Sign In | Register
RIN Blog
Blog Home All Blogs
Search all posts for:   

 

Top tags: maritime  small craft group  IMO  International Maritime Organization  pnt  navigation  resilient pnt  gnss  scg  gps  Resilience  RIN PNT Advisory Group  safety  Trinity House  Education  General Aviation  leisure sailing  Maritime Navigation Group  sailing  circumnavigation  Cruising Association  fly/sail  Golden Globe Race  Land Navigation  leisure sailors  leisure vessels  Maritime safety  MNG  Navigation News  Navigation On Foot 

Note of meeting of the International Maritime Organization Maritime Safety Committee IMO MSC106 – 2 to 11 November 2022
Posted By Kim Fisher, 16 November 2022
This was a full length eight-day meeting of the Committee and the first meeting since the pandemic to be conducted as a physical meeting in the IMO building and was very well attended. Remote access was also possible. The Chair was Mrs Mayte Medina of the USA and there was again a very heavy workload but the easier meeting arrangements facilitated very good progress to be made including dealing with the backlog after the years of remote working.

The previous meeting of the sub-committee on Navigation, Communications, Search and Rescue (NCSR) held in June had considered difficulties raised by Ukraine of managing Search and Rescue operations in warzone areas and requested developing suitable provisions at this meeting. This was achieved with the drafting of a resolution to remind Member States of their responsibilities under the SOLAS and SAR Conventions in the context of armed conflicts.

Work continued on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) towards developing a MASS Code for cargo ships. A Correspondence Group reported on its work and a meeting had been held of a Joint MSC/LEG/FAL working group incorporating the Legal and Facilitation Committees. It is intended that the Joint working group will now meet twice a year and the Correspondence Group will continue with its work. 

A new resolution was agreed on Recommended cooperation to ensure the safety of life at sea, the rescue of persons in distress at sea end the safe disembarkation of survivors.

A new SOLAS chapter XV was adopted on Safety measures for ships carrying industrial personnel together with an associated Code.

The previous meeting of NCSR had considered the application by China for the recognition of the BeiDou Message Service System (BDMSS) for use in the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). A technical assessment had been performed by the International Maritime Satellite Organization (IMSO) but it had not been possible to complete this for lack of an on site inspection which had not been possible due to the pandemic. An on site inspection had been conducted subsequently which was reported to the meeting. The meeting decided to accept this and agreed to recognise the Chinese system. There are still issues regarding the radio frequencies however to be resolved before BDMSS will be able to operate along side Inmarsat and Iridium.

The NCSR meeting had also completed revised performance standards for the electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) to facilitate the introduction of the new S-100 electronic charts. An input to this meeting from China suggested deferring the approval of 1 January 2029 as the mandatory application date of the new ECDIS. However this was not accepted by the committee.

New work items were agreed for a revision of SOLAS V/23 on safety of pilot transfer arrangements, and a review of SOLAS IV/5 on provision of radiocommunication services. A proposal to amend SOLAS in order to allow coastal States to receive Long Range Information and Tracking (LRIT) information free of charge was not accepted. As a consequence of a report of the UN Panel of Experts regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), NCSR was tasked to carry out a review of security standards for preventing the tampering of AIS transponders used to disguise illicit oil deliveries.

The meeting noted the recent death of Christian Breinholt of Denmark who was MSC chair from 2012 to 2015. The meeting bade farewell to Captain Moin Ahmed the Director-General of IMSO who was ending his term after 8 years. The new Director-General will be Laurent Parente of Vanuatu.

The next meeting has been scheduled for 31 May to 9 June 2023. A meeting of the IMO/ITU Joint Experts Group has been scheduled for 5 to 9 December 2022. The next meeting of NCSR is scheduled for 8 to 17 May 2023.
 

Tags:  IMO  International Maritime Organization  maritime  safety 

Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Note on a meeting of IMO NCSR9: 21 – 30 June 2022
Posted By Kim Fisher, 04 July 2022

by Kim Fisher

The meeting of the sub-committee on Navigation, Communications, Search and Rescue was held as a remote meeting under the chairmanship of the new chair, Nigel Clifford of New Zealand. The remote working again limited the time available for the meeting. Some items had been dealt with by correspondence before the meeting and two items, generic performance standards for satellite navigation receivers and revision to Voyage Data Recorder standards were postponed to the next meeting.

