Tag: MSC 99

Once again this year’s agenda was full with meetings, agreements and important announcements for the maritime community. In this photo recap we have picked key moments that captivated industry’s interest in 2018.

The Methanol Institute has welcomed the decision of the IMO MSC 99 in June to invite the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to develop a standard for methyl/ethyl alcohol as a marine fuel and a standard for methyl/ethyl alcohol fuel couplings.

All vessels, regardless of whether they are autonomous or not, should comply with the COLREGs, was the key message of Captain Ghulam Hussain FNI, head of The Nautical Institute’s delegation to the IMO, during the Maritime Safety Committee in May.

The 99th session of IMO's Maritime Safety Committee concluded on 25 May marking new steps and reviewing older developments towards a safer shipping industry. Autonomous vessels, piracy and armed robbery against ships, the Arctic shipping safety, as well as the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, were key topics on the agenda.

The 99th session of IMO's Maritime Safety Committee concluded on 25 May, endorsing a framework for a regulatory scoping exercise, as work in progress, including preliminary definitions of autonomous ships and degrees of autonomy, as well as a methodology for conducting the exercise and a plan of work.

Milestone Arctic protections proposed jointly by the US and Russia, to establish three new areas to be avoided in Bering strait and to set up six recommendatory two-way routes and six precautionary areas in the Bering Sea, are anticipated to be approved this week, on the sidelines of IMO's MSC 99, underway in London.

IMO's MSC 99, currently underway in London, has recognized that the Iridium network, by the US-based satellite communications provider Iridium Communications Inc., meets all the criteria needed to provide mobile satellite services in the GMDSS, and to adopt the “Statement of Recognition” proposed by the US as a Committee Resolution.

The 99th session of IMO's MSC has begun with discussions on how to proceed with a regulatory scoping exercise on autonomous vessels. MSC 99 is expected to touch on an extensive range of issues, including the human element, safety, security and protection of the marine environment, for different levels of autonomy.

On May 16, the IMO will start is efforts on regulation of autonomous ships with a meeting in the Maritime Safety Committee. The Danish Maritime Authority noted that the global industry needs international regulation to facilitate the use of autonomous ships, and it is looking forward to discussing the way forward within the IMO.

MSC 99 will examine how the safe, secure and environmentally sound operation of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships may be introduced in IMO instruments. Previous Committee had recognized that IMO should take a proactive and leading role on this issue, given the rapid developments.