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International Maritime Organisation will be
rolling-out seven new amendments to be adopted
by the shipping community in 2008.
Of these, four amendments (SOLAS-LRIT, training
requirements for ship security officers,
launching/recovery of fast rescue boats and the
International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code)
will be enters into force on 1 January 2008.
A new SOLAS regulation on long-range
identification and tracking (LRIT) of ships
enters into force on 1 January 2008.
It provides governments a year to set up and
test the LRIT system and ship operators a year
to start fitting the necessary equipment or
upgrading so that their ships can transmit LRIT
information.
The regulation in SOLAS chapter V Safety of
Navigation, introduces LRIT as a mandatory
requirement for the following ships on
international voyages: passenger ships,
including high-speed craft; cargo ships,
including high-speed craft, of 300 gross tonnage
and upward; and mobile offshore drilling units.
Ships constructed on or after 31 December 2008
must be fitted with a system to transmit
automatically the identity of the ship.
Ships constructed before 31 December 2008 and
certified for operations in sea areas A1 and A2,
or A1, A2 and A3, must be fitted with the
equipment not later than the first survey of the
radio installation after 31 December 2008.
The LRIT system is intended to be operational
with respect to the transmission of LRIT
information by ships from 30 December 2008.
January 2008 will also see the enforcement of
minimum training requirements for ship security
officers.
Amendments to the STCW convention and Code,
adopted in May 2006 and entering into force on 1
January 2008, add new minimum mandatory training
and certification requirements for persons to be
designated as ship security officers (SSOs).
The amendments to the STCW Convention and to
parts A and B of the STCW Code include
Requirements for the issue of certificates of
proficiency for Ship Security Officers;
Specifications of minimum standards of
proficiency for ship security officers; and
Guidance regarding training for Ship Security
Officers.
The amendments also provide that until 1 July
2009, an STCW Party may continue to recognize
personnel who hold or can document
qualifications as ship security officers issued
before the entry into force of the regulation.
The third amendments will be rolled out in 1
January 2008 is the launching/recovery of fast
rescue boats.
Amendments to part A of the STCW Code, also
entering into force on 1 January 2008, add
additional training requirements for the
launching and recovery of fast rescue boats.
The amendments were adopted in response to
reports of injuries to seafarers in numerous
incidents involving the launching and recovery
of fast rescue boats in adverse weather
conditions.
The 1st January 2008 will also see the rolling
of the amendments to the IMDG Code (Amendment
33-06) on dangerous cargo handling.
The amendments include changes relating to the
requirements for transport of ethylene oxide,
polymeric beads, plastic moulding compound,
ammonium nitrate and ammonium nitrate
fertilizer. |
