Danish-Swedish ship reporting system in the Sound approved by the IMO Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation (NAV 56) 

Now, the proposal is to be adopted by the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in the autumn of 2010. Among the most important agenda items were the following:

Routing systems and ship reporting systems

The Sub-Committee considered a number of proposals for new and amended routing systems as well as ship reporting systems.

Norway had, together with Denmark and Sweden, submitted a proposal on the introduction of a number of recommended traffic separation systems along the Norwegian coast. The Sub-Committee agreed to this proposal as well as the following proposals:

• New deepwater route in the Red Sea.
• Amendments of text notes for traffic separation and deepwater route in the Dover Strait.
• Amendments of a traffic separation scheme and waters to be avoided off Iceland.
• Waters to be avoided off the coast of Ghana. 

Of special Danish interest was the adoption of a proposal co-sponsored by Sweden on the establishment of a mandatory ship reporting system, SOUNDREP, to monitor and assist ship traffic in the Sound. It was proposed that the system enters into force on 1 September 2011 and will cover the entire Sound. In the IMO, there is concern about the increasing number of ship reporting systems placing a number of obligations on the ship traffic. Consequently, it was recorded positively that this system is primarily based on information gained from the ships’ automatic identification systems (AIS).

• Furthermore, amendments were adopted to the following ship reporting systems: REFREP, Australia, and TRANSREP, Iceland. 

A proposal for local use of three green signal lights for crossing the routing system in the Singapore Strait caused extensive debate. The proposal enjoyed regional support, while other countries were concerned whether the proposal had been scrutinised sufficiently. Furthermore, it was questioned whether it was possible to locally introduce an equipment requirement for three green signal lights when navigating an international strait. It was decided to adopt it as a preliminary recommended measure and to urge the submitters to propose an amendment of the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea.

Safety zones around fixed offshore installations, drilling platforms, drilling ships, etc.

The IMO had been working for a while on a proposal to extend the safety zones around fixed offshore installations, drilling platforms, drilling ships, etc. to more than 500 metres. However, the proposal was not adopted, among other things because there was doubt whether it was compatible with the international law of the sea. Instead the Sub-Committee adopted a proposal for a circular on guidelines on the basis of existing practice.

Amendment of the summer load line off South Africa

The Sub-Committee had been asked for an evaluation of the issue of moving the summer load line southwards off South Africa. This would make it possible to avoid the summer load line zone’s southern limitation going right through the existing traffic separation systems. After having examined supplementary data on the wind and wave conditions in the area, it was recommended to move the summer load line zone 50 miles to the south.

E-navigation

The Sub-Committee continued its ongoing work with e-navigation. The purpose of e-navigation is a rethinking of the manner in which modern navigation and shipping is organised with an implementation plan in 2012. As planned, the work would be continued in a correspondence group. The IMO Secretary-General pointed out that it was not the intention to enlarge the subject in relation to what had previously been decided by the MSC.

Lookout from the bridge

On the basis of a Danish proposal for NAV 54 in 2008, Denmark and the Marshall Islands had submitted a revised proposal for this year’s session to amend the regulations so that ships with deck cargo forward of the wheelhouse must be able to prove that the requirements for lookout from the bridge are complied with. Since Norway had submitted a complementary proposal for amendments of the regulations for last year’s session, it was decided that the two proposals should be examined in more detail at this year’s session. Though the proposal submitted by Denmark and the Marshall Islands enjoyed support, the Norwegian proposal caused some discussion and, consequently, it was decided that a correspondence group should examine both proposals with a view to drafting a joint proposal for an amendment of the regulation on lookout from the bridge for next year’s session.

AIS symbols and standards

Japan had submitted a proposal on a number of AIS symbols for use when showing buoying. Denmark pointed out, with the support of several other states, that there were no general guidelines on the use of AIS systems for buoying. Consequently, it was decided that such general guidelines should be discussed at a later session before drawing up specific standards.

Amendments of the VDR functional standard

The work amending the functional standard for VDRs (Voyage Data Recorder) continued with a view to finalisation in 2011. At the session, the need for a float-free capsule was discussed. The intention of the float-free capsule was to ensure that the instrument was released from the ship in case of loss and that it would thereby be possible to get access to stored information. Denmark had contributed to the discussions with an analysis of the advantages of using a float-free capsule in relation to the costs of requiring a float-free capsule fitted.

Updating of ECDIS and other NAV/COM equipment

After having been examined by the technical working group, two circulars on the updating of ECDIS software and guidelines on the updating of navigation and communication equipment were adopted.