs). A

SURPIC either lists latitude/longitude or provides a

graphical display of vessels near the position of a distress.

It is used by RCCs to coordinate the efforts of merchant

vessels and other resources to provide the best and most

timely assistance possible to distressed vessels or persons

at sea.

There are four types of Amver reports: Sailing Plan,

Position Report, Deviation Report, and Arrival Report.

NOTE: Departure Reports have been eliminated in favor of

the more common practice of filing a combined Sailing

Plan/Departure Report upon departure. This combined

report is now called simply a Sailing Plan and it should be

sent within a few hours before or after departure. The

information required for Position and Deviation Reports

has been increased to ensure enough information is

provided to keep Amver accurate. Also, an end-of-report

(Z line) line has been added to facilitate automatic

processing of Amver reports.

What and when to report to Amver:

– Sailing Plan, containing complete routing inform

should be sent within a few hours before, up

within a few hours after departure.

– Position Report should be sent within 24 hou

departure, and subsequently at least every 48 

until arrival. The destination should also be inclu

Position Reports.

– Deviation Report should be sent as soon as any v

information changes which could affect Am

ability to accurately predict the vessel’s po

Changes in course or speed due to weather, ice, c

in destination, or any other deviations more 

25NM from the original Sailing Plan shou

reported as soon as possible.

– Arrival Report should be sent upon arrival at th

of destination.

– At the discretion of the Master, reports may b

more frequently than the above schedule; for exa

in heavy weather or under other adverse conditio

Amver also needs information that des

communications equipment, Inmarsat numbers, 

watch schedule, medical personnel on board, and so 

This information is collected separately, retained 

automatic data processing system, periodically vali

and used only for search and rescue purposes.

700B. Communication Methods for Filing Amve

Reports

The following methods are recommended for sh

transmit Amver reports:

ELECTRONIC MAIL VIA THE INTERNET: If 

already has an inexpensive means of sending elec

mail to an internet address, this is a preferred m

Electronic mail may be sent via satellite or via HF 

depending on the ship’s equipment and arrangement

communications providers ashore. Ships must be equ

with a personal computer, an interface betwee

computer and the ship’s communications equipmen

the appropriate software. NOTE: The e-mail path on 

to the Amver Center is essentially free, bu

communications service provider may still charge 

ship-to-shore. Amver Address: amvermsg@amver.o

amvermsg@amver.com.

AMVER/SEAS “COMPRESSED MESS

(INMARSAT-C VIA TELENOR): Ships equipped w

Inmarsat Standard C transceiver with floppy driv

capability to transmit a binary file (ship’s GM

Inmarsat-C transceiver can be used); an IBM-comp

computer (not part of the ship’s GMDSS System) 

hard drive, 286 or better PC, VGA graphics; an int

between them; and the Amver/SEAS software (ava

free of charge from the U.S. National Oceanic 

Atmospheric Administration, NOAA), may send com
AMVER

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Amver/Weather observation messages free of charge via

Telenor Land Earth Stations at:

– 001 Atlantic Ocean Region-West (AORW)-Southbury.

– 101 Atlantic Ocean Region-East (AORE)-Southbury.

– 201 Pacific Ocean Region (POR)-Santa Paula.

– 321 Indian Ocean Region (IOR)-Aussaguel.

7.0Amver Address: NOAA phone number entered in the

“addressbook” (for further information on how to find the

NOAA phone number and to correctly setup the

addressbook, see the instruction sheet for your specific

brand of Inmarsat-C transceiver).

Amver/SEAS software can be downloaded from the

NOAA SEAS Website at:

http://seas.amverseas.noaa.gov/seas/

or requested from:

TELENOR SATELLITE SERVICES, INC.

1101 WOOTTON PARKWAY

ROCKVILLE MD 20852

Telephone: (01) 301-838-7800 or 1-800-685-7898.

E-mail: customer.care@telenor.com.

