IFSMA Monthly Logs

The details of the IFSMA AGA held in Bremen have now been sent out and also a DVD of the proceedings is available from HQ on request. A shorter showing of this DVD appears on the IFSMA Web Page.

During the 3 months since the IFSMA AGA we have attended a number of meetings and dealt with issues relating to the continued unfair treatment of Ship Masters and seafarers in general.

There are two particular cases which are of great concern. Captain Kristo Laptalo who was master of the Coral Sea was judged guilty of trafficking drugs and sentenced to 14 years in prison because narcotics were found in amongst the ship’s cargo of over 100,000 boxes of bananas. There is widespread criticism of this case condemning the trial as flawed. An appeal will be made but it appears that the Judge is of the opinion that someone has to be blamed, and it is the Master who carries the can.

The second case is equally unjust. Captain Jasprit Chawla of the Hebei Spirit and his chief officer were tried in a Korean court accused of pollution following an incident where a runaway crane barge collided with their ship which was at anchor. In this case they were found innocent, but are being detained by the Koreans pending an appeal and Supreme Court hearing which will probably take at least a year.

In both cases IFSMA has expressed its condemnation to the governments of each country. In July Captain Willi Wittig and your Secretary General attended a workshop in Hamburg on the unfair treatment of seafarers at the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.   It was very useful to speak to a number of judges and lawyers who are experts in international maritime law but the alarming outcome is it appears to be easy to criminalise seafarers and that in many countries the criminal courts make no recognition of international law. We still have an enormous amount of work to do.

Accidents caused by lifeboat drills is another concern that IFSMA has been actively involved in, and your Secretary General attended the International Lifeboat Group meeting in June. A further meeting is planned for October where it is intended to put forward a further submission to IMO.

IFSMA has received an interesting report from a serving Shipmaster on the West African coast where officials appear to act in a most unhelpful way to say the least. IFSMA will look into ways that can discreetly draw the attention of this to the administrations at IMO.

IFSMA attended a number of IMO meetings during this period.

At the Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation (FSI), 16th session: 2-6 June 2008 two particular issues relevant to shipmasters were discussed.

Investigation into the MSC Napoli

Following the review of the "Report on the investigation of the structural failure of MSC Napoli in the English Channel on 18 January 2007", the Sub-Committee identified four main issues for consideration: misdeclaration and loading of containers; the human element; the structural strength of container ships; and the pending International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) Code of good practice for the container shipping industry.

The Sub-Committee recommended that the MSC consider:

• referring the investigation report to the Sub-Committee on ship Design and Equipment (DE) and the Joint MSC-MEPC Working Group on the Human Element for review;
• inviting Administrations to bring to the attention of their vessel owners and operators the recommendation in the report to the ship's operator to review its safety management system and auditing procedures to ensure that: guidance and instructions to Masters regarding speed in heavy weather take into account the lessons learned from this accident; the shore management consults with the relevant classification societies when there is any doubt regarding the criticality of machinery items on board its vessels, which are defective or unserviceable; and Masters are fully aware of the requirement to inform embarked pilots of all factors affecting manoeuvrability and stability; and,
• inviting the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) to provide an update on its review of the relevant standards.

Port reception facilities

As part of its work on the Action Plan to tackle the alleged inadequacy of port reception facilities, the Sub-Committee agreed standardized forms for the Advance Notification Form and for the Waste Delivery Receipt, to be used by ships delivering wastes and residues to reception facilities and forwarded them to the MEPC for its approval.

The Sub-Committee also reviewed data submitted to the Port Reception Facility Database (PRFD), a module of GISIS, consisting of 89 cases of alleged inadequacies - of which 59 per cent of all reports received had been submitted by a single ship and by the ships of a single company. It was felt that the low level of reporting could be due to lack of incentives for reporting; fear (by the Master and/or company) that ships may be penalized at future port calls; or a belief that reporting would only generate paper work and would not achieve any improvements towards the provision of adequate facilities. However, it was also suggested that the low numbers of reports might reflect that there is no serious problem of inadequacy of reception facilities.

