COVID-19 crew change crisis – draft
Assembly resolution approved
The
MSC approved a draft IMO Assembly resolution consolidating
issues related to crew change, access to medical care, ʺkey workerʺ designation
and seafarers’ prioritization for COVID-19 vaccination, with a view
to adoption at the 32nd session of the IMO Assembly (6-15
December 2021).
The draft Assembly
resolution on comprehensive action to address seafarers' challenges during the
COVID-19 pandemic urges Member States to:
·
designate seafarers as ʺkey workersʺ in order to
facilitate shore leave and safe and unhindered movement across borders, and
recognize their relevant documentation for this purpose;
·
consider the implementation of the Industry
recommended framework of protocols for ensuring safe ship crew changes and
travel during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic;
·
prioritize vaccination of seafarers, as far as
practicable, in their national COVID-19 vaccination programmes;
·
consider exempting seafarers from any national policy
requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition for entry, taking into
account that seafarers should be designated as ʺkey workersʺ and that they
travel across borders frequently;
·
provide seafarers with immediate access to medical
care and facilitate medical evacuation of seafarers in need of urgent
medical attention when the required medical care cannot be provided either on
board or in the port of call.
COVID guidance approved
The MSC
approved Guidance on seafarers' training and certification for issuing
Administrations, flag States and port States during the COVID-19 pandemic. The
guidance contains recommended practices for exceptional measures adopted
as a consequence of the pandemic. The guidance outlines
the principle that force majeure is temporary and that STCW Parties should
seek to revert to performing their obligations under the STCW Convention and
Code as soon as possible.
Piracy and armed robbery against ships and
other illicit maritime activity
The
MSC approved a draft update of IMO
Assembly resolution A.1069(28) on Prevention and suppression of
piracy and armed robbery against ships and illicit activity in the Gulf of
Guinea. The resolution has been submitted to the 32nd session of
the IMO Assembly with a view to adoption.
The draft revised
resolution will include a reference to the definitions of ʺpiracyʺ and ʺarmed
robbery against shipsʺ in the preambular part of the draft resolution in
addition to other editorial changes.
Global picture
The Committee noted
that 83 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were
reported in the first six months of 2021, amounting to a
decrease of approximately 23% at the global level compared to the same period
last year. The areas most affected by acts of piracy and armed robbery during
that time were West Africa (27), the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (23) and
the South China Sea (12).The number of incidents in the Gulf of Guinea (West
Africa) decreased in the first half of 2021 by 5 compared to the same period in
2020, a decrease of 16%.
The Committee noted the
ongoing implementation of the Djibouti Code of Conduct, as amended, in
the in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The region has
established, with the support of the IMO Secretariat, a strong
governance framework to spearhead the implementation and is now better prepared
to find regional solutions to address existing gaps in Maritime Domain
Awareness (MDA) and to develop response capabilities.
The Committee requested Member
States to continue to report incidents of piracy and armed
robbery against ships to the IMO Secretariat to
marsec@imo.org, using the reporting form in appendix 5 of
MSC.1/Circ.1333/Rev.1 and invited them to consider making financial
contributions to IMOʹs West and Central Africa Trust Fund (WCA TF).
Domestic ferry safety - model regulations
approved for adoption in 2022
The
Committee finalized and approved recommendatory Model
Regulations on Domestic Ferry Safety, for adoption at MSC 105 in
April 2022, together with an updated plan for further work.
The draft model regulations
provide framework provisions on domestic ferry safety for incorporation into
national law. They cover a range of issues, including: certification;
manning; safety management; navigation and communications equipment and
life-saving appliances..
The need for domestic ferry
regulations is outlined in a new animated video, which can be viewed
here.
