November and December 2007
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IFSMA attended IMO Assembly which was held in London from 19th to the 30 November 2007. The President, Captain Lindvall and the Secretary General attended the IFSMA workshop on the review of STCW in Manila. The Secretary General then reported the findings at the plenary session of The Manning and Training Seminar. These findings were then submitted to IMO and were the basis of IFSMA’s policy in preparation for the IMO sub committee STW meeting for March 2008. Due to the 93rd IMO Legal Committee meeting being held in Panama, IFSMA was unable to attend. However the IMO report on this meeting is shown below Single model insurance certificate to be developed The Legal Committee at its 93rd session requested the IMO Secretariat to prepare a model insurance certificate, which may be issued by States Parties in respect of each and every ship under the relevant IMO conventions, for consideration at its 94th session. The decision followed the adoption of a resolution at the Conference, in May this year, that adopted the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007, inviting IMO, specifically the Legal Committee, to develop a model for such a single insurance certificate. The resolution also urged Member States to ensure the entry into force of liability and compensation conventions which have yet to be ratified by sufficient numbers of States, namely the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996 (the HNS Convention), the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001, and the Protocol to the Athens Convention Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 2002. Seafarers’ issues – work continues The Committee continued its revision of the implementation of three sets of IMO-ILO Guidelines, namely on Claims for Death and Personal Injury, Abandonment, and Fair Treatment of Seafarers. The first two sets of guidelines were elaborated by the Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Expert Working Group on Liability and Compensation regarding Claims for Death, Personal Injury and Abandonment of Seafarers and adopted in 2001. The Committee noted with thanks the offer made by the representative of ILO to host the eight meeting of the Group at its premises in Geneva, in view of the ongoing refurbishment of the IMO Headquarters. The meeting will continue with its monitoring of the implementation of both sets of guidelines. The Committee also considered issues related to the implementation of the Guidelines on Fair Treatment of Seafarers adopted in 2006, and agreed that it would be appropriate to gain experience with the current Guidelines before considering any revisions. It was suggested that the Guidelines be widely disseminated and their application encouraged. In this regard, the Committee agreed that the Joint IMO/ILO Working Group should be reconvened to monitor the implementation of the Guidelines on the basis of the terms of reference approved by the ILO Governing Body, including the addition concerning the collection of information.
Review of HNS Convention continues The Committee reviewed the status of the HNS Convention. The International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds advised the Committee that the Funds’ Assembly, at its twelfth session (15 to 19 October 2007), had decided to establish an HNS Focus Group to develop a draft protocol which would provide legally binding solutions to the issues preventing entry into force, namely, contributions to the LNG account; the concept of receiver; and the non‑submission of reports on contributing cargo. The Committee expressed its readiness to consider any proposals based on the outcome of the deliberations of the Focus Group. The HNS Convention currently has nine Contracting States. Entry into force will occur 18 months after 12 States have accepted the Convention, four of which have not less than two million units of gross tonnage, provided that persons in these States who would be responsible to pay contributions to the general account have received a total quantity of at least 40 million tonnes of contributing cargo in the preceding calendar year. States are obliged, pursuant to Article 43 of the Convention, to submit information on contributing cargo received, or, in the case of LNG, discharged in that State, when depositing their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the Secretary-General, and annually thereafter, until the Convention has entered into force. The 25th IMO Assembly was held from the 19th to the 30th November 2007 and the issues relating Shipmasters are as follows. The Assembly agreed that major challenges facing IMO were to place a greater emphasis on contributing to international efforts to reduce atmospheric pollution and address global warming. Piracy off the coast of Somalia The Assembly adopted a resolution on piracy and armed robbery against ships in waters off the coast of Somalia, which, among other things, requests the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia to advise the UN Security Council that it consents to warships or military aircraft entering its territorial sea when engaging in operations against pirates or suspected pirates and armed robbers. (See Briefing 47/2007.) Ballast water management
Resolution A.1005(25) Application of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 was adopted to provide certainty and confidence in the application of the BWM Convention, thereby assisting shipping companies, ship owners, managers and operators, as well as the shipbuilding and equipment manufacturing industries, in the timely planning of their operations. The resolution addresses concerns over implementation of the Convention for vessels constructed in 2009, given the uncertainties as to whether type-approved technology would be immediately available for these ships. It allows for certain new ships built in 2009 to be exempted, if such technologies are not available, and calls on States, which have not yet done so, to ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Convention as soon as possible. Fishing vessel safety The Assembly adopted a resolution on the entry into force and implementation of the 1993 Torremolinos protocol, which reiterates the need for Governments to consider ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to the Torremolinos Protocol at the earliest possible opportunity, so that this international Convention covering fishing vessel safety can enter into force. The IMO Assembly remains convinced that the entry into force of the Torremolinos Protocol would make a significant contribution to maritime safety in general (and that of fishing vessels in particular) and also that the continuing and alarmingly high number of fishermen's lives and of fishing vessels reportedly lost every year could be substantially reduced by the global, uniform and effective implementation of the Protocol. Voyage planning in remote areas
A resolution on Guidelines on voyage planning for passenger ships operating in remote areas, was adopted, in response to the growing popularity of cruise ships sailing to new destinations, some of which are at considerable distances from search and rescue facilities. Wide range of resolutions adopted Altogether, twenty-two resolutions were adopted by the Assembly, which was attended by some 1,000 delegates from IMO Member States as well as international and non-governmental organizations. They covered a broad spectrum of topics, including piracy in waters off the coast of Somalia, technical co-operation, ballast water management, fishing vessel safety and voyage planning in remote areas.
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