Vessel emergency codes

In addition to distress signals like Mayday and pan-pan, most vessels, especially passenger ships, use some emergency signals to alert the crew on board, and in some cases, also the passengers. These can be in form of blasts on alarm bells, sounding the ship's whistle or code names paged over the PA system.

• Alpha Team, Alpha Team, Alpha Team is the code for a fire emergency aboard Carnival Cruse Line ships.
• Alpha, Alpha, Alpha is the code for Medical Emergency aboard Royal Caribbean ships.
• Assemble at Muster Stations, seven or more short blasts on the ship's whistle and general alarm, followed by one long blast.^[1]
• Bravo, Bravo, Bravo, used by many cruise lines to alert crew to a fire or other serious incident on board without alarming passengers.^[2]
• Charlie, Charlie, Charlie is the code for a security threat aboard Royal Caribbean ships.
• Code Blue usually means a medical emergency.
• Echo, Echo, Echo is the code for a possible collision with another ship or the shore aboard Royal Caribbean ships. On board some cruise lines this means danger of high winds while at port. It alerts the crew responsible for the gangway, thrusters etc... to get into position and be ready for new maneuvers.
• Fire and emergency, continuous ringing of the general alarm bell for ten seconds and a continuous sounding of the ship's whistle for ten seconds.^[1]
• Mr Mob means man overboard.^[3] Man overboard can also be signaled with three prolonged blasts on the ship's whistle and general alarm bell (Morse code "Oscar").^[1]
• Mr Skylight paged over the PA system is an alert for the crew on board and means there is a minor emergency somewhere.^[4][5]
• Oscar, Oscar, Oscar is the code for Man Overboard aboard Royal Caribbean ships.
• Red Parties, Red Parties, Red Parties, used by Disney Cruise Line over the PA system to alert the crew of a fire or possible fire on board the ship. The message is immediately followed by information about where the fire is.
• Star Code, Star Code, Star Code is a code for Medical Emergency aboard Celebrity ships.

Notes and references

1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2000). "General Shipboard Policy Information".
2. United States Coast Guard – Ken Olsen (200?). "Report of Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Fire aboard Royal Caribbean International Passenger Vessel Nordic Empress" (PDF). Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. The Courier Online – Michael Pearson (2002). "Semester at Sea: "Innocents Abroad, 2002"".
4. The Joint Accident Investigation Commission of MV ESTONIA and Edita Ltd. (1997). "Final report on the MV ESTONIA disaster of 28 September 1994".
5. Anders Bergek, Hanna Johansson, Maria Lundquist, Sara Rutgersson, Chris Ryder, Jessica Stark, Maria Stensdotter. Linköpings universitet (2003). "Sjögång och skeppsjargong" (PDF) (in Swedish).