New IMO onboard comms equipment requirement

From 29 August 2021, the equipment must be compliant with Bridge Alert Management (BAM) according to IEC 62923-1 and 2 under the EU Marine Equipment Directive (MED).

The IEC 62923-1 and -2 standards on BAM were published in 2018 and added to the list of applicable testing standards for most navigation and radio communication equipment in the third Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1397, which was published in September 2019.

The last date for installation of equipment on board an EU ship that has not been tested for compliance to the BAM standards was 29 August 2021. Manufacturers have therefore had a period of approximately two years to update their products to comply with the requirements.

DNV is recommending that from 29 August 2021, Module B certificates for equipment covered by the new law should address the IEC 62923-1 (2018) and IEC 62923-2 (2018) testing standards within their scope.

The classification society is also advising that manufacturers need to have valid MED certification (Modules B+D, B+E, B+F or G certificates) to be permitted to place their products on the European market and should note that the expiry date of the certificate may be overruled by changes introduced in implementing regulations published after the issuing of the certificate.