Recommended interim measures aimed at enhancing the safety of passenger ships, in the wake of the Costa Concordia incident, were agreed by IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), when it met at the organisation's London Headquarters for its 90th session from 16 to 25 May 2012. In addition, the MSC agreed on interim guidance to private maritime security companies (PMSCs) to fight piracy.
The MSC adopted a resolution, which invites member states to recommend that passenger ship companies conduct a review of operational safety measures, to ships flying their flag, on a voluntary basis and “with all possible urgency and efficiency”, taking into consideration the recommended interim operational measures listed in an MSC circular. The recommended interim measures include:
– carrying additional lifejackets, to be readily accessible in public spaces, at the muster/assembly stations, on deck or in lifeboats, so that in the event of an emergency passengers need not return to their cabins to retrieve the lifejacket stored there;
– reviewing the adequacy of the dissemination and communication of the emergency instructions on board ships;
– carrying out the muster for embarking passengers prior to departure from every port of embarkation, if the duration is 24 hours or more;
– limiting access to the bridge to those with operational or operationally related functions, during any period of restricted manoeuvring, or while manoeuvring in conditions that the master or company bridge procedures/policy deems to require increased vigilance (e.g. arrival/departure from port, heavy traffic, poor visibility); and
– ensuring that the ship's voyage plan has taken into account IMO’s guidelines for voyage planning, and, if appropriate, guidelines on voyage planning for passenger ships operating in remote areas.
Resolution Follows Costa Concordia Incident
The adoption of the resolution followed consideration of information provided by the Government of Italy on the investigation into the Costa Concordia incident, as well as preliminary proposals on enhancing the safety of passenger ships brought to the Committee's attention by the Government of Italy and other Member States, as well as by the Cruise Industry Operational Safety Review.
Action Plan on Long-Term
The MSC also agreed, in principle, to an action plan on long-term work for passenger ship safety, pending the review of the report of investigation into the loss of the Costa Concordia.
New Draft SOLAS Requirements
The MSC also approved, for adoption at MSC 91, new draft SOLAS requirements (new regulation III/17-1) to require ships to have plans and procedures to recover persons from the water, as well as related Guidelines for development of plans and procedures for recovery of persons from the water. The MSC also approved a draft MSC resolution on Implementation of SOLAS regulation III/17-1 to ships other than those engaged in international voyages.
Interim Guidance for PMSC
Following further debate during a working group, the MSC agreed Interim Guidance to private maritime security companies (PMSC) providing contracted armed security personnel on board ships in the High Risk Area. The guidance covers:
– PMSC Professional Certification, including the recommendation that PMSC should seek certification with relevant national and international private maritime security service standards when these are established;
– PMSC company requirements, including the recommendation that PMSC should establish procedures to provide maritime security services to ship owners and ship operators and comply with all relevant legal requirements;
– Management, including recommendations on selection, vetting and training of personnel for a PCASP team;
– Deployment considerations, addressing the specific aspects of PCASP deployment and the role of the PMSC in ensuring efficient and successful deployments, including communications with the ship owner or operator, and including recommendations relating to management of firearms and ammunition from embarkation to disembarkation and use of force. (The PMSC should recognize that laws governing the use of force may differ over time and according to location. The applicable national law, including any criminal laws, for an incident on a ship from which PCASP will be operating will be principally that of the flag State. It may also include the laws and regulations of coastal, port and other States.)
ISO to Develop PMSC Standards
The MSC agreed that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) would be best placed to develop international standards for PMSCs based on the IMO-developed guidance and with relevant IMO liaison and participation in the ISO process for standards’ development.
Other Revisions
Consequential revisions to the interim guidance for shipowners, ship operators and shipmasters; flag states; and port and coastal states on the use of PCASP on board ships to counter Somali-based piracy were also agreed on to reflect the new guidance to PMSCs. The committee further approved interim guidance for flag states on measures to prevent and mitigate Somalia-based piracy, which lists recommended practices that flag States are encouraged to apply, taking into account their own circumstances and subject to their national law, in order to maximise their efforts to implement counter-piracy measures.
Piracy in 2011
Globally, the number of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships reported to IMO and which occurred in 2011 was 544, an increase of 55 (11.3%), compared with the 489 reported for 2010. Worldwide, seven crew members were killed in 2011, up from two in 2010, while 569 crew members were reportedly taken hostage/kidnapped in 2011, down from 1027 in 2010.
Areas Most Affected
The areas most affected in 2011, as in 2010, were East Africa and the Far East, in particular the South China Sea, followed by the Indian Ocean, West Africa, South America and the Caribbean. The majority of incidents occurred off East Africa and increased to 223 in 2011, from 172 in 2010. The deployment of motherships by Somali pirates and the increased range of their operation contributed to the rise in the number of incidents occurring in the Arabian Sea increased to 28 in 2011, up from 16 in 2010. However, the number of incidents in the Indian Ocean decreased from 77 to 63 in 2011. Despite the high number of Somalia-based piracy attacks, the pirates' success rate has been significantly reduced. In 2011, out of 286 attacks, 33 resulted in the ship being hijacked (11.5%), while in 2010 Somali pirates attacked 172 ships in 2010 and hijacked 50 of them (29%). Picture: The MSC has also received a number of submissions under the agenda item on “passenger ship safety”, which was added to the agenda in the wake of the Costa Concordia incident in January (Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), 90th session, picture by https://www.flickr.com/photos/imo-un/collections[IMO])
