IMO discusses the use of armed guards at sea

Source: Tanker operator

Piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean is high on the agenda at the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) meeting, which started on Wednesday and is due to finish next week.


The 89th session agenda also includes adoption of amendments, concerning lifeboat release hooks, to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), goal-based standards for vessel construction and the long-range identification and tracking (LRIT) system.


The MSC will also consider the approval of a number of draft resolutions for submission to the IMO Assembly, to be held later this year.


As for the anti-piracy debate, the meeting is expected to discuss developing guidance on the use of private, armed security service providers on board ships; measures to improve compliance with the best management practices to deter piracy and proposed guidelines to assist in the collection of evidence after a hijack.


Also being considered is the adoption of a proposed new paragraph 5 of SOLAS regulation III/1, which would require lifeboat on-load release mechanisms not complying with new International Life-Saving Appliances (LSA) code requirements, to be replaced no later than the first scheduled vessel drydocking after 1st July 2014 but, in any case, not later than 1st July 2019.


The meeting will also probably adopt draft guidelines for evaluation of and replacement of lifeboat release and retrieval systems and related amendments to the LSA code which, along with the proposed draft SOLAS amendment, had been referred back to an inter-sessional working group, which reported to the 55th session of the sub-committee on ship design and equipment (DE) in March.


Turning to goal-based standards, the committee will monitor the progress made with the implementation of the International Goal-based Construction Standards for Bulk Carriers and Oil Tankers, which was adopted at MSC’s 87th session, along with the associated amendments to SOLAS Chapter II-1, making their application mandatory, as well as verification guidelines and the ship construction file.


Since the last session, the committee will be updated on developments in establishing and testing of LRIT data centres (DCs) and the operation of the LRIT system, including the results of the first modification testing phase and the operation of an information distribution facility (IDF) for the provision of flag state LRIT information to security forces operating in waters off the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean.


Also under consideration will be the performance review and audit reports of the IDE and DCs submitted by the International Maritime Satellite Organisation (IMSO), as the LRIT co-ordinator, together with its findings and recommendations; and issues concerning the long-term operational and financial viability of the LRIT system.


In addition, a list of parties deemed to be giving full and complete effect to the provisions of the STCW Convention, as amended, is expected to be updated when the secretary general submits his report on those countries whose independent evaluations have been completed since MSC 88.


Following significant progress made by the sub-committee on flag state implementation (FSI) towards making the voluntary IMO member state audit scheme mandatory, the MSC will consider approving the proposed draft IMO instruments implementation code (IIIC), which would be the proposed new title for the mandatory version of the current code for the implementation of mandatory IMO instruments.


The committee is expected to provide further guidance to the FSI sub-committee on the development of the proposed new code for recognised organisations (ROs), plus .approve, for submission to the IMO Assembly in November 2011 several drafts, including -


• Revised recommendations for entering enclosed spaces on board vessels.

• New international code on enhanced programme of inspections during surveys of bulk carriers and tankers, 2011 (2011 ESP Code).