The Sub-Committee urged those Member States that had not already done so to populate GISIS with records of reception facilities in their ports and with their contact points and to disseminate to shipping companies the form for reporting alleged inadequacies of port reception facilities. The Sub-Committee also urged non-governmental organizations representing shipowners to stress to their members the value of reporting in tackling the inadequacy of port reception facilities.

At the 100^th Council session held on the 16-20 June 2008 the following relevant issues were discussed.

Piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia

The Council welcomed the recent adoption by the United Nations Security Council of resolution 1816 (2008), under which, with the co-operation of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, States might enter the country's territorial waters and use "all necessary means" to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, in a manner consistent with relevant provisions of international law.

The Council invited Member Governments, individually and/or collectively, to take appropriate action in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution 1816 (2008), to ensure that the scourge of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia is eradicated and that the vital shipping lane through the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Bab el Mandeb is protected against unlawful acts which may threaten the safety of navigation. It also thanked the Governments, and the navies, of France, Denmark and the Netherlands for their support in escorting ships carrying humanitarian aid on behalf of the World Food Programme into Somali ports, and encouraged them as well as other Governments and navies to continue assisting with this humanitarian activity.

The Council requested IMO Secretary General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos to take appropriate action to promote a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, that was developed by an IMO-sponsored Sub-regional meeting on piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and Red Sea area, held in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, in April 2008, including the convening of a further high level meeting to conclude the MoU at the earliest possible time.

IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea

The Council endorsed the decision of a Panel of Judges that the 2008 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea should go to Mr. Rodolfo Fonseca da Silva Rigueira, of the drill ship Noble Roger Eason, nominated by the Government of Brazil for prompt and effective action in saving six crew members from a dangerous fire on the ship. The fire originated from an explosion, causing imminent risk of death to crew members in the vicinity, including Mr. Rigueira, yet, instead of evacuating the area, he repeatedly exposed himself to the fire and very high temperatures, at severe risk to his own life, to save his six colleagues.

A total of 32 nominations from ten Member States of IMO, one intergovernmental organization and three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in consultative status were received at IMO and considered in May by an Assessment Panel consisting of experts nominated by various NGOs. The Panel of Judges met on 13 June, under the chairmanship of the Council Chairman, and with the participation of the Chairmen of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), the Legal Committee, the Technical Cooperation Committee and the Facilitation Committee.

World Maritime Day theme for 2009

The IMO Council agreed, following a proposal from the Secretary-General, that the World Maritime Day theme for 2009 will be "CLIMATE CHANGE: a challenge for IMO too!" The Council also authorized necessary arrangements for the celebration of World Maritime Day in 2009, including a parallel event to be held in the United States.

At the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation (NAV), 54th session held from 30 June – 4 July 2008, the following particular issues relevant to shipmasters were discussed

Mandatory carriage requirements for ECDIS and Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System agreed by Sub-Committee

Draft regulations to make mandatory the carriage of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) and Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System (BNWAS), under SOLAS chapter V Safety of Navigation, were agreed by the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation (NAV) when it met for its 54th session. The proposed new regulations will be submitted to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) for approval at its 85th session in November-December 2008, with a view to adoption by MSC 86 in May 2009.

ECDIS carriage requirements

The draft amendment to SOLAS regulation V/19 would require ships engaged on international voyages to be fitted with ECDIS according to the following timetable (the dates in square brackets were agreed in principle by the Sub-Committee):

• passenger ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards constructed on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2012];
• tankers of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2012];
• cargo ships, other than tankers, of 10,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2013];
• cargo ships, other than tankers, of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 10,000 gross tonnage constructed on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2014];
• passenger ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before [1 July 2012], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2014];
• tankers of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before [1 July 2012], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2015];
• cargo ships, other than tankers, of 50,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before [1 July 2013], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2016];
• cargo ships, other than tankers, of 20,000 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 50,000 gross tonnage constructed before [1 July 2013], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2017];
• cargo ships, other than tankers, of 10,000 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 20,000 gross tonnage constructed before [1 July 2013], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2018].

