Resolution MSC.161(78)

AMENDMENTS TO THE EXISTING MANDATORY SHIP REPORTING SYSTEM “THE TORRES STRAIT AND INNER ROUTE OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF”

(adopted on 17 May 2004)

 

 

THE MARITIME SAFETY COMMITTEE,

 

RECALLING Article 28(b) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Committee,

 

RECALLING ALSO regulation V/11 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974 concerning the adoption by the Organization of ship reporting systems,

 

RECALLING FURTHER resolution A.858(20) which authorizes the Committee to perform the function of adopting ship reporting systems on behalf of the Organization,

 

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT of the amendments to the existing Guidelines and criteria for ship reporting systems adopted by resolution MSC.43(64), as amended by resolution MSC.111(73),

 

HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendations of the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation at its forty-ninth session,

 

1. ADOPTS, in accordance with SOLAS regulation V/11, the amendments to the existing mandatory ship reporting system "the Torres strait and inner route of the Great Barrier Reef" (REEFREP), as described in the Annex to the present resolution;

 

2. DECIDES that the said amendments to the existing mandatory ship reporting system will enter into force at 0000 hours UTC on 1 December 2004;

 

3. REQUESTS the Secretary-General to bring this resolution and its Annex to the attention of Member Governments and Contracting Governments to the SOLAS Convention.

 

Annex.

AMENDMENTS TO EXISTING MANDATORY SHIP REPORTING SYSTEM "THE TORRES STRAIT AND INNER ROUTE OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF"

 

AMENDMENTS TO ANNEX 1 OF RESOLUTION MSC.52(66)

 

1. Replace sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 of resolution MSC.52(66) with the following new text and add a new section 9 as follows:

 

3. FORMAT AND CONTENT OF REPORT TIMES AND GEOGRAPHICAL POSITIONS FOR SUBMITTING REPORTS, AUTHORITY TO WHOM REPORTS SHOULD BE SENT AND AVAILABLE SERVICES

 

The ship report short title "REEFREP" will be made to the REEFREP VTS centre (REEFCENTRE) located at Hay Point in Queensland. Examples of the format and content of all required reports are shown at appendix 2. A ship may elect, for reasons of commercial confidentiality, to communicate that section of the REEFREP ENTRY report, which provides information on cargo (line P) by non-verbal means prior to entering the system. This can be achieved by including cargo information in the AUSREP Sailing Plan (SP) message.

 

3.1 Entry and exit reports

 

Ships will be required to provide a full REEFREP Position Report (PR) at least two hours prior to entering the REEFREP area from seaward or when sailing from a port within the area.

 

Ships will also be encouraged to provide a passage plan as described below when providing an Entry Report. However, it is recognized that at this stage in their passage, they are unlikely to have a pilot on board and are therefore unable to provide a detailed passage plan.

 

When finally departing the REEFREP area, or entering a port within the area, the REEFREP system will associate the required PR and the designated reporting point and automatically recognize this report as an exit message.

 

3.2 Passage plan reports

 

Ships will be required to provide a passage plan, including information such as vessel details, pilot information, route/waypoint information within one hour of entering the REEFREP area. The provision of accurate passage plans is critical to the dissemination of accurate ship traffic information and can be provided by one of the following means:

 

.1 Nominating the route using the chartlets which will be provided by pilots

 

.2 Nominating the waypoints, or

 

.3 Using the existing Mandatory Reporting Points as listed on the charts.

 

3.3 Intermediate position reports

 

Automated Position Reporting via Inmarsat-C will be the primary mechanism for ships to provide position reports while transiting the REEFREP region. REEFCENTRE will generally carry out APR remotely without any intervention by ships’ crews. However, a small proportion of vessels are fitted with first generation Inmarsat-C terminals which do not support remote programming. Masters of ships fitted with these terminals, who choose to participate, will be required to program them onboard to send position reports automatically. Instructions relating to programming of these terminals can be obtained from REEFCENTRE.

 

Vessels can participate in Automated Position Reporting at any time by authorizing REEFCENTRE to download a Data Network Identifier (DNID) to the ship’s Inmarsat-C terminal. Once the DNID is downloaded, REEFCENTRE is able to program the ship’s Inmarsat-C terminal to transmit position reports automatically at regular intervals. Vessels can communicate authorization for DNID download either by Inmarsat-C or REEFREP VHF Voice Communication Channels as described in appendix 2.

 

Vessels providing Intermediate Position Reports via APR must still comply with the other VHF reporting requirements prescribed in section 2.4 (Entering and Leaving the REEFREP SRS), section 2.5 (Pilotage Reports) and section 2.6 (Special Reports) of the AUSREP and REEFREP booklet.

 

Where a ship is unable to provide Intermediate Position Reports via APR as required by REEFCENTRE they will be required to provide brief position reports as advised by the operator. The VHF position reports are limited to the identity of the vessel, position, any variation to the last reported speed and course and any further information the Master considers might be of value to the system.

 

3.4 Defect reports

 

The following information is to be provided when a ship within the REEFREP area suffers damage, failure or breakdown affecting the safety of the ship, makes a marked deviation from a route, course or speed previously advised or requires to report safety related information and reports of incidents involving Dangerous Goods (DG) Harmful Substances (HS) or Marine Pollutants (MP).

