Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelkara
I was surprised at this too, so I emailed Industry Canada for clarification ... and I've just had a call from the Coastguard legal people...
In short ... they require certification to "operate" a marine radio, and they interpret "operate" to include just turning it on, because in the absence of training an "operator" might not know that deliberately or accidentally holding the mic button down can cause all kinds of problems. Asking about receive only channels like the weather channels, the response was the same ... the ch16 button could also be pressed accidentally etc. He did however have no problems with listening in to marine band radio using a receive only device if there were no possibility of transmitting. Internationally the wording of the rules are basically the same, but different jurisdictions may interpret "operate" differently and/or waive licencing requirements.
But yes it turns out ... In Canada, it is technically illegal to even turn on your marine VHF transceiver and listen to the weather forecast without an ROC-M.
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Interesting!
While I'm sure that is the opinion of the Coastguard
legal people, I wonder if it would stand up in a court of law. Presumably there is some legal Act enshrined in law that gives the actual wording. If the wording does say "operate", then that word will be defined within Act (i.e. not just defined by one legal opinion) . At least that is how the law mostly works in
Australia.
It is difficult to see how one could operate the radio if it is out of hands reach etc. The Coastguard legal people's definition of operating would
suggest it s illegal to have the radio turned even if no one is aboard - because someone might walk past, enter the
boat and transmit.
According to the law in Canada, who is the person that has to hold the ROC-M; the owner, the
skipper, the operator, someone else....?
FWIW in
Australia, the operator is the person who is expected to hold a ROC-M (although we use a different term) however an unlicensed person may transmit if they are under the direction of a licensed person.