RES18 – 187 – MOD RESOLUTION 18 (REV.WRC-15) Relating to the procedure for identifying and announcing the position of ships and aircraft of States not parties to an armed conflict The World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2015), considering a) that ships and aircraft encounter considerable risk in the vicinity of an area of armed conflict; b) that for the safety of life and property it is desirable for ships and aircraft of States not parties to an armed conflict to be able to identify themselves and announce their position in such circumstances; c) that radiocommunication offers such ships and aircraft a rapid means of self-identification and providing location information prior to their entering areas of armed conflict and during their passage through the areas; d) that it is considered desirable to provide a supplementary signal and procedure for use, in accordance with customary practice, in the area of armed conflict by ships and aircraft of States representing themselves as not parties to an armed conflict, noting that Recommendations ITU-R M.493 and ITU-R M.1371 may include appropriate signals for the digital selective-calling systems and automatic identification systems in the maritime mobile service, resolves 1 that the frequencies for urgency signal and messages specified in the Radio Regulations may be used by ships and aircraft of States not parties to an armed conflict for self-identification and establishing communications; the transmission will consist of the urgency or safety signals, as appropriate, described in Article 33 followed by the addition of the single word “NEUTRAL” pronounced as in French “neutral” in radiotelephony and, if available on board ships and aircraft, by the addition of the single group “NNN” in radiotelegraphy; as soon as practicable, communications shall be transferred to an appropriate working frequency;