Maritime Assistance Service News

Marlink has launched XChange Telemed, a new telemedicine service designed to improve the health and safety of crew and passengers at sea, while meeting new ILO/MLC and IMO/STCW labor regulations for health and medical treatment on board. XChange Telemed provides a cost-effective way for shipping companies to manage both regular and emergency medical consultations for the welfare of crew and passengers, thereby supporting the medical health of seafarers and reducing the risk of spiraling costs incurred due to medical emergencies on board.

Shipowners, Salvors and Insurers – through their respective trade associations – have jointly called for the prompt and proper implementation of international measures to provide a Place of Refuge for stricken vessels, following a series of incidents where casualty vessels have been delayed in accessing a safe harbor. The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) said that it has noted “with dismay” the refusal by some coastal States to make places of refuge available, thereby risking lives and the environment even after the high profile cases of the Stolt Valor and the MSC Flaminia in 2012.

from November 24-December 5, 2003. assistance and guidelines on ship recycling. Altogether the session saw 30 resolutions adopted by the Assembly. of marine pollution by ships. The Assembly resolution Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme approved the establishment and further development of the scheme, to be implemented on a voluntary basis. It requests the IMO Council to develop, as a matter of high priority, procedures and other modalities for the implementation of the scheme. The proposed IMO Member State Audit Scheme will be designed to help promote maritime safety and environmental protection by assessing how effectively Member States implement and enforce relevant IMO Convention standards, and by providing them with feedback and advice on their current performance.

Member States of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed on the need for an audit scheme to assess their effectiveness in implementing global shipping standards, with the adoption of an Assembly resolution on the subject at the 23rd IMO Assembly, which met at the Organization's London Headquarters from November 24-December 5, 2003. The Assembly also adopted guidelines on places of refuge for ships in need of assistance and guidelines on ship recycling. Altogether the session saw 30 resolutions adopted by the Assembly. Other issues covered by resolutions included the Organization's work program and budget for the biennium…

What happens when a ship in distress requires a "place of refuge"? In the aftermath of the incident involving the fully laden tanker Castor which, in December 2000, developed a structural problem in the Mediterranean Sea, IMO Secretary-General William O'Neil suggested that the time had come for the Organization to undertake, as a matter of priority, a global consideration of the problem of places of refuge for disabled vessels and adopt any measures required to ensure that, in the interests of safety of life at sea and environmental protection, coastal States reviewed their contingency arrangements so that such ships are provided with assistance and facilities as might be required in the circumstances.

A revised Annex B to the 1988 Load Lines Protocol and amendments to the enhanced survey programme for bulk carriers and oil tankers are expected to be adopted when IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) meets at the Organization's London Headquarters for its 77th session from 28 May to 6 June. Other major issues on the MSC agenda include the implementation of security measures adopted in December 2002, places of refuge, the safety of bulk carriers, the proposed IMO Model Audit Scheme and implementation of the revised STCW Convention. The MSC (including Parties to the 1988 Load Lines Protocol) is expected to adopt what amounts to a comprehensive revision of the technical regulations of the original Load Lines Convention.