Administrations may exempt ships from the application of the requirements when such ships will be taken permanently out of service within two years after the implementation date specified.

The Sub-Committee also agreed on an amendment of existing regulation V/19.2.1.4 to reflect that ECDIS is an acceptable alternative to nautical charts and nautical publications, yet retaining the proviso that in a number of cases (for example ships not on international voyages, ships exempt from the carriage requirements because they were to be taken out of service permanently and cargo ships on international voyages but below the agreed tonnage limit), it could be appropriate to use only nautical charts and nautical publications.

To assist shipowners and operators in the implementation of the new requirement, the Sub-Committee agreed a draft SN/Circular on Transitioning from paper chart to electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS) navigation.

The Sub-Committee also noted progress made in the availability of electronic navigational charts, a prerequisite for introducing mandatory ECDIS carriage requirements.

Bridge navigational watch alarm system regulation

The draft amendment to SOLAS regulation V/19 will require carriage of a BNWAS, complying with IMO performance standards, on ships of 150 gross tonnage and upwards and passenger ships irrespective of size, with a phased carriage requirement for existing ships, as follows (the dates in square brackets were agreed in principle by the Sub-Committee):

• ships of 150 gross tonnage and upwards and passenger ships irrespective of size constructed on or after [1 July 2011];
• passenger ships irrespective of size constructed before [1 July 2011], not later than the first survey after [1 July 2012];
• ships of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before [1 July 2011], not later than the first survey after [1 July 2012];
• ships, of 500 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 3,000 gross tonnage, constructed before [1 July 2011], not later than the first survey after [1 July 2013];
• ships, of 150 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 500 gross tonnage constructed before [1 July 2011], not later than the first survey after [1 July 2014].

The bridge navigational watch alarm system is required to be in operation whenever the ship is underway at sea.

E-navigation strategy completed

The Sub-Committee agreed a draft strategy for the development and implementation of e-navigation, including a draft framework for the implementation process for the e-navigation strategy along with a timeframe, for submission to MSC 85, with a view to approval together with a policy decision on its implementation.

The draft strategy defines e-navigation as the harmonized collection, integration, exchange, presentation and analysis of marine information onboard and ashore by electronic means to enhance berth to berth navigation and related services for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment.

A comprehensive overview of e-navigation elements and objectives is given, along with proposals for its implementation. The implementation plan for e-navigation should include:

• transition planning, taking into account the phasing needed to deliver early benefits and to make the optimum use of existing systems and services in the short term. The implementation plan should be phased so that the first phase can be achieved by fully integrating and standardizing existing technology and systems (the reduced architecture identified during the gap analysis) and using a reduced concept of operations. Subsequent phases should develop and implement any new technology that is required to deliver the preferred architecture and implement the overall concept of operations;
• identification of potential sources of funding for development and implementation, particularly for developing regions and countries and taking actions to secure that funding; and
• implementation itself, in phases, perhaps based on a voluntary equipage of (integrated) existing systems to begin with, but with mandatory equipage and use of a full e-navigation solution in the longer term.

The final phase of the iterative implementation programme would be to review, lessons learned and re-plan the subsequent phases of the plan, bearing in mind the fact that e-navigation is not a static concept, and that development of logical implementation phases will be ongoing as user requirements evolve and also as technology develops enabling more efficient and effective systems.

One annex provides a list of existing components of e-navigation, i.e. existing navigation and radiocommunication equipment, which need to be evaluated in order to explain how they could be implemented in the e-navigation strategy or how it or the associated standards might need to be amended before it can be integrated. Other annexes give a list of responsibilities for ownership and control of the e-navigation concept and preliminary lists of e-navigation users classified into shipborne users and shore-based users.

