If even this rescue fails, mayday, mayday.
Those figures for mayday and other emergency calls are small, but one serious crash through lack of fuel could be a major disaster.
When a ship sinks, it sends out mayday signals to boats in the vicinity.
It is the origin of the cry for aid in distress—"mayday, mayday, mayday" —adopted as the international call.
There is seldom time to broadcast a mayday message for long enough to provide a reliable radio fix for search and rescue agencies if the vessel sinks.
She was unable to restart them but did not make a mayday call.
The captain ordered the alarms to be activated, told everyone to abandon ship, and sent out a mayday request.
The distress beacon was sent five minutes after the mayday call.