 

(a) Ship name and call sign.

 

(b) Position (latitude and longitude) and time.

 

(c) Name of next Mandatory Reporting Point or Course if not tracking between reporting points.

 

(d) Estimated time of arrival (ETA) at next Mandatory Reporting Point or Speed (ship’s anticipated average speed until next report.in knots & tenths of a knot).

 

(e) Description and details of any damage, failure or breakdown suffered:

 

(i) collision, grounding, fire, explosion, structural failure, flooding, cargo shifting.

(ii) failure or breakdown of steering gear, propulsion plant, electrical generating system, essential shipborne navigational aids.

 

(f) Details of any Safety Messages (navigational safety, abnormal weather, unserviceable aids to navigation) or DG HS MP incident reports using the recognized IMO reporting formats.

 

4. INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED TO PARTICIPATING SHIPS AND PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED

 

REEFCENTRE will provide information to shipping on potentially conflicting traffic movements from the analysis of incoming position reports, passage plans and other data sources.

 

The key information to be provided to shipping includes:

 

.1 Ship Traffic Information

 

.2 Navigational Assistance

 

.3 Maritime Safety Information

 

4.1 Ship Traffic Information: The REEFREP VTS centre will provide information to shipping on potentially conflicting traffic movements resulting from the analysis of incoming reports.

 

4.2 Certain sections of the route in the Torres Strait and the far northern sector of the inner route of the GBR present a particular navigational hazard in situations where large ships might be passing or overtaking, especially deeper draught ships. When the REEFREP VTS centre considers that ships are approaching such sections, any relevant traffic information held by the centre will be passed to them. Because of the extensive size of the REEFREP area it is not be intended to routinely broadcast traffic information across the whole area but to advise individual ships as necessary.

 

4.3 Traffic information, including other advice received from ships or local maritime authorities which impacts on navigational safety will be passed to ships in relevant areas. Examples include concentrations of fishing vessels, unusual weather conditions, etc.

 

4.4 Navigational Assistance: In circumstances where information available to REEFCENTRE may assist on-board decision making REEFREP may initiate interaction with an individual ship to provide this information. This may include circumstances where information available suggests a ship may be standing into shallow water (eg. in areas of restricted navigation where there is radar coverage) or deviating from a recommended route. The types of assistance that may be provided are described further in NAV 49/INF.4.

 

4.5 Maritime safety information (MSI) in the form of navigational warnings (AUSCOAST Warnings) will continue to be issued in the appropriate broadcasts from MRCC AUSTRALIA. The REEFREP VTS centre will maintain details of MSI for the REEFREP area for the information of participating ships.

 

5. COMMUNICATION REQUIRED FOR THE SYSTEM, FREQUENCIES ON WHICH REPORTS SHOULD BE TRANSMITTED AND INFORMATION TO BE REPORTED

 

5.1 The system will be based on both Inmarsat-C communications and VHF voice communications. While the use of Inmarsat-C is expected to become the main mechanism for ships to meet their position reporting requirements and to provide other mandatory reports such as entry reports and passage plans, VHF voice communications provides an interactive mechanism for the interchange of data between ships and the REEFREP VTS centre.

 

5.2 VHF channels 5, 18 and 19 in the international maritime mobile band have been allocated for the reporting points in the system.

 

5.3 Information of commercial confidentiality may be transmitted by non-verbal means. 5.4 The language used for reports in the system will be English, using the IMO Standard Marine Communications Phrases where necessary.

 

5.5 Communications associated with reporting in accordance with the requirements of this system will be free of charge

 

7. SHORE-BASED FACILITIES TO SUPPORT OPERATION OF THE SYSTEM

 

7.1 REEFCENTRE is located at Hay Point, on the central Queensland coast. The centre is manned 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, and is equipped with a sophisticated traffic information management tool that integrates and assists in analysing all VHF communications, radar, AIS and APR data that is relayed to REEFCENTRE. The radar coverage is provided at the key entry and exit points to Torres Strait and the Inner Route.

 

7.2 The VTS centre equipped to provide a high standard of service to meet the system requirements and will be operated by trained and experienced personnel. Operator standards will be in accordance with "Guidelines on Recruitment, Qualification and Training of VTS Operators" (resolution A.857(20), annex 2).

 

7.3 The system will be operated to quality standards with service levels being constantly monitored.

 

7.4 The entire area has full DGPS coverage redundancy, ensuring very high availability standards.

 

7.5 The REEFREP VTS centre is also interfaced with the AUSREP system operated by RCC AUSTRALIA.

 

9. MEASURES TO BE TAKEN IF A SHIP FAILS TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SYSTEM

 

9.1 The primary objective of the system is to facilitate the exchange of information between the ship and the shore and so support safe navigation and the protection of the marine environment. All means will be used to encourage and promote the full participation of ships required to submit reports under SOLAS regulation V/11. If reports are not submitted and the ship can be positively identified, then information will be passed to the relevant flag State for investigation and possible prosecution in accordance with that State’s legislation. A failure to report may also be investigated for breach of Australian laws relating to compulsory ship reporting.