Identification systems urged for ships plying Malacca Strait
Identification systems urged for ships plying Malacca Strait
SINGAPORE (AFP): The International Maritime Organization (IMO)
called Thursday for ships passing through the narrow Malacca
Strait to be equipped with an automatic identification system to
prevent accidents.
IMO Secretary-General William O'Neil said ships fitted with
transponders could give information such as their name, position,
speed and course when asked under a mandatory reporting system
being implemented in the strait.
The London-based IMO is the United Nations watchdog for
maritime safety and prevention of pollution from ships.
A new mandatory ship reporting system was introduced in the
Malacca Strait in December 1998 but its effectiveness depended
very much on the compliance by the estimated 30,000 vessels that
ply the busy waterway every year, he said.
The system was implemented by the littoral states Malaysia,
Singapore and Indonesia.
"There is always the possibility that some vessels will not
report in, which can result in their not being readily identified
and contacted in the event of an emergency," O'Neil told an
international conference here.
The two-day conference on navigational safety and pollution
control on the Straits of Malacca and Singapore was attended by
officials from the littoral states as well as top shipping
executives, acdemics and maritime policy officials.
The 520-mile (836-kilometer) accident-prone Malacca Strait
lies between the west coast of Thailand and Malaysia on the
northeast, and the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia on the
southwest.
Together with the Singapore Strait, it forms the main seaway
connecting the Indian Ocean with the China Sea. It provides a
vital link between the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is the
shortest route for oil tankers trading between the Persian Gulf
and East Asian countries.
O'Neil said the safe navigation of ships in the Malacca and
Singapore straits was vital to cope with an escalation in traffic
to about 40,000 to 50,000 vessels per year along that
international waterway.
The IMO chief also suggested that shore authorities be given
powers to issue orders to ships to help them avoid mishaps at
sea.
Under existing regulations, shore authorities have the right
to contact ships in potential distress and warn of the danger
ahead but they have no powers to compel a change of course.
"I think that we should ask ourselves if the time has not come
to question this approach and to empower the shore authorities,
in certain cases, to order ships to take whatever action
necessary to avoid an accident," he said.
O'Neil said one of the oldest traditions of the sea -- that
the authority of the ship's master should be paramount -- "may no
longer be valid in a world that is becoming dominated by new
technology.
"At locations where reporting in is mandatory -- and is obeyed
-- the shore authorities know the position of all vessels, their
identity, track and speed.
"By observing their radar screen, they can, for example,
determine that if a ship continues on its present course it will
run aground in 10 minutes or that it is on a collision course
with another craft," he said.