A late document from Ukraine was exceptionally added to the agenda. This described the difficulties of managing Search and Rescue operations in warzone areas and requested developing suitable provisions for the next meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 106). NCSR members were invited to work with Ukraine on these developments

The previous meeting had completed the revision of Chapter IV (Radiocommunications) of the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and this meeting completed some supporting Circulars. A report was available concerning the assessment of the Chinese satellite system, BDMSS, proposed to be integrated into the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) as a recognised mobile satellite system alongside Inmarsat and Iridium. The report concluded that BDMSS should be able to meet the IMO requirements but, due to Covid restrictions, it had not been possible to visit China to conduct an on-site assessment. It was therefore proposed to request MSC 106 to consider the issue when all the information was available. There was insufficient time to consider the proposed revision of the resolution A.1001(25) used for the assessment and a correspondence group was established to be led by France. 

The issue of increased costs for Maritime Safety Information (MSI) providers as new GMDSS satellite service providers are recognised in addition to Inmarsat was discussed following the work of a correspondence group which reported to the last meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee. There was insufficient time to progress this work and a further correspondence group was set up to be led by Australia.

The IMO position for the next ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC 23) was completed. There was insufficient time to consider ITU proposals to modify the recommendation M.1371-5 for the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and this will be progressed in a correspondence group to be led by Germany.

Revised performance standards for the electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) were completed. These facilitate the introduction of the new S-100 electronic charts but a further proposal to include electronic exchange of route information was not accepted. The Circular on guidance for good practice with ECDIS was revised to include guidance on software updates.

Revised performance standards were prepared for the long range identification and tracking system (LRIT) and also a revised NAVTEX Manual and a circular giving guidance on the dissemination of search and rescue information through the enhanced group call service.

A new issue concerning the operation of emergency personal radio devices in multiple casualty situations was addressed with a new Circular.

Changes to the SOLAS Chapter V were prepared to add a requirement for new container ships and bulk carriers over 3000 gross tonnage to be fitted with an electronic inclinometer.
 
The work of the correspondence group on Safety measures for non-SOLAS ships operating in polar waters was completed and amendments prepared to Chapter XIV of the SOLAS Convention and the Polar Code to include fishing vessels of 24 metres and above, pleasure yachts of 300 gross tonnage and above not engaged in trade, and cargo ships of 300 gross tonnage and above but below 500 gross tonnage. 

The work of the correspondence group on Revision of the Guidelines on places of refuge for ships in need of assistance was completed and a revised draft Assembly Resolution prepared.

An expert group on ship’s routing had been held in the week before the meeting. Amendments to the Traffic Separation Scheme in the approaches to the ports of Odessa and Ilichevesk Ukraine were agreed, a recommended route off Cape Shio-no-Misaki Japan was agreed, amendments to the area to be avoided off the coast of Southern California was agreed, the establishment of a no-anchoring area off Pulley Ridge Florida was agreed, and a recommendation on navigation for container ships in the traffic separation schemes off Denmark was agreed. Members were invited to review their mandatory voice reporting systems to determine if they were still required given the now universal use of AIS. A UK proposal for a new mandatory reporting system in the Pentland Firth was not agreed.

The next meeting of NCSR is planned for 8 to 17 May 2023. A meeting of the ICAO/IMO Joint Working Group is planned for 17 to 22 October 2022. A meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 106) is planned for 2 to 11 November 2022. A meeting of the Joint IMO/ITU Experts Group is planned for 5 to 9 December 2022. 

 

Tags:  IMO  International Maritime Organization  M 

Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Note of meeting of the International Maritime Organization Maritime Safety Committee IMO MSC105 – 20 to 29 April 2022
Posted By Kim Fisher, 03 May 2022
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.
 

Tags:  IMO  International Maritime Organization  Maritime 

Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Note of meeting of the International Maritime Organization Maritime Safety Committee IMO MSC103 – 5 to 14 November 2021
Posted By Kim Fisher, 19 May 2021
This was an eight-day meeting of the Committee but limited to 3 hours a day using the KUDO platform so proved very challenging and it was not possible to complete the agenda. The previous Chair. Bradley Groves of Australia, had completed his five-year term and the new Chair elected was Mrs Mayte Medina of the USA. She had previously been Chair of the Subcommittee on Sub-Committee on Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping.

In opening the meeting, the Secretary-General stressed the important contribution made by seafarers and the need for member countries to classify them as key workers, of which only a third of the membership had in fact so far done. The meeting developed a resolution concerning COVID-19 vaccination of seafarers asking members to prioritize their seafarers and exempt seafarers from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition for entry. An Assembly resolution will be developed for the next Assembly meeting.

The substantive issue at the meeting concerned the regulatory scoping exercise for the use of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS). Considerable work had been done by an Intersessional Group and a draft report had been prepared which was successfully finalised and will be issued as a Circular. This reviews the mandatory instruments related to maritime safety and security establishing how they would be affected against four degrees of autonomy; ships with automated processes and decision support but with seafarers are on board, remotely controlled ships but with seafarers on board, remotely controlled ships without seafarers on board and fully autonomous ships. It is now considered that the best way forward to address MASS in the IMO regulatory framework would be through the development of a goal-based MASS Code and Member States are invited to submit proposals to the next meeting.

