IMO News_3/04

From the meetings
• Maritime Safety Committee
• 78th session
• 12 - 21 May 2004
Technical Co-operation Committee • From the meetings
54th session •
15 - 17 June 2004 •
TCC meeting acknowledges continuing
work on maritime and port security
Implementation of the revised
STCW Convention
The MSC approved the updated list of
Parties which included two additional STCW
Parties approved at the session deemed to be
giving full and complete effect to the
provisions of the International Convention on
Standards of Training, Certification and
Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, as
amended.
Simplified Voyage Data
Recorders – SOLAS
amendments approved
The MSC agreed with the
recommendation of the Sub-committee on
Safety of Navigation (NAV) that retrofitting
existing cargo ships with Voyage Data
Recorders (VDR) was feasible and desirable
and that a simplified VDR (S-VDR) should be
specified for existing cargo ships.
The MSC therefore approved – with a
view to adoption at MSC 79 - draft
amendments to regulation 20 of SOLAS
chapter V (Safety of Navigation) on a phasedin
carriage requirement for a shipborne S-
VDR. The draft regulation requires a VDR,
which may be a S-VDR, to be fitted to cargo
ships above 3,000 gross tonnage. The
proposed draft regulation would phase in the
requirement for cargo ships over 20,000
gross tonnage first, by 2007, to be followed
by cargo ships above 3,000 gross tonnage, by
2008.
The MSC also adopted resolution
MSC.163(78)on Performance Standards for
shipborne simplified voyage data recorders
(S-VDRs).
Unique company number
scheme
The MSC adopted a scheme to implement
the IMO Unique Company and Registered
Owners Identification Number Scheme. The
aim is to facilitate the enhancement of
maritime safety, security and pollution
prevention and the prevention of maritime
fraud by assigning a permanent identification
number to companies and registered
organizations which will be inserted on ships’
certificates.
Piracy and armed robbery
against ships
The MSC reviewed the reports on
incidents of piracy and armed robbery
against ships submitted to IMO and
welcomed developments in the
implementation of the co-ordinated plan of
action to tackle piracy and armed robbery
against ships through regional agreements.
The number of acts of piracy and armed
robbery against ships, which were reported
to the Organization to have occurred or to
have been attempted in 2003, was 456, an
increase of 69 (18%) over the figure for 2002.
The areas most affected in 2003 (i.e. five
incidents reported or more) were the Far
East, in particular the South China Sea and
the Malacca Strait, South America and the
Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, West Africa,
and East Africa. The number of acts reported
to have occurred or to have been attempted
increased from 140 to 152 in the South China
Sea; from 66 to 96 in the Indian Ocean; from
67 to 72 in South America and the Caribbean;
from 47 to 67 in West Africa; and from 34 to
38 in the Malacca Strait, over the 2002
figures. However, the numbers decreased
from 3 to 1 in the Mediterranean Sea and
from 24 to 22 in East Africa, compared with
the 2002 figures.
During 2003, 13 crew members were
reportedly killed, including two passengers
and six military personnel, 45 persons were
wounded and 54 crew went missing.
Amongst those still missing to date and
unaccounted for are 11 crew members
including three crew members thrown
overboard. Eleven ships were hijacked and
11 went missing, whilst one ship was set
ablaze and one ship was run aground.
