Guides

This is the official release of the IMO SAR Convention, i.e. the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, which was initially adopted more that forty years ago in the course of the international conference on this subject, held in Hamburg. The main declared objective of the convention was and still remains the improvement of the existing arrangements in this field as well as provision of the effective framework for those involved in SAR operations that normally follow the accidents occurred at sea.

Many countries of the world have developed their own plan for these emergencies; however, that was the very first time when the international procedures were adopted. The current document will provide readers with the official text of the revised edition of the Search and Rescue Convention taking into account the further amendments which followed within the Res. MSC.155(78).

The publication is a real must-have one for all people willing to be updated with the regulatory framework for the modern SAR operations and maritime shipping industry in general. The organization and co-ordination of the operations have been addressed in detail together with the operating procedures and ship reporting systems.

This is a very compact but yet very informative booklet specifically prepared and released by the ICS, standing for the International Chamber of Shipping. The document will provide necessary instructions to those involved in the development of the Plans and Procedures for recovery of people from water. As we all know, all vessels are required to have such Plans and Procedures since July 2014.

The document shall be ship-specific and the contents shall be clearly identifying the equipment that is intended to be utilized when recovering people from sea. In addition to that, the Plan shall describe all measures that will be taken to get the associated risks to the crew members minimized. In most cases there will be no need for installing any additional equipment and the existing shipboard equipment and arrangements will be considered sufficient.

Subject equipment obviously includes lifeboats and rigid/inflatable liferafts, rescue boats and pilot ladders, openings in the sides like bunker and pilot doors, lifebuoys, searchlights and others. The present Guidelines were prepared to give some practical assistance to the companies willing to get in compliance with the SOLAS Reg. III/17-1.

The main declared objective of the present training booklet released by Videotel is to motivate the ship officers including both senior and junior officers to get the energy efficiency of their ships maximized to the possible extent. The publication will also be of great practical interest to the technical superintendents as well as the operators, shore personnel and workers of the commercial department.

The training set consists of this workbook and a very good video training lesson and they should be used together for better results. However, the booklet itself can be used as a good reference source. The glossary of the main terminology is included in the booklet together with a separate reference chapter devoted to the relevant regulations. The trainees will also find a sample SEEMP as well as EEOI, standing for the Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator.

Numerous questions have been included for the assessment and control of the training. The training set is strongly recommended to anyone working on board marine ships, taking into account the latest changes to the provisions of the MARPOL convention and coming into force of the energy efficiency-related regulations.

The present official IMO publication was prepared by the MEPC. i.e. Maritime Environment Protection Committee, consists of three separate volumes. The first volume of the set covers the regulations related to the maritime transportation of the HNS, standing for the hazardous and noxious substances, various fates and hazards associated with the HNS release, emergency preparedness, and also describes the most effective methods and techniques of chemical response; numerous case studies supplement the main content of the first volume.

The second volume of the Manual is fully devoted to the search and recovery of the different packaged products that have been lost at sea; it also opens with the chapter about the regulations governing the transportation of the dangerous goods by sea, this chapter being followed by the one addressing the loss and fate of such packages, their location, hazard assessment and actions that shall be taken for their recovery. The explosive materials have been dealt with in a separate chapter. The third volume is solely dealing with the administrative and legal aspects of the incidents involving HNS – subject volume was released in 2015 and concludes the manual.

We know that the artificial reefs are used in so many countries all around the world and have been used throughout many ages. The continuously escalating use of such reefs in coastal waters, especially when combined with the possibility of having negative consequences, has eventually resulted in the requirement of having some special form of worldwide guidance that would provide necessary information about their construction and deployment as well as management.

One of the major aims of this publication officially prepared and released by the IMO, is to ensure that their development is taking place fully consistent with the formal provisions and aims declared within the London Convention. It will also help ensure that subject development is carried out harmonized with the essential principles of the ecological approach to the marine environment management.

The content of the Guidelines is written in order to provide assistance to the countries where the requirement to assess the relevant proposals for placing such reefs has already been recognized and will also help in preparation of the associated regulatory framework. It will also be useful when used for implementation of the existing regulations.

The content of the present guide has been compiled by the OPRC-HNS Technical Group. Subject group is one of the subsidiary bodies of the MEPC, i.e. Maritime Environment Protection Committee of the IMO. The document was approved by the subject committee.

Nowadays, there is lot of readily available information and guidance to handling the oil spills and providing adequate and effective response along coastlines and in open waters. However, there is a lack of information about doing same under the conditions of fast waterways, such as inland waters including rivers etc. That is why the decision had been made to prepare an official publication that would cover all associated aspects.

The main objective of the present document is to give some basic information and practical guidance to all shipboard personnel involved in oil spill response for better development of the effective spill response techniques and strategies, clean-up measures, containment of the spill etc. The crew members are expected to possess some very basic knowledge of the oil containment and recovery by application standard equipment. This is a must-have document for any ship involved in passage in the above mentioned areas.

All people working on board ships have a valid right to perform their working duties without suffering any bullying or harassment. However, the sad truth is that many seafarers become victims of these two. The shipping companies are responsible for handling all relevant policies covering the elimination of the bullying and harassment in any form on board their vessels. In addition to that, seafarers themselves should ensure that none of these take place on the ships they work.

They should be committed to produce the materials drawing attention to the issues in this regard and highlighting the potential actions to be taken. Needless to say that both bullying and harassment and acceptable and must not be tolerated on board any ship; that is why two world recognized organizations ICS and IWTF have released this booklet. The intention of the authors of the document was to provide the general guidance on this problem and on the measures that shall be taken in order to eliminate shipboard harassment and bullying.

The authors cover the identification and proper reporting of the incidents that have been noticed, for their further investigation and resolution. The communication and awareness are also considered important and therefore addressed in a separate chapter.

Nowadays, the ship management is considered a worldwide business. Today's vessels are very complex and technically sophisticated structures that are normally equipped with numerous automation devices. According to the statistics, about ninety percent of all commodities all around the world are transported by water.

That is the reason why the great interest exists to the ships and, particularly, to their safe and efficient operation, manning, design and maintenance - all of those shall be done in strict compliance with the internationally recognized standards. The stakeholders are obliged to provide compliance with the applicable marine regulations. This volume was prepared to explore how various math decision making instruments could be applied for the management of the above mentioned regulations.

The content will be of practical interest to the students and specialists involved in the ship management; it will also be interesting and valuable to the ship owners and ship managers. The importance of proper understanding and compliance with the regulations is obvious; therefore the information provided in the pages of this publication will contribute to the overall effectiveness of ship management and ship operation processes.