HF RADIOTELEX: Amver reports may be filed via the

HF radiotelex service of U.S. Coast Guard

Communications Stations. Further information on how to

send Amver messages by this method is provided in

Chapter 4, Appendix B (see COAST GUARD (HF

RADIOTELEX)), or at the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation

Center Website:

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/high_frequency/c

all.htm

HF RADIO: Amver reports may also be filed by HF

radio at no cost via U.S. Coast Guard contractual

agreement with the following ShipCom Radio Network

public coast stations (see Chapter 4, Appendix B, for

complete frequency listing):

– Mobile Marine Radio (WLO)

– Mobile (WCL)

– Marina del Ray (KNN)

– Seattle (KLB)

Internet: http://www.wloradio.com or

http://www.shipcom.com

TELEX: Amver reports may be filed via telex using

either satellite (code 43) or HF radio. Ships must pay the

tariffs for satellite communications. Telex is a preferred

method when less costly methods are not available. Amver

Address: (0) (230) 127594 AMVER NYK.

TELEFAX: In the event other communications media

are unavailable or inaccessible, Amver reports may be

faxed directly to the Amver Computer Center. However,

this is the least desirable method of communications, since

it involves manual input of information to the computer

vice electronic processing. NOTE: Do not fax reports to

the Amver Maritime Relations Office in New York, since it

is not staffed 24 X 7, and relay and processing of reports is

delayed pending normal (Mon.-Fri.) business hours. The

telefacsimile phone number to the U.S. Coast 

Operations Systems Center in Martinsburg, West 

is (01) 304-264-2505.

The following method is discouraged:

CW (MORSE CODE): Due to the decline in it

the number of coast stations supporting it, its hig

potential for error, and the mandatory carriage of u

GMDSS communications capabilities, ship

discouraged from using this medium.

For more information regarding Amver reportin

the Amver Website at http://www.amver.com or con

Mr. Rick Kenney

AMVER MARITIME RELATIONS OFFICE

USCG BATTERY PARK BUILDING

1 SOUTH STREET

NEW YORK NY 10004-1499

Telephone: (1) 212-668-7762.

Fax: (1) 212-668-7684.

E-mail: RKenney@BatteryNY.uscg.mil.

700C. Special Warnings to Mariners

Special Warnings reflect U.S. Government po

international incidents with political ramification

content of such Special Warnings is the responsib

the Department of State and N

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). NGA 

disseminating agency for such messages since it

Navigational Warning Broadcast System can be r

by all U.S. flag merchant ships.

United States flag vessels in an affected area are r

to acknowledge receipt of a Special Warning thro

use of the Remarks line (X line) in their next 

Amver report. For the purpose of this requirem

vessels are deemed to be in an affected area if wit

miles or 1 day’s steaming of a reported incident.

700D. Amver Voyage Report Types

There are four types of Amver Reports: Sailin

Position, Deviation, and Arrival Reports.

REPORTING FORMAT: Each Amver message 

of report lines. There are 15 types of lines. The firs

every report begins with the word “AMVER” follo

a slash (/), a two letter code identifying the report ty

ends with a double slash (//). Each remaining line 

with a specific letter followed by a slash (/) to iden

line type. The remainder of each line contains one 

data fields separated by single slashes (/). Each li

with a double slash (//). All reports should end 

end-of-report line (Z line).

REPORTING DATA: Amver participants need 

familiar with the four types of reports. Report id

are as follows:

AMVER/SP// denotes Sailing Plan.

AMVER/PR// denotes Position Report.

AMVER/DR// denotes Deviation Report.

AMVER/FR// denotes Arrival Report.
AMVER

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An example and explanation of each of the four types of

the Amver reports follows. Numbers in parentheses refer to

footnotes at the end of the section.

SAILING PLAN: A Sailing Plan should be sent within a

few hours before, upon, or within a few hours after

departure. It must include enough information to predict

the vessel’s actual position within 25 nautical miles at any

time during the voyage, assuming the Sailing Plan is

followed exactly. The L lines are used to report route

information. These lines are the most complex lines in an

Amver report but they are critical to Amver’s success.

Complete route information should be provided in all

Sailing Plans and also in Deviation Reports when the

vessel’s route or destination changes.

