Resolution A.950(23)
MARITIME ASSISTANCE SERVICES (MAS)
(adopted
on 5 December 2003)
THE
ASSEMBLY,
RECALLING
Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization
concerning the functions of the Assembly in relation to regulations and
guidelines concerning maritime safety and the prevention and control of marine
pollution from ships,
NOTING
the provisions of the SOLAS Convention contained in regulations V/31, VII/6,
VII/7-4 and VIII/12 thereof concerning reports to be made by ships in the event
of dangers or incidents,
NOTING
ALSO the provisions of article 8 of the International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), 1973, as amended by the Protocol
of 1978 relating thereto concerning reports to be made by ships in the event of
incidents,
CONSIDERING
that, in addition to the circumstances giving rise to mandatory reporting where
the organizations to which reports are to be made have already been designated,
it would be useful for the master of a ship in need of assistance to use the
same contact point in each coastal State that may legitimately be affected by
that ship's situation, particularly in connection with the search for a place
of refuge,
CONSIDERING
ALSO that States have the right to receive initial information and thereafter
be kept informed of marine salvage operations conducted off their coasts at the
initiative of parties with a legitimate interest in a ship in need of
assistance,
CONSIDERING
FURTHER that it would be useful for coastal States and easier for shipmasters
if any such organizations with responsibility for receiving reports and
thereafter continuing to maintain contact with the ship and its owner bore in
all those States a common acronym representing minimum common duties laid down
by the Organization,
CONSIDERING
FINALLY, the difficulty for the master to assess, when an accident occurs
aboard the ship, whether there will be a need for marine assistance (salvage)
or rescue of persons aboard and also, the value for MRCC, in relation to rescue
proper, of being informed as soon as possible of problems experienced by a
ship, so as to prepare an appropriate search and rescue operation should the
need for such an operation arise at a later stage,
HAVING
CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its
seventy-sixth session, the Marine Environment Protection Committee at its
forty-eighth session and the Sub-committee on Safety of Navigation at its
forty-ninth session,
1.
RECOMMENDS that coastal States establish a maritime assistance service (MAS)
for the purpose of:
.1 receiving the reports,
consultations and notifications by the IMO instruments referred to in Annex 1
to this resolution;
.2 monitoring the ship's
situation if a report, as referred to in .1 above discloses an incident that
may give rise to a situation whereby the ship may be in need of assistance;
.3 serving as the point of
contact between the master and the coastal State if the ship's situation
requires exchanges of information between the ship and the coastal State other
than a distress situation that could lead to a search and rescue operation;
.4 serving as the point of
contact between those involved in a marine salvage operation undertaken by
private facilities at the request of parties having a legitimate interest in
the ship and the coastal State if the coastal State considers that it should
monitor all phases of the operation.
2.
URGES Governments to issue national instructions advising their MAS of the
authority or organization:
.1 to which it should
transmit information obtained from a ship; and
.2 from which it should
receive instructions concerning its own actions and the particulars to be
transmitted to the ship.
3.
INVITES Governments of coastal States that have established a MAS to forward to
the Organization the details (i.e. call numbers, call signs, etc.) of their MAS
to enable the Organization to circulate such particulars so that shipmasters
and other persons or organizations concerned can contact it as necessary.
4.
RECOMMENDS that Governments of coastal States when establishing a MAS take into
account the guidelines set out in Annex 2 to the present resolution.
5.
REQUESTS the Maritime Safety Committee and the Marine Environment Protection
Committee to keep this resolution under review and amend it as appropriate.
Annex 1.
LIST OF IMO INSTRUMENTS CONCERNED WITH MANDATORY REPORTING IN THE EVENT OF
INCIDENTS INVOLVING SHIPS
1.
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as
amended:
Regulation V/31 (danger
messages);
Regulation VII/6 and VII/7-4
(reporting of incidents involving dangerous goods);
Regulation VIII/12
(accidents to nuclear ships).
2.
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL),
1973, as amended by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto:
Article 8 (reports on
incidents involving the discharge or possible discharge of harmful substances);
Protocol I (provisions
concerning reports on incidents involving the discharge or possible discharge
of harmful substances (in application of article 8)).
3.
International Convention relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of
Oil Pollution Casualties, 1969 (the Intervention Convention):
Article III(a) and (f)
(consultations; notifications).
4.
International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and
Co-operation, 1990 (the OPRC Convention):
Articles 4 and 5.
5.
International Code for the Safe Carriage of Packaged Irradiated Nuclear Fuel,
Plutonium and High-Level Radioactive Wastes in Flasks on Board Ships (INF
Code):
Paragraphs 29 and 30.
6.
Resolution A.851(20): General principles for ship reporting systems and ship
reporting requirements, including guidelines for reporting incidents involving
dangerous goods, harmful substances and/or marine pollutants.
7.
Any other appropriate IMO instrument drawn up after the adoption of the present
resolution.
Annex 2.
GUIDELINES ON A MARITIME ASSISTANCE SERVICE (MAS)
The
circumstances of a ship's operation that involve a MAS are not those requiring
rescue of persons.
Three
situations can arise:
- the ship is involved in an
incident (e.g., loss of cargo, accidental discharge of oil) that does not
impair its seakeeping ability but nevertheless has to be reported;
- the ship, according to its
master's assessment, is in need of assistance but not in a distress situation
(about to sink, fire developing, etc.) that requires the rescue of those on
board; and
- the ship is found to be in
a distress situation and those on board have already been rescued, with the
possible exception of those who have remained aboard or have been placed on
board to attempt to deal with the ship's situation.
If,
however, in an evolving situation, the on board find themselves in distress,
the involvement of the MRCC and not the MAS will have priority.
1.1
The establishment of a MAS should not entail the setting up of a new
organization. In so far as the present guidelines are observed, the functions
of the MAS could be discharged by an existing organization, preferably an MRCC,
or alternatively a harbour master's office, a coast guard operations centre (if
one exists) or another body.
1.2
The allocation of MAS functions to an MRCC could from a practical viewpoint be
an advantageous and effective solution but would require the personnel to be
well trained in distinguishing between circumstances causing a ship to find
itself in a distress situation and circumstances placing a ship in a difficult
situation but not in distress as defined in the SAR Convention and procedures
arising therefrom. It should be recalled that the MRCC concept entails
coordination of search and rescue operations. By contrast, a MAS, within the
scope of the above resolution, is responsible only for receiving and transmitting
communications and monitoring the situation.
1.3
The fact that the resolution recommends every coastal State to establish a MAS
should not prevent neighbouring coastal States from combining their resources
under suitable arrangements to operate a joint MAS.
1.4
Conversely, a coastal State should be able to establish more than one MAS if
necessity so warrants.
2. Publicizing the establishment and
existence of a MAS
2.1
Governments of coastal States are requested to notify IMO of the existence and details
(call numbers, call signs, etc.) of their MAS, in accordance with the format
contained in the appendix hereto.
2.2
The IMO Secretariat will periodically publish the collected particulars in a
circular.
2.3
National organizations that disseminate nautical information are invited to
publish such particulars.
3.1
In accordance with the above resolution, the functions of a MAS are the
following:
.1 to receive the reports,
consultations and notifications provided for by the relevant IMO instruments in
the event of an incident involving a ship;
.2 to monitor the ship's
situation if a report as referred to in .1 discloses an incident that may give
rise to a situation where the ship is in need of assistance;
.3 to serve as the point of
contact between the master and the