List of circulars approved by MSC 78
MSC/Circ.1107
MSC/Circ.1108
MSC/Circ.1109
MSC/Circ.1110
MSC/Circ.1111
MSC/Circ.1112
MSC/Circ.1113
MSC/Circ.1114
MSC/Circ.1115
MSC/Circ.1116
MSC/Circ.1117
MSC/Circ.1118
MSC/Circ.1119
MSC/Circ.1120
MSC/Circ.1121
MSC/Circ.1122
MSC/Circ.1123
MSC/Circ.1124
Application of SOLAS regulation II-1/3-6 on Access to and within spaces
in, and forward of, the cargo area of oil tankers and bulk carriers and
application of the Technical provisions for means of access for inspections
Guidelines for assessing the longitudinal strength of bulk carriers during
loading, unloading and ballast water exchange
False security alerts and distress/security double alerts
Matters related to SOLAS regulations XI-2/6 and XI-2/7
Guidance relating to the implementation of SOLAS chapter XI-2 and the
ISPS Code
Shore leave and access to ships under the ISPS Code
Guidance to port State control officers on the non-security related
elements of the 2002 SOLAS amendments
Guidelines for periodic testing of immersion suit and anti-exposure suit
seams and closures
Prevention of accidents in high free-fall launching of lifeboats
Unified interpretations of the IBC and IGC Codes
Guidance for checking the structure of bulk carriers
Implementation of SOLAS regulation V/9 - Hydrographic services
Ship/terminal interface improvement for bulk carriers
Unified interpretations of the revised SOLAS chapter II-2
Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training,
Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, as amended,
confirmed by the Maritime Safety Committee to have communicated
information which demonstrates that full and complete effect is given to
the relevant provisions of the Convention
Adoption of the revised NAVTEX Manual
Guidelines on annual testing of L-band satellite EPIRBs
Amendments to the IAMSAR Manual
IMO’s US$2.65 million Global Programme
on Maritime and Port Security, which
began in January 2002, will be continuing
beyond the 1 July 2004 international deadline
for implementation of the maritime security
measures adopted by IMO in December
2002, the 54th session of the technical Cooperation
Committee heard.
The meeting was informed that total
expenditure on the Programme to date was
US$2,525,304. Worldwide activities had
included 18 regional and 42 national
seminars/workshops. Some 3,320 people had
been trained throughout ports in the
developing regions. The steady stream of
requests to the Organization for technical
assistance in the field of maritime and port
security showed no sign of slowing and
demand from Member States for practical
assistance in the implementation of the
International Ship and Port Facility Security
Code (ISPS Code) and other security
measures adopted by IMO is expected to
continue.
To support this, the committee heard, a
new “Train-the-Trainer” programme has been
developed which will assist Governments to
strengthen their maritime security
implementation through the provision of
trained instructors capable of delivering
quality training at regional and national levels
using relevant IMO Model Courses. The
Train-the-Trainer programme is being
initiated in the second half of the 2004,
initially in the Asia-Pacific region. The target
audience will be instructors from national
maritime training institutions responsible for
maritime security training courses.
The Programme’s success and
continuation depends, inevitably, on funding
to be made available to support those
further training activities. The Committee
was updated on the status of the
International Maritime Security Trust Fund
(IMSTF), which has been established on the
basis of voluntary donations, and welcomed
the news that Canada, Denmark, Egypt,
Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom and
United States had either made donations, or
had pledged monies, totalling some
US$585,000. The Committee appealed to
Member States and the maritime industry to
contribute to the IMST Fund and urged
those who had made or pledged
contributions to the IMST Fund to encourage
others to do the same.
IMO training institutes
The Committee was updated on the work
of the three training institutes operating
under the auspices of IMO.
IMO World Maritime University
(WMU)
The Committee noted that to date, a total
of 1,983 alumni had graduated from WMU
from 142 countries and territories worldwide
and the demand for places at the University
far outstripped its existing capacity.
The increasing sponsorship of Professorial
Chairs at the University was a significant
factor contributing to its high academic
capability, international reputation and
financing, the Committee heard. There are
six Professorial Chairs, sponsored and
funded by Inmarsat Ltd., the International
Transport Workers’ Federation, the Nippon
Foundation (three) and the Government of
Canada.
The Committee was informed of the
successful completion in early 2004 of a TCCinitiated
pilot project activity undertaken by
the WMU. The IMO Model Course on
“Marine Accident and Incident Investigation”
has been converted into a user-paced, selfmotivated
training programme on a CD-Rom.
IMO is considering the possibility of
converting other IMO model courses, such
as those on ship, company and port security
officers, into an “e-learning” format.
IMO International Maritime
Law Institute (IMLI)
IMLI has had a total of 302 graduates from
98 States and territories and demand for
places remains high. The Committee was
informed of support secured by the Institute,
including ten scholarships from the Nippon
Foundation of Japan for the financial year
2004/2005; a commitment from the TC Fund
to provide six scholarships in the financial
year 2004/2005; a pledge from the
Government of Switzerland, through the
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation,
to continue its financial support
The committee heard of considerable progress for IMO’s Programme for the Integration of Women in the Maritime Sector
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