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News I MO Resolutions: Places of Refuge and Ship Recycling Member States of the International Maritime Organization (1MO) 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 I MO 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 budg- et for the biennium 2004-2005 and reso- lutions on technical issues relating to the Organization's work on safety and secu- rity of shipping and prevention of marine pollution by ships. IMO Member State Audit Scheme The Assembly resolution Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme approved the establishment and further development of the scheme, to be imple- mented 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 envi- ronmental 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. Places of refuge New guidelines on places of refuge for ships in need of assistance were adopt- ed. These guidelines are intended for use when a ship is in need of assistance but the safety of life is not involved. Where the safety of life is involved, the provi- sions of the SAR Convention should continue to be followed. The guidelines recognize that, when a ship has suffered an incident, the best way of preventing damage or pollution from its progressive deterioration is to transfer its cargo and bunkers, and to repair the casualty. Such an operation is best carried out in a place of refuge. However, to bring such a ship into a place of refuge near a coast may endanger the coastal State, both eco- nomically and from the environmental point of view, and local authorities and populations may strongly object to the operation. Therefore, granting access to a place of refuge could involve a politi- cal decision that can only be taken on a case-by-case basis. In so doing, consid- eration would need to be given to bal- ancing the interests of the affected ship with those of the environment. A second resolution, Maritime Assistance Service ZF Marine's pedigree is the design and manufacture of lightweight transmissions for fast craft, where robustness and reliability are as important as low noise and vibration. The transmission models cover a power range from 10 the 10.000 kW for all types of installation configurations in all types of vessels. The ZF 53000 series, specially designed for fast ferry application, can be matched to the most powerful high- speed engines and the patented "ZF Antiflex" mounts prev ent stresses being transferred from hull to gear casing. Smaller transmissions, typically installed in defence craft, fast passenger craft and megay achts. bear the same stamp of quality, reliably transmitting high powers smoothly, efficiently and quietly. Apart from transmissions, ZF Marine supplies a wide range of propellers, surface-drives and electronic control systems... all backed by the security of ZF Marine s worldwide service network. Choose ZF Marine, and have peace of mind! Marine Propulsion Systems ZF Industries Inc. ZF Marine Gulf Coast Office Tel: 51)4 443-0501 Fax: 504 443-0504 nfo.zfmarineneworleans ยง zf com www.ZF-Marine com Marine transmits smooth power Driveline and Chassis Technology Circle 247 on Reader Service Card January 2004 11
