The Liberia Maritime Authority has published a Marine Advisory to inform interested parties of revised requirements for Liberian flag ships to transmit Long Range Tracking and Identification (LRIT) information.
According to the Authority, information about the online portal of the Authorized Testing ASP has been updated to include, among other features, access to Long Range Tracking and Identification (LRIT) testing for distributors. Additionally, the Marine Advisory notes the following:
Requirements for conformance testing
- To ensure that all ships adhere to the safety requirements in regulation 19-1 of SOLAS Chapter V to carry operational LRIT equipment at all times;
- Following the recent adoption of IMO Assembly Resolution A.1192(33), noting concern about ships engaging in illegal operations in the maritime sector and calling upon flag States to take measures against ships concealing their identity and intentionally avoiding detection, including while engaged in STS operations;
- Pursuant to the Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury, Department of Justice, Department of State, and Department of Homeland Security Quint-Seal Compliance Note issued on 12 December 2023 that identifies steps the industry participants are encouraged to take to ensure compliance with U.S. law, to avoid manipulation of location or identification data; such steps include enhancing compliance procedures in respect of location monitoring and requirements of continuous broadcasting of such data;
- To implement additional compliance controls in tracking vessel locations to address The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury Guidance on Implementation of the Price Cap Policy for Crude Oil and Petroleum Products of Russian Federation Origin of February 3, 2023 (as revised on December 20, 2023); and
- To exercise due diligence to prevent non-reporting and frequent failure of shipborne LRIT equipment.
A conformance test is required:
- For all new installations of and changes to LRIT equipment;
- For all existing LRIT equipment at the time of change of flag (from a different Administration to the Liberian flag);
- For all existing LRIT equipment at the time of re-registration to a different owner under the Liberian flag (excluding registration from bareboat charter into direct registry);
- When the Administration has been notified by the Recognized ASP that the shipborne equipment is not operating within the parameters of the Conformance Test Report and/or in accordance with the LRIT performance standards;
- When the ship is intended to operate outside the sea area noted on the Conformance Test Report; and
- For all existing LRIT equipment on an annual basis.
Validity of the conformance test report
Commencing 1 January 2024, all Conformance Test Reports shall be issued with validity not exceeding twelve (12) months from the conformance test completion date. The conformance test submitted for registration or re-registration shall be less than one month old (excluding newbuilding for which there is no time limitation). As of 1 April 2024, the annual conformance test shall be conducted annually based on the anniversary date of the last conformance test.
| Completion date of last conformance test | Examples | Due date for 1st annual conformance test on/after 1 April 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Last test done on 1 April – 31 December (any year) | 1 June (any year) | 1 June 2024 |
| Last test done on 1 January – 31 March (any year) | 13 March (any year) | 13 March 2025 |
For confidentiality and security reasons, all conformance tests shall be conducted through the dedicated online portal of the Liberian Administration Authorized Testing Application Service Provider (herein referred to as “Authorized Testing ASP”) in accordance with paragraph 5.3 of Marine Notice ISP-003 as per details below.
Shipborne equipment
Marine Notice ISP-003 no longer provides a list of shipborne equipment. For information on recognized maritime mobile satellite service ship earth station models, contact the Recognized ASP or the equipment manufacturer to determine suitability for LRIT.
For Inmarsat C shipborne equipment, if the equipment appears to be LRIT capable, the following steps should be taken:
- Contact the manufacturer to confirm that the shipborne equipment has current software/firmware versions;
- Ensure that Polling & Data Reporting (PDR) functions are enabled; and
- Ensure that Macro Encoded Message 11 (MEM-11) is enabled.
For Iridium shipborne equipment, all models listed are suitable for LRIT without further configuration. On 31 December 2021, IsatM2M satellite service was withdrawn, and ships with this equipment installed will no longer be compliant with LRIT regulations.
