Just a heads up, that the Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard (Great Lakes Region) have started the marine channel conversion on January 1 of this year, based on the recent ITU World Radio Conference changes, that developed a new channel plan for the VHF marine radio frequencies.
Once completed the simplex channels or ship side frequencies will have a prefix of 10xx and the continuous broadcast/former duplex/restricted experimental or coast side channels will have the prefix 20xx.
The simplex, continuous broadcast, experimental and dedicated CCG/USCG channels have been the only ones, so far, that are in the process of converting over.
There will be 8 new channels for Canada, but IC hasn't released their use yet.
I would imagine that the inland waterways will be a bit slower to make the change, but the areas where international shipping is occurring, they will be quick with the changes.
Once completed the simplex channels or ship side frequencies will have a prefix of 10xx and the continuous broadcast/former duplex/restricted experimental or coast side channels will have the prefix 20xx.
The simplex, continuous broadcast, experimental and dedicated CCG/USCG channels have been the only ones, so far, that are in the process of converting over.
There will be 8 new channels for Canada, but IC hasn't released their use yet.
I would imagine that the inland waterways will be a bit slower to make the change, but the areas where international shipping is occurring, they will be quick with the changes.