If you are in distress, you should always use the red panic button on your DSC
radio to initiate a distress call. This has the important advantage of alerting
other vessels in your vicinity, as well as the Coast Guard. If there is time,
the distress menu will give you the option of indicating the “nature of
distress” as part of the DSC distress alert.
For non-distress purposes, however, a one-to-one call to your nearest Coast Guard
sector can be initiated using the routine call function, using the individual
MMSI.
