§  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.