Tanzania at the International Maritime organisation conference in London

Delegates exchange views during break time

By Ayoub Mzee, London
Today is the last day at the IMO conference in london.Tanzania was represented among others by from left to right, Capt King Chiragi (Director of Maritime safety and security), Abdallah J.Abdallah (Director for Marine services Zanzibar) and Thomas Mayagilo, Principal Dar es salaam maritime institute.

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Pse Note: I took the picture of the TANZANIA DELEGATION during break time as Journalists are not allowed to walk around when proceedings are going on.Secondly , in most international major conferences delegates seat in alphabetical order .That means T- Tanzania will always seat at the the end next to U,V ,W etc.Other members of the delagation were representing Tanzania in another committe room as seen in the above pictures
- Ayoub mzee

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Some of the issues discussed today included:
Piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia, the Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system, the development of goal-based standards for new ship construction and the adoption of amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) were among the items at the top of the agenda during an 8-day meeting of IMO's headquaters in westminister London.

The Committee instructed a correspondence group, tasked with the revision of guidance on the prevention and suppression of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships, to consider the need for guidance to seafarers should they be attacked, fired upon, kidnapped or held hostage. The group was also instructed to discuss proposals on practical measures to enhance the safety and security of merchant ships against attack and to examine the carria.

Other issues
The MSC considered and took action on other issues arising from the reports of Sub-Committees and other bodies, as follows:
-a number of proposals on ships' routeing, ship reporting and other relevant measures, all aimed at enhancing the safety of navigation in areas of identified navigational hazards and environmentally sensitive sea areas, were adopted;
-draft amendments to SOLAS regulation V/19 to make mandatory the carriage of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) and Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm Systems (BNWAS), under SOLAS chapter V, were approved, with a view to their adoption by MSC 86 in May 2009;
-a strategy for the development and implementation of e-navigation, including a framework for its implementation and a timeframe for the process, was approved; and
-a resolution on Clarification of the term "bulk carrier" and guidance for application of regulations in SOLAS to ships which occasionally carry dry cargoes in bulk and are not determined as bulk carriers in accordance with regulation XII/1.1 and chapter II-1, to clarify the definition of "bulk carrier", was adopted.

Range of firearms or armed personnel on board such vessels.
It was noted that the number of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships reported to the Organization in the first nine months of 2008 (1 January to 30 September) was 214, against 213 in the first nine months of 2007. Although the overall number of reported acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships during the period under review was virtually unchanged, the decrease in the number of incidents in most areas of the world had been negated by the sharp increase in both number and severity of attacks in waters off the coast of Somalia.

During the period under review, seven crew members were killed, 20 crew members were reportedly injured or assaulted, more than 430 crew members were reportedly taken hostage or kidnapped and 29 ships were hijacked, largely off the coast of Somalia. The Committee urged all Governments and the shipping industry to intensify and coordinate their efforts to eradicate these unlawful acts.