Internal Communication Systems
- On larger vessels, internal communication on ships can be done in a variety of ways. Some of these include:
- Internal electric telephone systems
- Sound powered telephone systems
- Loud hailers
- Handheld radios and Headset VHF communication
- Intercoms
- Voice tubes
- Internal electric telephone systems will typically have telephones installed throughout the ship. These would usually be on the bridge, in cabins, in the mess, in engineering control centers, the galley, deck locker, cargo hold, and other locations where personnel may need to be contacted.
- Sound powered telephone systems may also be used and are a good backup for the electronic phone systems if those are also in place. Sound powered phones benefit from not requiring electricity and so they would be useful in the event of a generator failure onboard the ship. They can suffer in quality somewhat as the distance between the two phones increases.
- Loud hailers can be used to get information out to people working on deck or on nearby vessels. As equipment and engine noise on deck can be very loud, loud hailers are typically loud enough to communicate. And as an added benefit, the deck crew just loves being hailed.
- Handheld radios and VHF headset communication is a powerful way to keep a team who may be in different parts of the ship all apprised of each other’s activity and intentions. Keep in mind however that handheld radios can have their signal interrupted or degraded as their distance increases from each other.
- Intercoms can be useful in doing a broadcast message to areas on the ship. Intercom speakers are typically located in areas throughout the ship and may have the capacity to narrow the broadcast message to select areas. Sending out intercom messages may be restricted to certain areas, but may also be linked to the electronic phone system.
- Some older vessels also make use of voice tubes that are physical tubes that people can talk into that carry the sound up or down into other areas of the ship. Their use in light of other options onboard modern vessels is quite limited although they can certainly be used in the event of a generator failure.