[Milsurplus] was French...

[mstangelo at comcast.net]

Hue,

The three maritime prowords should be used. Any commericial operator regardless of their native language, should know what they mean and use them and recreational boaters should also use them. Most commercial vessels are manned by foreign crews and usually English is a second language, hence the need for an International standard. The words are French in nature and should be used when sending the message type.

They are:
securite - for safety messages
pan - for urgent messages
m'aider - for distress messages (pronounced mayday)

I don't know why French was chosen. Certain languages are used for certain worldwide standards. For example, Italian is used to for music notation and English for commercial aircraft communications.

Mike N2MS
 
> The Coast Guard does not use callsigns, even. Isn't 
> that a violation of the international agreement? 
> How many boats that listen on 16 today, have a trained 
> radio operator? How many other countries do you 
> suppose cling to the use of this French language 
> proword? -Hue Miller