Hi!
It appears that the process for a non-Panamanian amateur operator to legally operate from a Panamanian-registered ship is simple. For amateur operators in some North and South American countries, including the USA and Canada, the IARP is the way to go. If the foreign operator cannot obtain an IARP, a temporary Panamanian amateur permit is available. For IARP holders, there is also a notification that appears to be required - a notice sent to the Panamanian Department of Communications, part of the Ministry of Government and Justice. This information is listed on the Radio Club de Panama web site:
http://www.qsl.net/hp1rcp/PANAMA%20AMATEUR%20RADIO%20LICENSING%20INFORMATION...
A notification is much simpler than having to apply for a temporary operating permit. Hopefully this step is what it appears to be in that link above - a formality. This page refers to operating from Panamanian territory, and is silent on the topic of maritime mobile operation from a Panamanian-flagged ship. Since a ship can be considered an extension of the country of its registration, this is hopefully not a problem in the eyes of the Panamanian authorities.
On the other hand, I would not expect there is any chance of obtaining permission to operate in Cozumel or Mexican territorial waters. In the past couple of years, the regulator for amateur licensing in Mexico changed. So far, the new regulator (Federal Telecommunications Institute, also known by abbreviations IFT or IFETEL) has not issued new amateur licenses or permits. IFT has been renewing existing amateur licenses, and even in the past the process to get a temporary amateur permit to operate in Mexico was not easy - or cheap.
In US territorial waters, it is simple. If you have a US amateur license, or a foreign license recognized by the FCC, you can operate.
All of this, of course, depends on having permission from the ship's captain to use radio gear onboard. I did not know that Carnival has a ham-friendly reputation, but that was mentioned in a presentation given by Allen Mattis N5AFV at the 2013 AMSAT Symposium in Houston. Allen talked about his experiences operating from cruise ships and getting licensed to operate from the ships (among other topics). A video of that 2013 presentation is available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMBuGjHSH2U
The slideshow from Allen's 2013 Symposium presentation is available at:
http://mstl.atl.calpoly.edu/~bklofas/Presentations/AMSAT-NA_Symposium2013/Ma...
This is an interesting plan for a Symposium, and being able to operate on the ship would be a nice thing along with the normal Symposium activities and the day in Cozumel. It is good that the Symposium FAQ was updated today with more information on the costs of the cruise, beyond the $150 deposit.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK
On Sun, Jan 10, 2016 at 11:57 PM, Clayton W5PFG w5pfg@amsat.org wrote:
There will be published guidance for onboard operations in the months to come. Being a Panama-flagged ship makes /HP operation fairly simple.