Emergency communications needs upgrading

Shipaxis Technical Services



Shipping safety communications need modernising to incorporate the latest technology and improve services that seafarers rely on in an emergency.
Therefore, it is good to see IMO is making progress on the modernisation programme of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety system, which was developed 30 years ago.
This was one of the many subjects discussed at last week’s meeting of the Sub-Committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue, or NCSR for short.
The sub-committee reviewed plans to update key elements of safety and emergency alert and response.
It discussed updating the GMDSS offering from Inmarsat to officially include FleetBroadband terminals and Inmarsat’s fourth generation of satellites, as Inmarsat intends to begin taking its third generation satellites out of service from 2020.
NCSR also discussed adding Iridium’s global satellite network to GMDSS.
Iridium has been testing its existing and Next generation of low Earth orbit satellites and new terminals for safety and emergency communications.
Last week, NCSR also considered updates to the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) manual and draft amendments made to the harmonisation of aeronautical and maritime search and rescue.
Any decisions during last week’s meeting will be considered for approval at the next meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee on 16-22 May.
We expect that GMDSS will be modernised in the near future to take account of the latest technology and provide redundancy and competition to these key emergency communications services

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