Note on a meeting of IMO NCSR11: 4– 13 June 2024

Report by Kim Fisher, FRIN

The meeting of the sub-committee on Navigation, Communications, Search and Rescue was intended to be held under the chairmanship Nigel Clifford of New Zealand but he had retired and was unable to take the chair. The vice chair Alexander Schwarz of Germany was also unavailable as he had been moved to other work in the German Administration. The meeting thus began with the election of new officers – Joris Brouwers of the Netherlands as chair (he previously had chaired the NAV working group) and Capt. Cerdo Espejo of Chile as vice chair. It was an eight day meeting but the Maritime Safety Committee is pressing for a return to a five day meeting. Ways of reducing the workload were discussed without any real conclusions. The next meeting has been agreed to be eight days again.

There were statements on the ongoing situation in Ukraine, the Red sea, and a new issue, jamming of GPS by North Korea. No specific actions were identified for these and no outputs were required from the meeting.

At the previous meeting there had been considerable discussion on proposals to amend SOLAS to improve the safety of pilot transfer arrangements which resulted in the setting up of a correspondence group led by China. The correspondence group report led to a significant workload for the meeting but successfully concluded with draft revisions to SOLAS regulation V/23, revised performance standards for pilot transfer arrangements, and a Circular on voluntary early implementation of the revised SOLAS V/23. The International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA) was invited to submit further consequential editorial updates directly to the next meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee.

The previous meeting had referred proposals for the introduction of a VHF data exchange system (VDES) as a possible replacement for the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to a correspondence group led by Japan. There was considerable discussion in this which resulted in general agreement that VDES should be introduced through chapter V (navigation) of SOLAS and not chapter IV (radiocommunications) as a voluntary option. More work was needed to prepare draft amendments to SOLAS and complete performance standards and the correspondence group was re-instated.

Proposals for performance standards for NAVDAT, intended to be a possible replacement for NAVTEX had been held over from the last meeting. The meeting successfully completed the performance standards and a revision of resolution MSC.509(105) on provision of radio services, and invited the IMO NAVTEX coordinating panel to develop a NAVDAT coordination scheme. Further work was forwarded to the next meeting of the Joint IMO/ITU Experts Group.

The last meeting had referred the issue of increased costs for Maritime Safety Information (MSI) providers as new GMDSS satellite service providers are recognised in addition to Inmarsat to the Maritime Safety Committee for advice. The Committee had subsequently instructed NCSR to prepare draft amendments to the SOLAS Convention clearly stating the requirement for dissemination of MSI and search and rescue information through all recognised satellite service providers (RMSS), and set a target date of 31 December 2026 for full dissemination by existing RMSS. A revision was made to resolution A.707(17) on charging, but the work was not otherwise completed and was referred to the next meeting of the Joint IMO/ITU Experts Group.

Proposals to revise the criteria for the provision of new GMDSS satellite service providers (resolution A.1001(25)) had been referred by the last meeting back to a correspondence group led by France. The new proposals led to considerable discussion but ultimately resulted in a revised resolution.

The issue of unlawful practices in the “dark fleet” associated with the manipulation of data transmissions from the AIS and tampering of AIS transponders was again discussed. Some modifications were made to the performance standards for AIS to incorporate the ship IMO number and a manufacturer identity. A proposal was made for the audits of the Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system to use twelve months of data and not one month as at present to help in identifying wrongly reporting ships and the International Maritime Satellite Organization (IMSO) offered to conduct a trial.

Issues on the implementation of S-100 charts and operational guidance on route exchange were discussed and a correspondence set up to generate guidelines on the use of electronic nautical publications (ENP) to be led by Korea.

Amendments were agreed to the ship' routeing system TSS "In the approaches to Hook of Holland and at North Hinder" together with a revised recommendation on navigation for containerships in traffic separation schemes “Off Vlieland, Terschelling-German Bight, Off Friesland and German Bight western approach”, and draft areas to be avoided around oil rigs “off the Brazilian coast – Santos Basin”.