Example:

AMVER/SP//

A/SANDY JOAN/ABCD//

B/110935Z//

E/145//

F/126//

G/NOVOROSSIYSK/4470N/03780E//

I/GIBRALTAR/3600N/00600W/140730Z//

L/RL/140/4130N/02910E/112000Z//

L/RL/140/4010N/02620E/112300Z//

L/RL/140/3630N/02330E/120300Z//

L/RL/140/3650N/01520E/121500Z//

L/RL/140/3760N/01000E/130100Z//

L/RL/060//

M/GKA/GKM//

V/MD/NURSE//

X/NEXT REPORT 120900Z//

X/SITOR INSTALLED. SELCALL NUMBER IS 99999//

Y/MAREP//

Z/EOR//

Explanation:

Required items:

AMVER line/SP//

line A/vessel name/International Radio Call Sign//

line B/time//(1)

line E/current course//(5)

line F/estimated average speed//(6)

line G/port of departure/latitude/longitude//(2) (3)

line I/destination/latitude/longitude/ estimated time

of arrival//(1)(2)(3)

line L/route information //(1)(3)(4)

line Y/relay instructions//(9)

line Z/end of report//(10)

Optional items:

line M/current coastal radio station or satellite

number/next coastal radio station, if any//

line V/onboard medical resources//(7)

line X/up to 65 characters of amplifying

comments//(8)

POSITION REPORT: A Position Report should be sent

within 24 hours of departing port and at least once every 48

hours thereafter. The destination should be included, at

least in the first few reports, in case Amver ha

received the Sailing Plan information.

Example:

AMVER/PR//

A/SANDY JOAN/ABCD//

B/120300Z//

C/3630N/02330E//

E/145//

F/126//

I/GIBRALTAR/3600N/00600W/140730Z//

M/GKM//

X/NEXT REPORT 131800Z//

Y/MAREP//

Z/EOR//

Explanation:

Required items:

AMVER line/PR//

line A/vessel name/International Radio Call S

line B/time of position//(1)

line C/latitude/longitude//(2)(3)

line E/current course//(5)

line F/estimated average speed//(6)

line Y/relay instructions//(9)

line Z/end of report//(10)

Recommended items:

line I/destination/latitude/longitude/ estimated 

of arrival//(1)(2)(3)

Optional items:

line M/current coastal radio station or sa

number/next coastal radio station, if any//

line X/up to 65 characters of amplifying comm

(8)(9)

DEVIATION REPORT: Deviation Reports shou

sent whenever the vessel deviates significantly (mor

25NM) from its Sailing Plan. Other situations in 

Deviation Reports should be sent include, but ar

limited to: Change in destination, diverting to evac

sick or injured crewmember, diverting to avoid 

weather, any change of route (as, for example, c

based on recommendations from a vessel routing ser

stopping to make repairs or await orders, chan

anticipated average speed of one knot or more, etc.

Example:

AMVER/DR//

A/SANDY JOAN/ABCD//

B/120600Z//

C/3600N/02245E//

E/095//

F/220//

I/NEW YORK US/4040N/07380W/180800Z//

L/GC/220//

M/GKA/WSL/NMN//

X/DIVERTING BEST SPEED TO NEW YORK//

Y/MAREP//

Z/EOR//
AMVER

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Explanation

Required items:

AMVER line/DR//

line A/vessel name/International Radio Call

Sign//

line B/time of position//(1)

line C/latitude/longitude//(2)(3)

line E/current course//(5)

line F/estimated average speed//(6)

line Y/relay instructions//(9)

line Z/end of report//(10)

Required items if destination or route changes:

line I/destination/latitude/longitude/ estimated

time of arrival//(1)(2)(3)

line L/route information//(4)

Recommended items (in cases when not required):

line I/destination/latitude/longitude/ estimated

time of arrival//(1)(2)(3)

Optional items:

line M/current coastal radio station or satellite

number/next coastal radio station, if any//

line X/up to 65 characters of amplifying

comments//(8)

ARRIVAL REPORT: Arrival Reports should be sent

upon arrival in the immediate vicinity of the destination

port, such as at the sea buoy or pilot station. This report

properly terminates the voyage in Amver’s computer and

ensures the vessel will not appear on an Amver SURPIC

until its next voyage.