Goal-based ship
construction standards (GBS)
Having considered the report
of the combined GBS audit on the rectification of non-conformities of IACS and
DNV-GL (which has since changed its name to DNV) ship construction
rules, the Committee agreed with the recommendations of the auditors and confirmed
that the non-conformities of IACS common structural
rules (CSR) identified during the first GBS maintenance audit in
2018 and during the re-verification audit of DNV-GL in 2019 had been duly
rectified. The Committee confirmed that IACS CSR and the DNV rules
demonstrated continued conformance with the Organization's goal-based ship
construction standards for bulk carriers and oil tankers.
The Committee agreed to
consider the remaining documents under this agenda item intersessionally by
correspondence, for consideration of any action to be taken at
MSC 105.
The International Goal-based
Ship Construction Standards for Bulk Carriers and Oil Tankers ("the
Standards") describe the goals and establish the functional requirements
that the rules for the design and construction of bulk carriers and oil tankers
of an organization recognized by the Administration, or the national rules of
an Administration, shall conform to, as defined in SOLAS regulations II-1/2.27
and II-1/3-10. Additionally, the Standards establish that the abovementioned
rules shall be verified as conforming to the goals and functional
requirements.
The verification is achieved
by conducting regular GBS audits of the ship construction rules of
organizations recognized by the Administration who had already been
verified to conform to the Standards. Those recognized
organizations or Administration seeking to have their ship
construction rules verified to be GBS-conform for the first time will
have to undergo an initial GBS audit, in accordance with the Revised
guidelines for verification of conformity with goal-based ship construction
standards for bulk carriers and oil tankers (resolution
MSC.454(100)).
The next scheduled GBS audits
will be conducted in early 2022 when the first three-year maintenance audit
cycle begins.
Amendments to mandatory instruments
The MSC adopted:
·
a minor amendment
to chapter II (Conditions of assignment of freeboard), as well as amendments to
chapter III (Freeboards) of annex I (Regulations for determining load lines) of
Annex B to the 1988 Load Lines Protocol, concerning watertight doors on cargo ships;
and
·
associated
amendments concerning watertight doors on cargo ships to chapter 2 (Ship
survival capability and location of cargo tanks) of the International Code of
the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGC
Code).
The
amendments are expected to enter into force on1 January 2024.
Modernization of the
GMDSS – approval of amendments to SOLAS and related
instruments
Following a comprehensive
review of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) by the Sub-Committee
on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue (NCSR), the MSC
approved a set of draft amendments to the 1974 SOLAS
Convention, together with associated amendments and
revisions to existing related instruments.
The aim of the amendments is
to enable the use of modern communication systems in the GMDSS whilst removing
requirements to carry obsolete systems.
The revision of the relevant
regulations in SOLAS chapters II-1, III, IV and V and preparation of related
and consequential amendments to other existing instruments is the result of a
decade of detail-oriented work by IMO, in particular by the NCSR
Sub-Committee.
Safety of navigation and
safety of life at sea depend on the integrated satellite and terrestrial
radiocommunication systems to support ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore and
shore-to-ship distress, urgency and safety communications at sea, which is
known as the GMDSS in general. Mandatory requirements for the GMDSS are laid
down in the SOLAS Convention.
The MSC approved, for
adoption at MSC 105, draft amendments to:
SOLAS chapters II-1, III, IV
and V, and the appendix (Certificates)
·
the 1988 SOLAS Protocol;
·
the 1994 and 2000 HSC Codes;
·
the 1983 and 2008 SPS Codes; and
·
the 1979, 1989 and 2009 MODU Codes.
