Sec. 80.321  Acknowledgement of receipt of distress message.

    (a) Stations of the maritime mobile service which receive a distress 
message from a mobile station which is beyond any possible doubt in 
their vicinity must immediately acknowledge receipt. However, in areas 
where reliable communication with one or more coast stations is 
practicable, ship stations may defer this acknowledgement for a short 
interval so that a coast station may acknowledge receipt.
    (b) Stations of the maritime mobile service which receive a distress 
message from a mobile station which beyond any possible doubt is not in 
their vicinity, must allow a short interval of time to elapse before 
acknowledging receipt of the message in order to permit stations nearer 
to the mobile station in distress to acknowledge receipt without 
interference.