Focus on IMO International Maritime Organization, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7735 7611 Fax: +44 (0)20 7587 3210 Contacts: Lee Adamson – Senior External Relations Officer; Natasha Brown – External Relations Officer E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.imo.org These documents are for background information. Please refer to the website www.imo.org for up-to-date information. March 1999 Shipping Emergencies - Search and Rescue and the GMDSS When maritime nations gathered together in 1914 to develop the first international shipping safety convention, following the loss of the Titanic two years earlier, the focus was not just on preventing shipping accidents but also improving the chances of survival if one should occur. That conference resulted in the adoption of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS),which included regulations on provision of life- saving equipment and the safety of navigation. SOLAS, which has since been revised and updated many times, later came under the auspices of theUnited Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO), which assumed global responsibility for shipping when it came into being in 1959. While accident prevention is a major goal of the Organization, IMO has also concentrated efforts on developing world-wide, integrated systems to respond to shipping emergencies. The most significant of these are the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) and the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). The GMDSS - which became fully effective from 1 February 1999 - is essentially a worldwide network of automated emergency communications for ships at sea. It means that all ocean-going passenger ships and cargo ships of 300 gross tonnage and upwards must be equipped with radio equipment that conforms to international standards as set out in the system. The basic concept is that search and rescue authorities ashore, as well as shipping in the immediate vicinity of the ship in distress, can be rapidly alerted through satellite and terrestrial communication techniques to a distress incident so that they can assist in a coordinated SAR operation with the minimum of delay. The 1979 SAR Convention was designed to provide a global system for responding to emergencies and the GMDSS was established to provide it with the efficient communication support it needs. Both the GMDSS and SAR are crucial to maritime safety and they are designed to ensure that any emergency at sea will result in a distress call and the response to that call will be immediate and effective. The days when a ship could vanish without trace should then be ended. This paper includes the following sections: · Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) · The GMDSS · The future - problems to be solved · SAR/GMDSS - the achievements · Main components of the GMDSS Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) Although the obligation of ships to go to the assistance of vessels in distress was enshrined both in tradition and in international treaties (such as SOLAS), there was, until the adoption in 1979 of the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR), no international system covering search and rescue operations. In some areas there was a well-established organization able to provide assistance promptly and efficiently, in others there was nothing at all. Co-ordination and control of search and rescue operations was organized by each individual country in accordance with its own requirements and as dictated by its own resources. As a result, national organizational plans were developed along different lines. The dissimilarity of such plans and lack of agreed and standardized procedures on a world-wide basis could give rise to difficulties, particularly at the initial stages of alert. In some cases, this could result in an uneconomical use of search and rescue facilities or in unnecessary duplication of effort. IMO was charged with improving this situation and, as a first step, a manual on search and rescue operations was prepared for the guidance of those requiring assistance at sea or who find themselves in a position to provide assistance to others. It was adopted by the IMO Assembly in l97l under the title of the Merchant Ship Search and Rescue Manual (MERSAR). It was updated several times with the latest amendments being adopted in 1992 - they entered into force in 1993. MERSAR provided guidance for those who, during emergencies at sea, may require assistance from others or who may be able to provide assistance themselves. In particular, it was designed to aid the master of any vessel who might be called upon to conduct SAR operations at sea for persons in distress. In l978, the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), IMO's senior technical body, adopted a second manual called the IMO Search and Rescue Manual (IMOSAR) to help Governments to implement the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue. The manual provided guidelines rather than requirements for a common maritime search and rescue policy, encouraging all coastal States to develop their organizations on similar lines and enabling adjacent States to co-operate and provide mutual assistance. It was also updated in 1992, with the amendments entering into force in 1993. The manual was aligned as closely as possible with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Search and Rescue Manual to ensure a common policy and to facilitate consultation of the two manuals for administrative or operational reasons. MERSAR was also aligned, where appropriate, with IMOSAR. The MERSAR and IMOSAR manuals have now been replaced with a combined manual, published in three volumes, called the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) manual. SAR Convention In l979, a conference convened by IMO in Hamburg adopted the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR Convention) , which entered into force in l985. The aim was to develop an international SAR plan, so that, no matter where an accident occurs, the rescue of persons in distress at sea will be co-ordinated by a SAR organization and, when necessary, by co-operation between neighbouring SAR organizations. 2 Co-operation of this type is encouraged by SOLAS 1974, Parties to which undertake "to ensure that any necessary arrangements are made for coast watching and for the rescue of persons in distress round its coasts. These arrangements should include the establishment, operation and maintenance of such maritime safety facilities as are deemed practicable and necessary". The SAR convention contains six chapters: · Chapter 1 - Terms and Definitions. · Chapter 2 - Organization - dealing with the basic structure of a search and rescue organization. · Chapter 3 - Co-operation - dealing with co-operation between States in carrying out SAR operations and co-ordination with aeronautical services. · Chapter 4 - Preparatory Measures - dealing with preparatory measures to be taken by RCCs (Rescue Co-ordination Centres) and RSCs (Rescue Sub-Centres) and the state of preparedness of rescue units. · Chapter 5 - Operating Procedures - Parties are required to maintain continuous watch on international distress frequencies and detailed requirements are given concerning the action to be taken by coast radio stations which receive distress messages. Detailed procedures for RCCs and RSCs are given. · Chapter 6 - Ship reporting systems - contains recommendations on establishing ship reporting systems for search and rescue purposes. The technical requirements of the SAR Convention are contained in an Annex. Parties to the Convention are required to ensure that arrangements are made for the provision of adequate SAR services in their coastal waters. Parties are encouraged to enter into SAR agreements with neighbouring States involving the establishment of SAR regions, the pooling of facilities, establishment of common procedures, training and liaison visits. The Convention states that Parties should take measures to expedite entry into its territorial waters of rescue units from other Parties. The Convention then goes on to establish preparatory measures which should be taken, including the establishment of rescue co-ordination centres and sub-centres. It outlines operating procedures to be followed in the event of emergencies or alerts and during SAR operations. This includes the designation of an on-scene commander and his duties. Parties to the Convention are encouraged to establish ship reporting systems, where these are deemed necessary, under which ships report their position to a coast radio station. This enables the interval between the loss of contact with a vessel and the initiation of search operations to be reduced. It also helps to permit the rapid determination of vessels which may be called upon to provide assistance including medical help when required. Under the Convention, the world's oceans have been divided into l3 areas for search and rescue purposes. Implementation of the SAR Convention The SAR Convention was designed to provide the framework for search and rescue operations. It and the two associated manuals, together with other resolutions and recommendations adopted at the l979 Conference, should ensure that such operations are conducted with maximum speed and efficiency, no matter where the distress incident occurs. But its effectiveness depends almost entirely on how well it is implemented and this depends in turn on the action taken by Parties to the Convention. Because the Convention imposes considerable obligations on Parties - such as setting up the shore installations required - the Convention has not been ratified by as many countries as some other treaties. By the end of 1997, for example, the SAR Convention had been ratified by only 56 countries, whose combined merchant fleets represented less than 50% of world tonnage. Equally important, many of the world's coastal States had not accepted the Convention and the obligations it imposes. As a result, the development of SAR plans in the 13 areas has been relatively slow and by 1995 - ten years after the Convention entered into force - provisional SAR plans had only been drawn up for nine regions.