In
addition, the MSC approved, in principle, a further 11 draft MSC resolutions
and two draft MSC circulars, with a view to final approval/adoption at MSC 105,
as follows:
draft
MSC resolution on "System performance standard for the promulgation and
coordination of maritime safety information using high-frequency narrow-band
direct-printing", revising and superseding resolution A.699(17);
·
draft MSC resolution on "Performance standards
for the reception of maritime safety information and search and rescue related
information by MF (NAVTEX) and HF", revising and consolidating resolutions
A.700(17) and MSC.148(77), as amended;
·
draft MSC resolution on "Provision of radio
services for the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)",
revising and superseding resolution A.801(19), as amended;
·
draft MSC resolution on "Performance standards
for search and rescue radar transponders", revising and superseding
resolutions A.530(13) and A.802(19), as amended;
·
draft MSC resolution on "Performance standards
for shipborne VHF radio installations capable of voice communication and
digital selective calling", revising resolution A.803(19), as amended;
·
draft MSC resolution on "Performance standards
for shipborne MF and MF/HF radio installations capable of voice communication,
digital selective calling and reception of maritime safety information and
search and rescue related information", revising and consolidating
resolutions A.804(19), as amended, and A.806(19), as amended;
·
draft MSC resolution on "Performance standards
for Inmarsat-C ship earth stations capable of transmitting and receiving
direct-printing communications", revising resolution A.807(19), as
amended;
·
draft MSC resolution on "Guidelines for the
avoidance of false distress alerts", revising and superseding resolution
A.814(19);
·
draft MSC resolution on "Performance standards
for survival craft portable two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus",
revising resolution MSC.149(77);
·
draft MSC resolution on "Amendments to the
performance standards for radiocommunication equipment (resolution
MSC.80(70))";
·
draft MSC resolution on "Performance standards
for a shipborne integrated communication system (ICS) when used in the Global
Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)", revising resolution
A.811(19);
·
draft MSC circular on "Participation of non-SOLAS
ships in the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and
guidance on the development of training materials for GMDSS operators on
non-SOLAS ships", to be disseminated as MSC.1/Circ.803/Rev.1; and
·
draft MSC circular on "Guidance for the reception
of maritime safety information and search and rescue related information as
required in the Global Maritime Distress.
Recognition of Japanese Regional Navigation
Satellite System
The Committee recognized the
Japanese Regional Navigation Satellite System Quasi-Zenith Satellite System
(QZSS) as a component of the world-wide radio navigation system
(WWRNS).
IMO has an important role in
accepting and recognizing radionavigation systems which can be used by
international shipping and has recognized the global positioning
system (GPS), global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), BeiDou navigation
satellite system (BDS), Galileo global navigation satellite system and Indian
regional navigation satellite system (IRNSS). SOLAS chapter V requires all
ships to carry a global navigation satellite system or terrestrial radio
navigation receiver, or other means, to establish and update the ship's
position by automatic means, for use at all times throughout the voyage.
Future work on autonomous
ships – goal-based instrument to be developed
The Committee agreed to
develop a goal-based instrument for maritime
autonomous surface ships (MASS). This follows the completion of
the regulatory scoping exercise (RSE) in May 2021 which analyzed relevant
ship safety treaties, in order to assess how MASS could be
regulated internationally. Read more about the RSE here: Autonomous
ships: regulatory scoping exercise completed (imo.org)
The MSC included a
new output on “Development of a goal-based instrument for
maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS)”, with a target completion year
of 2025, in its biennial agenda for 2022-2023 and the provisional
agenda for MSC 105. The Committee agreed that the MASS Working
Group should be re-established, starting at MSC 105.
Having agreed that the first
step in the work on the new output would be the finalization of a
road map, the Committee requested the Chair to prepare, together with
the Secretariat, a draft roadmap, including scope, steps and timelines,
as well as the coordination of work with other IMO bodies, and submit this
to MSC 105 for detailed consideration.
Unsafe mixed migration by sea
– resolution mooted
The Committee considered a
proposal to adopt an MSC resolution to reiterate the importance of effective
and timely involvement of Governments in cases of rescue of migrants at sea by
merchant ships.
While noting support in
principle for the draft resolution, the
Committee postponed further detailed consideration
of this sensitive matter to MSC 105 and invited Member States to
submit comments to the next session, with a view to finalizing the resolution
then.
New output on remote
surveys
The
Committee included a new output on "Development of guidance on
assessments and applications of remote surveys, ISM Code audits and ISPS Code
verifications", in the biennial agenda of the III Sub-Committee for
2022-2023 and the provisional agenda for III 8, with a target completion year
of 2024.
SOURCE: IMO