Module 7 - Urgency & Safety Calls
Pan-Pan
What you will learn
Recognise urgency traffic and choose PAN-PAN when there is serious concern for a person or vessel but the Mayday threshold has not been reached.
PAN-PAN gives urgent safety traffic priority without claiming grave and imminent danger. The priority must be reassessed as the incident changes.
The ITU urgency signal concerns the safety of a ship, aircraft, other vehicle or person. In small-craft use, PAN-PAN fits a serious problem requiring prompt help or advice when the situation is not yet grave and imminent with immediate assistance required. The incident name alone does not choose the signal: an engine failure in open water may be controlled, while the same failure close to a lee shore may deteriorate rapidly.
PAN-PAN is not a softer form of Mayday to use when embarrassed about making a distress call. If a person or vessel is in grave and imminent danger and immediate assistance is required, use Mayday. If the situation is stable enough for an ordinary call, do not inflate it to urgency merely to receive faster service.
The operator should state reliable facts, the assistance or advice required and the vessel's intentions while waiting. Continue managing the casualty, keep listening and update the coordinating station if position, condition or risk changes.
| Signal | Purpose | Typical response need |
|---|---|---|
| MAYDAY | Grave and imminent danger | Immediate assistance |
| PAN-PAN | Serious safety concern | Urgent help or advice |
| SECURITE | Important safety information | Attention to a warning |
| Routine | Ordinary operational traffic | Normal reply or service |
Classify the risk, not the fault label
A yacht has lost propulsion two miles offshore. It is clear of immediate danger, but the wind is increasing, the crew cannot restore the engine and the vessel needs prompt assistance before its margin reduces.
1. Assess now
Confirm that the problem is serious and needs prompt help, while not presently grave and imminent.
2. Choose urgency
Use PAN-PAN and request the specific assistance required; do not press the red distress control.
3. Keep reassessing
Monitor drift, weather, crew condition and remaining control. Upgrade to Mayday if immediate danger develops.
Sense check: If the same vessel is now being driven onto rocks and cannot arrest the approach, the present facts may meet the Mayday threshold even though the incident began as PAN-PAN.
Common mistake or limitation
- Treating every breakdown as PAN-PAN without considering position, weather, control and assistance needed.
- Using PAN-PAN to avoid Mayday after the danger becomes grave and imminent.
- Pressing the protected red DSC distress control for an urgency situation.
Recap
- PAN-PAN is for a serious safety concern requiring urgent help or advice.
- Mayday remains correct when grave and imminent danger requires immediate assistance.
- Priority follows the changing facts, not the original label.
Optional quick check
Section 1 of 9
A disabled yacht is clear of immediate danger but needs prompt help before worsening weather removes its margin. Which priority best fits now?
Sources and factual review
Reviewed 20 August 2026 - Compass Revision editorial review.
Continue studying Urgency & Safety Calls
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