Modernisation of GMDSS Equipment - by IMO

ECDIS on Bridge  ECDIS has no doubt been in many ways a blessing for ship officers as it has made their lives easy. Gone are those days when it used to take at least 2-3 days correcting paper charts. It would also not be wrong to point out that though it has made life easy for many, still there are few grey areas which It would also not be wrong to point out that though ECDIS on ships has made life easy for many, still there are a few grey areas which need due attention when it comes to using ECDIS practically and where it can further be improved. Let’s focus on the so-called ‘grey areas’ and how it can be further improved from a user’s perspective. Although there are many ECIDS manufacturers who have provisions to integrate NAVTEX to their ECDIS, these warnings are not automatically marked on ENCs (Electronic Navigation Charts). It simply displays these warnings under the NAVTEX menu in ECDIS where the user can just read it. Thus by just having an option for integra...

Decision on Modernized GMDSS - IMO It will be another seven years before a comprehensively updated GMDSS enters into force internationally, writes Aline De Bièvre IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) approved a modernisation plan for the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), which saves hundreds of seafarers’ lives every year, at its recent June session (MSC 98). The plan will require comprehensive amendments to Solas Chapters III and IV, together with related and consequential amendments to other existing IMO instruments. However, the committee decided to extend the implementation of enforcement of these Solas changes to 2024. It decided on 2022 as a realistic target year for completion of the modernisation work and for its formal adoption of the draft amendments. The effective entry into force would then follow in 2024, subject to fulfilment of the Solas tacit amendment procedure. GMDSS was adopted in 1988 and became fully implemented in 1999...