New regulations in place for voyage-data recovery
Adam Corbett - London (dated 24th June 2011)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Voyage data recorders(VDRs) , which are playing an increasingly significant role in accident investigation, are set to become more sophisticated and the data more easily recoverable.
At the Nav 57 meeting, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) agreed a new performance standard for VDRs to counter the major failing of the system where crew fail to back up or save data immediately following an accident. When the 270,000dwt HEBEI SPIRIT (built 1993) spilled 10,000 tonnes of crude oil off South Korea in 2009, the failure of the crew to back up data on the VDR was cited against them in a subsequebt court case.
Data is also often expensive or impossible to retrieve when a vessel sinks. Recovering the VDR from the 2,400gt expedition cruiseship Explorer (built 1969), which sank in the Antarctic, is estimated to have cost up to $3m and is the subject of a legal dispute over payment. An official investigation into the accident criticised the crew for not removing the VDR before the ship sank.
Under the new IMO regulation, which is subject to final approval from 2014, VDRs should be capable of saving the most recent 48 hours of data for up to two years. It must be also protected against fire and permanently attached to the ship.
There must be an additional recording medium that will save data for six months to be held in a float-free capsule that will be released following the loss of a vessel.
An additional feature of VDRs is that they will also be required to be fitted with independent inclinometers or motion sensors to allow movement such as heel angle and roll to be monitored
ECDIS carriage requirements
The draft amendment to SOLAS regulation V/19 would require ships engaged on international voyages to be fitted with ECDIS according to the following timetable (the dates in square brackets were agreed in principle (i.e. they could change) by the Sub-Committee):- passenger ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards constructed on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2012];
- tankers of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2012]; cargo ships, other than tankers, of 10,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2013];
- cargo ships, other than tankers, of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 10,000 gross tonnage constructed on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2014];
- passenger ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before [1 July 2012], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2014];
- tankers of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before [1 July 2012], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2015];
- cargo ships, other than tankers, of 50,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before [1 July 2013], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2016];
- cargo ships, other than tankers, of 20,000 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 50,000 gross tonnage constructed before [1 July 2013], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2017];
- cargo ships, other than tankers, of 10,000 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 20,000 gross tonnage constructed before [1 July 2013], not later than the first survey on or after a proposed date of [1 July 2018].
Bridge navigational watch alarm system regulation
The draft amendment to SOLAS regulation V/19 will require carriage of a BNWAS, complying with IMO performance standards, on ships of 150 gross tonnage and upwards and passenger ships irrespective of size, with a phased carriage requirement for existing ships, as follows (the dates in square brackets were agreed in principle (i.e. they could change) by the Sub-Committee):- ships of 150 gross tonnage and upwards and passenger ships irrespective of size constructed on or after [1 July 2011];
- passenger ships irrespective of size constructed before [1 July 2011], not later than the first survey after [1 July 2012];
- ships of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before [1 July 2011], not later than the first survey after [1 July 2012];
- ships, of 500 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 3,000 gross tonnage, constructed before [1 July 2011], not later than the first survey after [1 July 2013];
- ships, of 150 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 500 gross tonnage constructed before [1 July 2011], not later than the first survey after [1 July 2014].
Members with ship construction planned for post-2010 may want to ensure that designers/builders are aware of these proposals if the vessels will be built to SOLAS standards.
Voyage Data Recorders
Passenger ships and ships other than passenger ships of 3000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed on or after 1 July 2002 must carry voyage data recorders (VDRs) to assist in accident investigations, under regulations adopted in 2000, which entered into force on 1 July 2002.
The mandatory regulations are contained in chapter V on Safety of Navigation of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS).
Like the black boxes carried on aircraft, VDRs enable accident investigators to review procedures and instructions in the moments before an incident and help to identify the cause of any accident.
VDR requirements
Under regulation 20 of SOLAS chapter V on Voyage data recorders (VDR), the following ships are required to carry VDRs:
· passenger ships constructed on or after 1 July 2002;
· ro-ro passenger ships constructed before 1 July 2002 not later than the first survey on or after 1 July 2002;
· passenger ships other than ro-ro passenger ships constructed before 1 July 2002 not later than 1 January 2004; and
· ships, other than passenger ships, of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed on or after 1 July 2002.
VDRs are required to meet performance standards "not inferior to those adopted by the Organization".
Performance standards for VDRs were adopted in 1997 and give details on data to be recorded and VDR specifications. They state that the VDR should continuously maintain sequential records of preselected data items relating to status and output of the ship's equipment and command and control of the ship. The VDR should be installed in a protective capsule that is brightly coloured and fitted with an appropriate device to aid location. It should be entirely automatic in normal operation.
Administrations may exempt ships, other than ro-ro passenger ships, constructed before 1 July 2002, from being fitted with a VDR where it can be demonstrated that interfacing a VDR with the existing equipment on the ship is unreasonable and impracticable.
Regulation18 of SOLAS chapter V on Approval, surveys and performance standards of navigational systems and equipment and voyage data recorder states that:
The voyage data recorder (VDR) system, including all sensors, shall be subjected to an annual performance test. The test shall be conducted by an approved testing or servicing facility to verify the accuracy, duration and recoverability of the recorded data. In addition, tests and inspections shall be conducted to determine the serviceability of all protective enclosures and devices fitted to aid location. A copy of a the certificate of compliance issued by the testing facility, stating the date of compliance and the applicable performance standards, shall be retained on board the ship.Simplified VDRs
The MSC at its 79th session in December 2004 adopted amendments to regulation 20 of SOLAS chapter V (Safety of Navigation) on a phased-in carriage requirement for a shipborne simplified voyage data recorder (S-VDR). The amendment entered into force on 1 July 2006.
The regulation requires a VDR, which may be an S-VDR, to be fitted on existing cargo ships of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards, phasing in the requirement for cargo ships of 20,000 gross tonnage and upwards first, to be followed by cargo ships of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards.
The S-VDR is not required to store the same level of detailed data as a standard VDR, but nonetheless should maintain a store, in a secure and retrievable form, of information concerning the position, movement, physical status, command and control of a vessel over the period leading up to and following an incident.
The phase-in is as follows:
To assist in casualty investigations, cargo ships, when engaged on international voyages, shall be fitted with a VDR which may be a simplified voyage data recorder (S VDR) as follows:
- in the case of cargo ships of 20,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before 1 July 2002, at the first scheduled dry-docking after 1 July 2006 but not later than 1 July 2009;
- in the case of cargo ships of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 20,000 gross tonnage constructed before 1 July 2002, at the first scheduled dry-docking after 1 July 2007 but not later than 1 July 2010; and
- Administrations may exempt cargo ships from the application of the requirements when such ships will be taken permanently out of service within two years after the implementation date specified above.
