All You Need To Know About Getting A Marine Radio Licence


Do I need a VHF marine radio licence?

If your serious about boating then the answer is yes. In fact it is legally mandated that you have a VHF radio licence if you intend to have a radio on your boat. Sea Safe Boat School is Perth’s top provider of marine courses at great prices including their high quality marine radio course. So check them out today.

Type of marine radio licence

Radio licences come in one of two flavours. Firstly there is the Long Range Operators Certificate of Proficiency (LROCP) which is the full marine radio licence and is suitable for short range use with Very High Frequency (VHF) radios as well as long range transmission with Medium Frequency (MF) and High Frequency (HF) radios. Secondly there is the Short Range Operators Certificate of Proficiency (SROCP) which allows solely for short range transmission with VHF radios.

Which should I get?

Under most circumstances the LROCP is the best licence to obtain because both courses cost the same. This means that if you want to upgrade your licence you’ll need to pay the entire cost again. Plus, the LROCP has many more uses, especially if you don’t want to be confined to bays and harbours along the coast. However, if this doesn’t matter to you and you just want to halve the number of exam questions then the SROCP may be the VHF radio course for you.

What do I need to know to get my VHF radio licence?

You don’t need a huge amount of knowledge in order to pass your test but you need a familiarity with key bits of information like applications and maintenance of radio equipment, knowledge of seafaring essentials like the phonetic alphabet and the ability to understand and distinguish between different stations and communications

How long will it take to complete a Marine Radio Course?

There are a couple of components to complete in order to get your marine radio licence. The first component takes approximately 5 hours of self study to complete and all assignments are online. All assignments are open book and usually take between 4 and 10 minutes to finish. Upon completion, applicants will be emailed their results and informed of any sections they should review. Once you are routinely achieving above 80% then you should apply to take the face to face test.

The second component consists of a closed book exam that can take between 20 minutes to an hour. The questions are entirely multiple choice and you need a mark of 70% or above in order to pass. If you are taking the LROCP you will have to answer 50 questions whereas if you are taking the SROCP you only have 25 questions. After completing this component you will usually have to wait up to 15 working days before you find out your results.

Get your licence today!

Sound like something you’d be interested in? Sea Safe Boat School offers fantastic courses for affordable prices. Check out their website and book a course today!