IFSMA Monthly Logs

Since I wrote my report for the Annual Review the IMO has held its Maritime Safety Committee 90th session, 16 to 25 May 2012 London.

As usual this was a very busy session and was well attended by five members of IFSMA. The key points from IFSMA’s perspective were as follows.

Piracy and armed robbery against ships

The MSC agreed Interim Guidance to private maritime security companies (PMSC) providing privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) aboard vessels transiting the high-risk area off the east coast of Africa. ​

 There was considerable discussion during the first day and a half of this MSC session on how the international community should deal with issues related to the deployment of privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) on board ships and the carriage of arms on board. Finally the MSC agreed Interim Guidance to private maritime security companies (PMSC) providing contracted armed security personnel on board ships in the High Risk Area.

The guidance covers:

o   PMSC Professional Certification, including the recommendation that PMSC should seek certification with relevant national and international private maritime security service standards when these are established;

o   PMSC Company requirements,  including the recommendation that PMSC should establish procedures to provide maritime security services to ship owners and ship operators and comply with all relevant legal requirements;

o   Management, including recommendations on selection, vetting and training of personnel for a PCASP team;

o   Deployment considerations, addressing the specific aspects of PCASP deployment and the role of the PMSC in ensuring efficient and successful deployments, including communications with the ship owner or operator, and including recommendations relating to management of firearms and ammunition from embarkation to disembarkation and use of force. (The PMSC should recognize that laws governing the use of force may differ over time and according to location. The applicable national law, including any criminal laws, for an incident on a ship from which PCASP will be operating will be principally that of the flag State. It may also include the laws and regulations of coastal, port and other States.)

The MSC agreed that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) would be best placed to develop international standards for PMSCs.

Passenger ship safety 

The MSC agreed that a number of operational measures should be implemented immediately, on a voluntary basis, prior to the adoption of any measures following the analysis of the official marine investigation report into the loss of the Costa Concordia.  

The MSC adopted a resolution, which invites Member States to recommend that passenger ship companies conduct a review of operational safety measures, to ships flying their flag, on a voluntary basis and with all possible urgency and efficiency, taking into consideration the recommended interim operational measures listed in an MSC circular. 

The recommended interim measures include:

o   carrying additional lifejackets, to be readily accessible in public spaces, at the muster/assembly stations, on deck or in lifeboats, so that in the event of an emergency passengers need not return to their cabins to retrieve the lifejacket stored there;

o   reviewing the adequacy of the dissemination and communication of the emergency instructions on board ships; 

o   carrying out the muster for embarking passengers prior to departure from every port of embarkation, if the duration is 24 hours or more;

o   limiting access to the bridge to those with operational or operationally related functions, during any period of restricted manoeuvring, or while manoeuvring in conditions that the master or company bridge procedures/policy deems to require increased vigilance (e.g. arrival/departure from port, heavy traffic, poor visibility);  and

o   ensuring that the ship's voyage plan has taken into account IMO’s Guidelines for voyage planning, and, if appropriate, Guidelines on voyage planning for passenger ships operating in remote areas.

The adoption of the resolution followed consideration of information provided by the Government of Italy on the investigation into the Costa Concordia incident, as well as preliminary proposals on enhancing the safety of passenger ships brought to the Committee's attention by the Government of Italy and other Member States, as well as by the Cruise Industry Operational Safety Review.

The resolution encourages “Member States and the passenger ship industry to take the necessary actions to ensure that their current safety standards, procedures and best management practices are fully and effectively implemented”.

The MSC also agreed, in principle, to an action plan on long-term work for passenger ship safety, pending the review of the report of investigation into the loss of the Costa Concordia.

 The MSC also approved, for adoption at MSC 91, new draft SOLAS requirements (new regulation III/17-1) to require ships to have plans and procedures to recover persons from the water, as well as related Guidelines for development of plans and procedures for recovery of persons from the water. The MSC also approved a draft MSC resolution on Implementation of SOLAS regulation III/17-1 to ships other than those engaged in international voyages.

Adoption of SOLAS amendments 

The MSC adopted the following amendments, with expected entry into force on 1 January 2014:

o   SOLAS regulation II-1/8-1, to introduce a mandatory requirement for new passenger ships for either onboard stability computers or shore-based support, for the purpose of providing operational information to the Master for safe return to port after a flooding casualty;

o   SOLAS regulation III/20.11.2 regarding the testing of free-fall lifeboats, to require that the operational testing of free-fall lifeboat release systems shall be performed either by free-fall launch with only the operating crew on board or by a simulated launching. A related circular encouraging early implementation of the amendment was also approved;

o   SOLAS regulation V/14 on ships' manning, to require Administrations, for every ship, to establish appropriate minimum safe manning levels following a transparent procedure, taking into account the guidance adopted by IMO (Assembly resolution A.1047(27) on Principles of minimum safe manning); and issue an appropriate minimum safe manning document or equivalent as evidence of the minimum safe manning considered necessary;

o   SOLAS chapter VI to add a new SOLAS regulation VI/5-2, to prohibit the blending of bulk liquid cargoes during the sea voyage and to prohibit production processes on board ships;

o   SOLAS chapter VII to replace regulation 4 on documents, covering transport information relating to the carriage of dangerous goods in packaged form and the container/vehicle packing certificate; and

o   SOLAS chapter XI-1 regulation XI-1/2 on enhanced surveys, to make mandatory the International Code on the Enhanced Programme of Inspections during Surveys of Bulk Carriers and Oil Tankers, 2011 (2011 ESP Code, resolution A.1049(27)).

