In demonstrating its ongoing commitment to supporting the work of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and within its remit as the Organization’s principal technical advisor, IACS will actively participate in the forthcoming 108th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 108), which will meet from Wednesday, 15 May to Friday, 24 May 2024.
Noting the work IACS Members undertake as recognized organizations of IMO Member States, verifying compliance of ships with IMO agreed requirements, and with a view to achieving clarity for all parties, IACS has submitted and co-sponsored the following papers:
MSC 108/4/4 outlines the work IACS has undertaken to assess, consolidate and standardize the vocabulary relevant to MASS to support the verification and validation of MASS systems, as contained in the annexes of this document;
MSC 108/INF.11 informs about IACS Recommendation No.171 on incorporating cyber risk management into safety management systems;
MSC 108/6/1 highlights the increasing vulnerability of the maritime industry to cyberattacks due to increased digitalization and connectivity and provides an insight into existing instruments. The document proposes improvements to MSC-FAL.1/Circ.3/Rev.2 to provide further guidance which could be helpful to the maritime industry;
MSC 108/14/1 proposes to move forward the timeline for entry into force of the draft amendment to paragraph 16.9.2 of the IGC Code set out in annex 2 of document CCC 9/WP.4, through approval of the draft amendment at this session; earlier entry into force of the amendment, as an exceptional circumstance defined in MSC.1/Circ.1481; and issuance of an MSC circular inviting voluntarily implementation of the amendment based on MSC.1/Circ.1565;
MSC 108/19/3 discusses the approach by IACS to the development and submission to IMO of unified interpretations (UIs) and opines that approval of IMO UIs by “consensus” as opposed to by “unanimity” offers tangible benefits to IMO and the shipping industry in achieving their common goal of safe shipping, in a universal and uniform manner, as well as assisting the Organization with managing its workload;
MSC 108/19/6 provides explanations on and background for the review of the North Atlantic wave data (IACS Recommendation 34/Rev.2) and addresses several concerns expressed in document MSC 108/19 as related to the new data.
