For autonomous shipping to gain regulatory and societal acceptance, this technology must be at least as safe as traditional ships, said the UK P&I Club in a new paper. A successful approach to change would be to develop regulations in tandem with technological advancements, always maintaining the focus on safety.
While the voting procedure for the 2019 SAFETY4SEA Awards is open, Captain Bren Wade, Manager, Marine Compliance, Crowley Maritime Corp. explains how leading- edge technology can make a difference in navigation and refers to Crowley’s Navigation Assessment program that offers a computerized simulation environment for which the company has been shortlisted for the Technology Award. Furthermore, Capt. Wade reveals that in the future there are plans to add more functions for a more holistic approach to Navigation Assessments, i.e. to assess an entire bridge team together in the simulator, from the helmsman to the Master.
A letter from Maritime UK Chair, Harry Theochari, to the new Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, highlights the importance of the sector to national prosperity, and identifies key priorities for the UK’s maritime industries. These include protecting freedom of navigation, coastal economic development, decarbonisation, improving the UK’s maritime competitiveness and developing its workforce. The letter also establishes immediate steps the sector wants to see on Brexit.
The Nautical Institute issued its June edition of The navigator focusing on weather as a critical factor for safe navigation. The weather can make the difference between a prosperous or loss-making voyage, can cause injury to crew and passengers and can even lead to the loss of a ship.
On this day 40 years ago, 16 July 1979, the International Maritime Satellite Organization (InMarSat) was established by IMCO. Inmarsat was established as a non-profit intergovernmental organisation on 16 July 1979 to deliver maritime safety satellite communications.
A recent shift to automation and new technologies makes imminent the need of additional skills for seafarers to adequately respond to new requirements. In 2017-2018, the Shipowners Club ran a survey to investigate whether alarms on the bridge affected the attention and focus of bridge watchkeepers.
In its latest Safety Digest, the UK MAIB describes a case of a yacht grounding during an ocean race. With respect to this incident, MAIB advised that every vessel sailing at sea needs a passage plan that has identified all potential hazards for the voyage ahead.
As part of the Sea Traffic Management STM Validation project Costa Crociere, part of Carnival Corporation, incorporated Costa and Aida ships to exchange information with other actors, using STM supported standardised formats and interfaces. After verifying operations with these first ships, the rest of the Carnival Corporation fleet has now been added.
As the Britannia P&I Club informed, it received information from Yantai MSA, saying that foreign vessels often navigate along incorrect routes through the navigation-restricted areas around Miaodao Archipelago. Namely, about ten cases have been reported annually in the last three years.
Japan P&I Club has obtained recent navigation warnings of the China Waters issued by China MSA. The navigation warnings regard well exploration, optical fiber cables installation and geological exploration of Bohai Strait Sea-Crossing Passage Project.
