IMO says no to arming seafarers

The IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) agreed on revised guidance on combating piracy and armed robbery against ships when it met at the organisation?s headquarters in London for its 86th season from May 27 to June 5.

The IMO MSC also agreed on specific guidance relating to the continued attacks on ships off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden. The number of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships reported to the organisation to have occurred in 2008 was 306, against 282 during 2007, representing an increase of 8.5%. In the first four months of 2009, 157 incidents were reported to IMO.

The MSC agreed that flag states should strongly discourage the carrying and use of firearms by seafarers for personal protection or for the protection of a ship. Seafarers, it was agreed, are civilians and the use of firearms requires special training and aptitudes and the risk of accidents with firearms carried on board ship is great. The carriage of arms on board ship might encourage attackers to carry firearms or even more dangerous weapons, thereby escalating an already dangerous situation, the IMO MSC decided. Any firearm on board may itself become an attractive target for an attacker. Carriage of firearms may pose an even greater danger if the ship is carrying flammable cargo or similar types of dangerous goods.

It was agreed that the use of unarmed security personnel is a matter for individual shipowners, companies, and ship operators to decide. The carriage of armed security personnel, or the use of military or law-enforcement officers should be subject to flag state legislation and policies and is a matter for the flag state to authorise, in consultation with ship owners, companies and ship operators.

The organisation then turned its attention to amendments to SOLAS regulation V/19, to make mandatory the carriage of electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS) and bridge navigational watch alarm systems (BNWAS), under SOLAS chapter V, safety of navigation, were adopted, with an expected entry into force date of 1January, 2011. The requirements will be mandatory for new ships and phased-in for existing ships.

Also adopted, with an expected entry force date of 1 January, 2011, was an amendment to SOLAS regulation II-1/3-5.2, to prohibit all new installations of asbestos on board ships, without exceptions.

The MSC approved international goal-based ship construction standards for bulk carriers and oil tankers, together with proposed amendments to SOLAS Chapter II-1 making their application mandatory, for consideration at MSC 87 with a view to adoption.

The proposed SOLAS regulation II-1/3-10 on goal-based ship construction standards for bulk carriers and oil tankers would apply to oil tankers and bulk carriers of 150 metres in length and above. It would require new ships to be designed and constructed for a specified design life and to be safe and environmentally friendly, in intact and specified damage conditions, throughout their life. The ship should have adequate strength, integrity and stability to minimise the risk of loss of the ship or pollution to the marine environment due to structural failure, including collapse, resulting in flooding or loss of watertight integrity.

The goal-based standards have been developed on the basis of a five-tier system, consisting of goals (Tier I), functional requirements (Tier II), verification of conformity (Tier III), rules and regulations for ship design and construction (Tier IV) and industry practices and standards (Tier V). The proposed goal-based standards reflect tiers I to III.

The MSC also approved, in principle, the preliminary draft revised text of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) 1978, as amended, and the STCW Code, prepared by the Sub-Committee on Standards of Training and Watchkeeping (STW).

The committee authorised the holding of an ad hoc intersessional meeting of an STW working group, from September 7 to 11, 2009, to progress the work, with a view to finalisation at STW 41 in January 2010. STW 41 would then finalise the draft text of amendments to the STCW convention and code, with a view to their circulation for consideration by a diplomatic conference, scheduled for mid-2010.

The draft Code on Alerts and Indicators, 2009, was approved by the MSC. It is also being submitted to the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), in July, for concurrent approval and submission to the IMO assembly for adoption. The code is intended to provide general design guidance and to promote uniformity of type, location and priority for alerts and indicators required by the SOLAS convention, including relevant performance standards, and by the MARPOL convention, as well as by other associated instruments and codes. The code, when adopted, will update, revise and replace the Code on Alarms and Indicators, 1995 (resolution A.830(19)).

A Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) Experts Group was established to review FSA studies on cruise ships, Ro-Ro passenger ferries, liquefied natural gas carriers and containerships, which had been carried out within the SAFEDOR research project and previously submitted to the MSC.