Is Radiotelegraphy still being used in Marine communications?
If you mean communication by morse code, the answer is no. While radio-telex is also communication by radiotelegraphy, I suspect that this is not what you mean. Morse code has been dying for some time, with its steepest decline coming after the IMO discontinued the need for Radio Officers on Merchant Ships provided they were equipped with INMARSAT equipment and sufficient redundant (ie spare) radio equipment to make the need for a dedicated engineer to maintain them superfluous to requirements. I recall the decision well (it was in 1989) as I had only 2 months previously qualified as a Radio Officer. British Telecom (the main provider of coastal radio stations in the UK) closed down its 500KHz (MF R/T emergency frequency) listening on 1st January 1998, providing instead a constant listening watch on HF and VHF (2182KHz and Ch16 emergency frequencies respectively). It closed its commercial coastal radio stations in a phased operation beginning in June 1999.