Adoption of Load Lines amendments

The MSC adopted amendments to regulation 47 of the International Convention on Load Lines (LL), 1966 and the 1988 LL Protocol, to shift the Winter Seasonal Zone off the southern tip of Africa further southward by 50 miles.

Adoption of amendments to Codes mandatory under the SOLAS Convention

The MSC adopted amendments to the following Codes, with expected entry into force on 1 January 2014:

International Code of Safety for High-Speed Craft, 2000 (2000 HSC Code), relating to radiocommunication, on testing of satellite EPIRBs.

International Code for Fire Safety Systems (FSS Code), relating to fixed foam fire extinguishing systems; and automatic sprinkler, fire detection and fire alarm systems.

International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code and supplements (amendment 36-12), including harmonization of the Code with the amendments to the UN Recommendations on the transport of dangerous goods, seventeenth revised edition. Amendment 36-12 will enter into force on 1 January 2014, but Contracting Governments may apply the aforementioned amendments in whole or in part on a voluntary basis from 1 January 2013.

LRIT status updated

The MSC was updated on developments in relation to the establishment and testing of LRIT Data Centres (DCs) and the operation of the LRIT system since its last session. The MSC was informed that the International LRIT Data Exchange (IDE) had been fully operational at the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) premises, in Lisbon (Portugal), since 18 October 2011. The offer of the European Union States for the continued hosting, maintenance and operation of the IDE by EMSA, beyond 2013, at no cost either to the SOLAS Contracting Governments or to the Organization, was welcomed by the Committee. 

An overview of the IDE operations (status as at November 2011) showed that 66 LRIT Data Centres were connected to the IDE; 275,000 messages were processed per week by the IDE (30 messages/minute); 111 SOLAS Contracting Governments and overseas territories to which the 1974 SOLAS Convention has been extended and 325 Search and Rescue services were users of the IDE; and the average processing time per message was less than one second. 

The MSC also welcomed the offer of the United States to continue hosting, maintaining and operating the disaster recovery site of the IDE, beyond 2013, subject to their national procurement regulations, at no cost either to the SOLAS Contracting Governments or to the Organization, with the understanding that they reserved the right to revisit their decision should the circumstances associated with the configuration and operation of the permanent IDE change in the future.

The Committee adopted updated and amended performance standards for LRIT and approved a number of updated and amended circulars relating to LRIT operations.

Other issues

In connection with other issues arising from the reports of IMO Sub-Committees and other bodies, the MSC also: 

o   Adopted revised performance standards for voyage data recorders (VDRs) to update the current performance standards and provide for VDRs to continuously maintain sequential records of preselected data items relating to the status and output of the ship's equipment, and command and control of the ship in a fixed recording medium; a float-free recording medium; and a long-term recording medium.

o   Approved, for adoption at MSC 91, the draft revised Code on noise levels on board ships, which sets out mandatory noise level limits for machinery spaces, control rooms, workshops, accommodation and other spaces on board ships, updates and revises the previous version published in 1973.

o   Approved Unified Interpretations of the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, as amended (COLREG), relating to navigation-light arrangements.

o   Approved an MSC circular on Pilot transfer arrangements, which includes a revised graphic depiction of required boarding arrangements for pilots.

o   Adopted an MSC resolution on amendments to performance standards for speed and distance measuring equipment, to add a new paragraph referring to the need for two separate devices, if ships are required to carry speed logs measuring speed through the water and speed over the ground.

o   Approved MSC circulars on Revised Guidelines for the design and approval of fixed water-based fire-fighting systems for ro-ro spaces and special category spaces; Guidelines for the approval of helicopter facility foam fire-fighting appliances; and Revised Guidelines for the maintenance and inspection of fire-protection systems and appliances.

o   Adopted amendments to the Guidelines for the design and construction of offshore supply vessels concerning damage stability standards.

o   Approved, for future adoption, draft amendments to SOLAS regulation II-2/10 on fire fighting to require a minimum of duplicate two-way portable radiotelephone apparatus for fire fighters’ communication to be carried; and draft amendments to regulation II-2/15 Instructions, on-board training and drills, to require an onboard means of recharging breathing apparatus cylinders used during drills, or a suitable number of spare cylinders.

o   Approved amendments to the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual for inclusion in the 2013 edition of the IAMSAR Manual and decided that the amendments should become applicable on 1 June 2013. The amendments include revised paragraphs relating to common language (English serves as the default SAR operational language in all cross-boundary operations where there is no other common language) and references to 406 MHz Distress Beacons.

o   In recognition of recent incidents associated with the liquefaction of cargoes, approved an MSC circular on Interim measures for early implementation of the draft amendments to the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code, recommending the early voluntary implementation of proposed draft amendments to the IMSBC Code, set to be adopted in 2013, relating to the carriage of a concentrate or other cargo which may liquefy.

Other Activities:  Astro Navigation.

On 2nd May 2012 both the Secretary General and the Secretary General Designate were invited by the UK Hydrographic office to attend a meeting in London on Astro-Navigation Solutions for the Future. This meeting was very informative and highlighted the risks of a total reliance on GNSS. What was interesting is both the UK and USA navies are re-focusing on training Astro Navigation in case of GNSS denial.

ECDIS Training

The ECDIS training working group was held at the ICS office on 15th May 2012 and was attended by both the Secretary General and the Secretary General Designate. The key issues discussed were related to the implementation of training. IFSMA held the line that the assessment must be carried out by a qualified and competent Navigator (STCW). Furthermore IFSMA stressed that the current guidelines were not robust enough. 

Rodger MacDonald
Secretary General