Piracy and armed robbery continues to be a problem with 228 incidents reported in 2020, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea West Africa. A resolution was prepared on recommended action to address piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea and an Assembly resolution will be developed on prevention and suppression of piracy, armed robbery against ships and illicit maritime activity in the Gulf of Guinea.

On navigation and communication matters, amendments were agreed to the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual. The burden of the extra cost of transmitting MSI and SAR related messages over multiple satellite system providers was discussed. Various proposals were considered and the topic will be progressed through a correspondence group established under the coordination of Australia.

New work items were agreed for performance standards and SOLAS amendments to introduce the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) and for performance standards for a digital navigational data system NAVDAT.

The next meeting has been scheduled for 4 to 8 October and a further meeting is expected in the first half of 2022 but dates have not yet been decided.

Tags:  IMO  International Maritime Organization  Mar 

Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Note on a meeting of IMO NCSR: 19 – 23 April 2021
Posted By Kim Fisher, 27 April 2021
The meeting of the sub-committee on Navigation, Communications, Search and Rescue which had been planned for 10 to 19 February 2021was finally conducted online and with a limited agenda. It was chaired by Ringo Lakeman of the Netherlands. This meeting competed his 5 year term as chairman so the vice chair Nigel Clifford of New Zealand will now take over with Alexander Schwarz of Germany as the new vice chair.

The major task of the meeting was to complete the revision of Chapter IV (Radiocommunications) of the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and associated documents, a task that had been ongoing since 2009. A special meeting of the Communications Working Group had been held in the previous two weeks which had prepared complete texts and which in the event were agreed without comment. The texts now go the Maritime Safety Committee at the meeting MSC 104 in October, the next meeting MSC 103 in May being too close to allow the documents to be prepared. The revised Chapter does not greatly change any requirements with the exception of permitting satellite systems in addition to Inmarsat.

A correspondence group reported on Safety measures for non-SOLAS ships operating in polar waters. It was not possible to complete the work at the meeting so the correspondence group will be re-established. It is now intended that the measures will apply to fishing vessels of 24 metres and above, pleasure yachts of 300 gross tonnage and above not engaged in trade, and cargo ships of 300 gross tonnage and above but below 500 gross tonnage.

A further correspondence group reported on Revision of the Guidelines on places of refuge for ships in need of assistance. Again, it was not possible to complete the work at the meeting and again the correspondence group will be re-established.

A new Iridium SafetyCast service manual had been prepared as a replacement for the existing interim manual. However, it was considered that this was incomplete and should be looked at again at the next meeting. Work continues on the arrangements for coordinators to broadcast navigation and weather information to ships fitted with Iridium terminals and the modifications to the Master Plan module of the web based Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) to include information on the implementation of the Iridium SafetyCast service.

The Japanese satellite navigation system QZSS was agreed to be recognised as part of the worldwide radionavigation system despite concerns from Korea and China. A correspondence group reported on the development of generic performance standards for shipborne satellite navigation system receiver equipment but there was insufficient time to progress this, which will now be referred back to the correspondence group.

Amendments to the performance standards for Voyage Data Recorders were agreed to refer to the new Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon requirements for use with the float free capsule.

A liaison statement was prepared to send to the International Telecommunications Union concerning the problem of interference from mobile phone systems to Inmarsat terminals on ships. A further issue was reported of interference from mobile phone systems to the Inmarsat land earth station at Burum in the Netherlands. If this cannot be managed then there may be a need for Inmarsat to relocate from Burum.

There were no ship routeing proposals to discuss due to the limited agenda which will result in a back log for the next meeting. To help the work a special meeting of the ship routeing group will be held in advance of the next meeting.

No date was set for the next meeting due to continuing uncertainties in planning around the Covid pandemic. The IMO Council will meet in July to discuss the meeting programme. It is hoped that there will be an eight-day meeting in 2022. It is hoped that new agenda items will be included to revise the electronic chart performance standards to include a transition to the new S-101 chart data format, amendments to the Voyage Data Recorder performance standards to include recording of telephone conversations and a revision of the criteria for the provision of mobile satellite communication services (resolution A.1001(25)).

A meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 103) is planned for 5 to 14 May 2021 and a further meeting (MSC 104) for 4 to 8 October 2021. A meeting of the ICAO/IMO Joint Working Group is planned for 6 to 10 September 2021. A meeting of the Joint IMO/ITU Experts Group is planned for 1 to 5 November 2021.

Tags:  IMO  International Maritime Organization  maritime 

Permalink | Comments (0)
 
Page 2 of 3
1  |  2  |  3