This was a full length eight-day meeting of the Committee but again limited to 3 hours a day using the KUDO platform. The Chair was Mrs Mayte Medina of the USA and there was again a very heavy workload with 146 input papers. Two agenda items – Goal-based standards and Any Other Business had been addressed by correspondence before the meeting to save meeting time but it was still not possible to complete the agenda.

Given the current world events an exceptional item was added to the agenda concerning the situation of seafarers affected by the hostilities in Ukraine. It was reported that at the beginning of the conflict 96 vessels from 26 flag states with 1000 seafarers on board had been locked in Ukrainian ports. This had now reduced to 84 vessels from 24 flag states with 550 seafarers on board but with reports of damaged, sunk and commandeered ships. It was proposed to generate an MSC resolution, and after a long debate this was achieved on Actions to facilitate the urgent evacuation of seafarers from the war zone area in and around the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov as a result of the Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine.

On the agenda was the adoption of amendments to Chapter IV (Radiocommunications) of the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and associated documents. This was the outcome of the exercise to update the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and the performance standards for the radio equipment, a task that had been ongoing since 2009. The adoption was successfully achieved including a late proposal from China to add a requirement to receive unscheduled information broadcasts to the NAVTEX performance standards. The amendments will now be accepted on 1 July 2023 and enter into force on 1 January 2024.

Also on the agenda was Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS). A circular had been issued after the MSC103 meeting reviewing the mandatory instruments related to maritime safety and security and establishing how they would be affected by autonomous navigation. Work had continued in a Correspondence Group and was further developed by a Working Group at the meeting. This resulted in a proposal to develop a non-mandatory goal-based MASS Code limited to cargo ships as a first step. The work will be progressed by a further Correspondence Group and a new Joint MSC/LEG/FAL working group incorporating the Legal and Facilitation Committees.

Further on the agenda was the issue of cost implications for Maritime Safety Information (MSI) providers as new GMDSS service providers are recognised in addition to Inmarsat. Each new service provider will require payment for transmitting the MSI messages. A correspondence group had studied the issue and a Working Group discussed the issues further at the meeting. Whilst options for cost reduction had been identified it was not found to be possible to conclude on any particular option. The issue will now be referred to the next meeting of the sub-committee on Navigation Communications and Search and Rescue (NCSR) for further study.

The draft model regulations for domestic ferry safety prepared at the last meeting were completed and adopted as a resolution. The intent is it that these can be voluntarily and practically incorporated into national legislation to reduce accidents related to domestic ferry safety.

The proposals for new work items which had been carried over from the previous meeting were discussed but there was insufficient time to fully complete the list. Of navigation interest a proposal for Guidelines for the use of Electronic Nautical Publications (ENPs) was agreed. A proposal for Standardized digital exchange of route plans was agreed. Noting that NCSR already has an agenda item to amend the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) performance standards, it may be possible to combine this new work with the existing work. A proposal for upgrading the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) on existing ships to the latest standards, which have a 30-day recording period, was not agreed as it was considered that the life expectancy of existing VDRs would in practice achieve the objective. In conclusion the Chair did not again rule that no further proposals for new work would be accepted until the existing backlog had been cleared but urged the members not to send any more proposals to the next meeting.

At the conclusion of the meeting, it was noted that Ms Turid Stemre of Norway and Ms Christine Gregory and Mr Hans van der Graff of the Secretariat were retiring.

The next meeting has been scheduled for 2 to 11 November 2022 and a further meeting is expected from 31 May to 9 June 2023. The next meeting of NCSR is scheduled for 21 to 30 June 2022.