Obsolete Systems News

International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Sub-Committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue (NCSR) said that it will continue its ongoing work to review GMDSS requirements, to enable the use of modern communication systems in the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), while removing requirements to carry obsolete systems.Search and rescue at sea depends on the integrated satellite and terrestrial radio-communication communications system - the GMDSS. The GMDSS is mandatory under the International convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).According to the Sub-Committee, the aim is to finalize the review in 2021, for submission to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), so that SOLAS amendments can be adopted for entry into force in 2024.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported that Mission the Effectiveness Project (MEP) is significantly improving the mission capability and lowering the operating costs of in-service medium endurance cutters and patrol boats, thus bridging the gap between the aging fleet and the delivery of new assets. Since MEP began in 2005, the project has consistently achieved its goals on time and on budget. As project approaches its midpoint, the Coast Guard reviewed some of the lessons learned and performance improvements achieved.

SYS Technologies, Inc., a provider of information connectivity solutions that enable real-time, complex decision-making, announced it has been awarded a prime contract with a value up to $17 million over five years (one base year; four option years) from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) in Washington D.C. SYS has been selected to provide life cycle project management services to support the NAVFAC Expeditionary Program Office (NEPO) in several of its initiatives. Most notable is its re-engineering effort to replace several technologically obsolete systems. The new “system of systems” provides global asset management…

Oil firms in the final stages of testing for possible millennium disturbances on Norway's offshore oil and gas platforms say they are confident there will no major mishaps at midnight on December 31. Operators say they have tested thousands of components and replaced obsolete systems and controls where potential computer bugs may have lurked. "We cannot guarantee 100 percent but we can say that it is highly unlikely that anything will happen," said Kai Nilsen, spokesman at the state oil firm Statoil. Oil companies, along with the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), began Y2K preparations as early as 1997. In the worst case, the NPD feared that a freak chain of computer failures could trigger an explosion.