At the end of the meeting the retirement was announced of Christian Rissone of France and Jean-Charles Cornillou also of France.

The next meeting of NCSR is planned for 13 to 22 May 2025. A meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 109) is planned for 2 to 6 June December 2024. A meeting of the Joint IMO/ITU Experts Group is planned for 7 to 11 October 2024. A meeting of the ICAO/IMO Joint Working Group is planned for 4 to 8 November 2024.

Professor Washington Yotto Ochieng elected President of the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN)

Professor Washington Yotto Ochieng, CBE, EBS, CEng, FREng, FRIN, FICE, FCIHT, FInstCES, was elected President at the RIN's Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 18 June 2024. Professor Ochieng is a serving Trustee and Member of both the Council and Technical Committee of the RIN. 

Having joined the RIN in the 1990s and witness it grow from strength to strength thanks to the efforts of so many including the Executive/Secretariat, Council members and Presidents and the wider membership, Professor Ochieng takes on the mantle of leading the RIN at an exciting time following the release of  the UK Government's Policy Framework for greater PNT (positioning, navigation and timing) resilience. The start of the implementation of the Framework has seen the UK lead the world in establishing a unique and dedicated PNT Office within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). 

Professor Ochieng is particularly excited by the RIN’s mission and vision. The latter is to “unite in one body those interested in navigation, and to advance the art, science and practice of navigation and to promote knowledge in navigation and its associated sciences, including positioning, timing, tracking and conduct of a journey, whether on, in, over or under land, sea, air or space”.

This is translated into the vision “to be an inclusive group of diverse disciplines and people working together for a more navigable world".

“I very much look forward to working with the Trustees, Council, wider membership, and partners in industry, government, non-governmental organisations and the wider public to promote the vast contributions of PNT and related areas including Geospatial Science and Geomatic Engineering, to the world and beyond, capitalising on our established track record in facilitating research, education, innovation and practice”.

“I am particularly keen to ensure that the RIN plays its role in addressing the challenges of our time (encapsulated within the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals) across geography and time, underpinned by a culture of equality, diversity, inclusion, respect, excellence, collaboration, innovation and integrity”.

Professor Ochieng affirms that his Presidency will be anchored on developing talent, capacity building, generating resources, and sustained significant societal impact addressing local, regional and global challenges. Professor Ochieng will challenge each Member of the RIN to identify at least one aspect of the RIN’s work that they will champion in the coming 2 years, taking ownership and demonstrably delivering. 

Professor Ochieng is the Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chair in Positioning and Navigation Systems and Director of the Institute for Security Science and Technology at Imperial College London. He is a Trustee of the Science Museum Group (SMG), Chair of the Science Museum Advisory Board (SMAB), Member of NPL’s Science and Technology Council (STAC) and Scientific Advisor at the DfT and FCDO. He Chairs the Africa Engineers Steering Committee at the Royal Academy of Engineering.

His achievements are highly recognised globally including in his native Kenya as well as in the UK.

In 2022, Professor Ochieng received the honour of Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS) from Kenyan President Dr William Ruto for his contributions to Kenya and the world. One of the country’s highest national decorations, the EBS is awarded by the President to public dignitaries, exemplary members of the public service, and other professionals who have provided distinguished service.

In June 2024, His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom bestowed upon Professor Ochieng the National Honour of ‘Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)’ for services to Global Positioning and Navigation Systems. A pioneer of Europe’s satellite-based global positioning and navigation systems, Professor Ochieng’s research covers positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system design and application on water, land, air and space. His research portfolio also includes infrastructure security and resilience, and user-centric mobility. As well as his research, he also advises the UK government on related policy.


Editor’s note:

About the Royal Institute of Navigation:
The Royal Institute of Navigation is a learned society and a professional body for navigation. The RIN's activities cover the full breadth of navigation and precise timing, spanning land, sea, air and space and includes animal navigation, human cognition, navigable cities and buildings and all domains of the practice of navigation.

Contact information: 
Dr Clare Stead 
comms@rin.org.uk

Released 19 June 2024