The proposed time line for implementation of the e-navigation strategy foresees:

• by 2009 - identify initial user needs, review them and prioritize them;
• by 2009 - coordinated review of system architecture, which should include the hardware, data, information, communications technology and software needed to meet the user needs. The review should be completed by 2010;
• by 2010 - complete initial gap analyses. A preliminary gap analysis has already been started by the Sub-Committee. Taking into account the human element throughout the process, further gap analyses should focus on technical, regulatory, operational and training aspects;
• by 2011 - complete cost-benefit and risk analyses, which should be used to support strategic decisions as and when certain functions need to be enabled. The analyses should address financial and economic aspects as well as assess the impact on safety, security and the environment;
• 2012 - implementation of the e-navigation plan could begin in 2012 and should include identification of responsibilities of the appropriate organizations/parties; transition planning; and a phased implementation schedule along with possible roadmaps to clarify common understanding necessary for implementation.

Ships' routeing and ship reporting measures approved

The Sub-Committee approved the following new and amended ships' routeing and ship reporting measures for submission to the MSC for adoption:

Traffic separation schemes (TSSs)

• new traffic separation scheme "In the Approaches to the port of Thessaloniki" (Greece);
• new traffic separation schemes, "North Åland Sea", and "South Åland Sea" (Finland and Sweden);
• new traffic separation scheme "In Liverpool Bay" (United Kingdom);
• amendments to the north-south leg of the existing traffic separation scheme "In the approach to Boston, Massachusetts" (United States);
• amended traffic separation scheme "Off Land's End, between Seven Stones and Longships" (United Kingdom);
• amended traffic separation scheme "In the approaches to the River Humber" (United Kingdom);
• amended traffic separation scheme "At Hatter Barn" (Denmark).

Routeing measures other than traffic separation schemes (TSSs)

• new recommendatory seasonal Area to be Avoided "In the Great South Channel" (United States);
• new Area to be Avoided and two mandatory No Anchoring Areas in the vicinity of the proposed "Excelerate Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge Deepwater Port" (United States), which has still to be built;
• new deep-water routes inside the borders of the "North Åland Sea" and "South Åland" TSSs;
• new two-way route leading to the "Åland Sea" (Finland and Sweden);
• new Area to Be Avoided "In Liverpool Bay" (United Kingdom).

Mandatory ship reporting systems

• new mandatory ship reporting system "Off the Coast of Portugal - COPREP";
• amendments to the existing ship reporting system for the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, "CORAL SHIPREP" (United States).

Guidelines for Integrated Bridge Systems (IBS)

Draft guidelines for Integrated Bridge Systems (IBS) and draft performance standards for bridge alert management were reviewed and the Sub-Committee agreed to broaden the scope of the proposed guidelines to Guidelines for bridge equipment and systems, their arrangement and integration. A correspondence group was re-established to finalize the draft guidelines and draft performance standards for submission to the next session, and to liaise with the Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment (DE) to ensure consistent treatment of alerts, including alarms and indicators.

Meanwhile, the Sub-committee agreed a draft SN/Circular on guidelines for the application of the modular concept to performance standards, which are intended to assist in the consistent and logically structured drafting of new and revised performance standards for systems and equipment according to the modular concept. With the modular concept, operational/functional and sensor/source modules are specified, allowing clear separation between operational requirements for the task orientated use and presentation of information on equipment and systems, and between the sensor specific technical performance requirements.

Pilot transfer arrangements

A correspondence group was established to develop amendments to SOLAS regulation V/23 and resolution A.889(21) on Pilot transfer arrangements, to improve the safety aspects for pilot transfer. The correspondence group will present an interim report to DE 52 and it is expected that the issue will be reviewed again at NAV 55.

Rodger MacDonald
Secretary General