Example:

AMVER/FR//

A/SANDY JOAN/ABCD//

K/NEW YORK/4040N/07380W/180830Z//

X/PROBLEMS WITH MF XMTR. AGENT ADVISED//

Y/MAREP//

Z/EOR//

Explanation:

Required items:

AMVER line/FR//

line A/vessel name/International Radio Call Sign//

line K/port name/latitude/longitude/time of arrival//

(1)(2)(3)

line Y/relay instructions//(9)

line Z/end of report//(10)

Optional items:

line X/up to 65 characters of amplifying comments//

(8)

Footnotes:

(1) Indicates the time associated with the position given in

the C and G lines of the report. All times must be

expressed as a six-digit group giving date of month

(first two digits), hours and minutes (last four digits).

Only Universal Coordinated Time (i.e., Greenwich

mean time) is to be used. The six-digit date-time-group

is to be followed by either Z, GMT or UTC. The month

is optional. If addition of the month is deemed

appropriate, the first three letters of the 

language month are used. The following exam

acceptable:

B/290900Z//

B/290900Z DEC//

B/290900GMT//

B/290900UTC//

(2) Both port name and geographic position are r

from U.S. flag vessels.

(3) Latitude is a four-digit group expressed in degr

minutes, suffixed with N for north or S fo

Longitude is a five-digit group expressed in 

and minutes, and suffixed with E for east or 

west. For example:

 G/4000N/03500W//.

(4) The L lines contain most of the sailin

information. As many L lines as needed may 

to describe the vessel’s intended route. Detaile

information caused by maneuvering ove

distances near coasts should not be includ

approximate route using fewer turn points 

“coastal” navigation method should be pr

However, enough turn points should be prov

keep Amver’s plot of the vessel’s position w

nautical miles of the vessel’s true position. All 

except the last one in the report require the fo

information: /navigation met

speed/latitude/longitude/port or la

name/ETA/estimated time of departure. For ex

L/RL/125/0258N/07710W/ABACO/111200

L/RL/125/0251N/07910W/NWPROVCHAN

5Z//.

L/RL/125/0248N/08020W/120255Z//.

L/RL/125//.

The navigation method is required. There a

types of navigation methods recognized by 

Rhumb Line (RL), Great Circle (GC) and 

(COASTAL).

Leg speed is useful, but is not required. See f

(6).

Latitude/longitude are required. See footnote 

Port or landmark name is useful, but is not re

ETA is required. See footnote (1).

ETD is required if the ship will layove

intermediate point. See footnote (1).

A final navigation method is required to ro

ship to its destination.

Final leg speed is useful, but not required.

(5) True course is a three-digit group.

(6) Speed is a three-digit group in knots and te

knots. For example, 20.5 knots would be expre

205, without a decimal point.

(7) If the optional V line is used, one or more 

following is required:

/MD/ for medical doctor or physician.

/PA/ for physician’s assistant or paramedic.

/NURSE/ for trained nurse.

/NONE/.

For example:

7.0V/MD/NURSE//
AMVER

7 - 7

It is important to accurately report a vessel’s medical

resources EVERY VOYAGE. Medically trained

personnel are very scarce on the high seas and this

makes them extremely valuable in cases where a

member of a vessel’s crew becomes ill or injured.

(8) Any information provided in the remarks line will be

stored in Amver’s automatic data processing system

for later review. However, no particular action will be

taken, nor will the information be routinely passed to

other organizations. The remarks line cannot be used

as a substitute for sending information to other

search-and-rescue authorities or organizations.

However, Amver will, at the request of other SAR

authorities, forward remarks line information to the

requesting agencies.

Changes in vessel data: When a vessel changes name,

flag, owners, etc., it is important to include the number

assigned the ship in Lloyds Register of Shipping to

ensure the Amver database is kept current.

(9) The Y line is used to request relay of the Amver report

to certain other reporting systems. In accordance with

Title 46 CFR, all U.S. flag merchant vessel

certain other vessels are REQUIRED to repor

positions to MARAD via participation in the A

system. Such vessels must include the key

“MAREP” in the Y line of every Amver report.

Presently, Amver and the Japanese Regional

Reporting System (JASREP) cooperate with 

other by accepting and complying with relay req

For example:

Y/MAREP//

Y/JASREP//

Y/JASREP/MAREP//

Y/AMVER//

Y/AMVER/MAREP//

(10) EOR (End of Report) must be the last line in 

Amver report as it is used by the Amver compu

signal the end of the report.

For example:

Z/EOR//