IMSML Website Article 24/2023: Resolution MSC.263(84)/Rev.1 – Performance Standards and Functional Requirements for The Long-Range Identification and Tracking of Ships, Part 7 of 10 - Paragraph 11, LRIT Data Distribution Plan

Today’s article is Part 7 (of a series of articles consisting of 10 Parts). The specific focus of Resolution MSC.263(84)/Rev.1 for this article is Paragraph 11 of the LRIT Data Distribution Plan for the Performance Standards and Functional Requirements for The Long-Range Identification and Tracking of Ships.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has a duty to establish and maintain the LRIT Data Distribution Plan, see Paragraph 11.1. Under Paragraph 11.2, the features of the LRIT Data Distribution Plan includes the following features (quoted here in verbatim):

[1] a list indicating the unique LRIT identities of Contracting Governments, search and rescue services entitled to receive LRIT information, LRIT Data Centres, the International LRIT Data Exchange, ASPs, the LRIT Data Distribution Plan server and the LRIT Coordinator, see Paragraph 11.2.1;

[2] Under Paragraph 11.2.2, for the purpose of the implementation of the provisions of regulation V/19-1.8.1, for each Contracting Government a list of geographical coordinates of points, taking into account the related provisions of the technical specifications for the LRIT Data Distribution Plan,8 based on the WGS 84 datum defining the geographical area:

(a) of the waters landward of the baselines for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea of the Contracting Government concerned in accordance with international law, see Paragraph 11.2.2.1;

(b) of the territorial sea10 of the Contracting Government concerned in accordance with international law, see Paragraph 11.2.2.2;

(c) between the coast of the Contracting Government concerned and a distance of 1,000 nautical miles from its coast. The Contracting Government concerned may, in lieu of defining the aforesaid area with reference to the geographical coordinate points defining its coast, define the area with reference to the geographical coordinate points of the baselines for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea of the Contracting Government concerned in accordance with international law, see Paragraph 11.2.2.3; and

(4) within which the Contracting Government concerned is seeking the provision of LRIT information pursuant to the provisions of regulationV/19-1.8.1.3, if other than that defined under sub-paragraph .3 above, see Paragraph 11.2.2.4;

[3] Under Paragraph 11.2.3, for the purpose of the implementation of the provisions of regulation V/19-1.9.1 the following information:

(a) the name of the Administration (together with its associated unique LRIT identity) which opts to exercise its right under the provisions of regulation V/19-1.9.1, see Paragraph 11.2.3.1;

(b)the name(s) of the Contracting Government(s) (together with their associated unique LRIT identities) to which LRIT information about ships entitled to fly the flag of the aforesaid Administration shall not be provided pursuant to the provisions of paragraph V/19-1.8.1.3 together with the date and time as from which the decision of the Administration applies and any particulars thereof stated in the related communication to the Organization, see Paragraph 11.2.3.2;

(c) in case of amendment, suspension or annulment of such decisions by the aforesaid Administration, the salient details, see Paragraph 11.2.3.3; and

(d) the date and time the Organization has received the related communication, including related amendment, suspension or annulment and the date and time the Organization has informed all Contracting Governments pursuant to the provisions of regulation V/19-1.9.2, see Paragraph 11.2.3.4;

[4] a list of ports and port facilities located within the territory and a list of places under jurisdiction of each Contracting Government together with the associated geographical coordinates of points (based on WGS 84 datum) in which ships that are required to comply with the provisions of regulation V/19-1 may enter or proceed to, see Paragraph 11.2.4;

[5] a list indicating which LRIT Data Centre is collecting and archiving LRIT information for each of the Contracting Governments together with the related LRIT identities, see Paragraph 11.2.5;

[6] a list indicating the Uniform Resource Locator/Uniform Resource Identifier (URL/URI) (Web Service Endpoint) of each LRIT Data Centre, the International LRIT Data Exchange and the LRIT Data Distribution Plan server, see Paragraph 11.2.6;

[7] a list indicating the ASPs providing services to each LRIT Data Centre together with the related LRIT identities, see Paragraph 11.2.7;

[8] the contact details of Contracting Governments for LRIT-related matters, see Paragraph 11.2.8;

[9] the contact details of search and rescue services entitled to receive LRIT information for LRIT-related matters, see Paragraph 11.2.9;

[10] information in relation to the ASPs recognized by each Contracting Government together with any conditions attached to such recognitions, and their points of contact, see Paragraph 11.2.10;

[11] information in relation to each National, Regional and Cooperative LRIT Data Centre, the International LRIT Data Centre and the International LRIT Data Exchange, and their points of contact, see Paragraph 11.2.11;

[12] information in relation to the LRIT Coordinator, and its contact details, see Paragraph 11.2.12;

[13] information in relation to the LRIT Data Distribution Plan and its server and contact details of official(s) of the Organization who may be contacted for matters relating to the operation or maintenance of the plan or its server or for seeking help in relation to issues relating to or arising from the operation of the plan or its server, see Paragraph 11.2.13; and

[14] a record of all previous versions of the plan together with the dates and times between which each version was in effect, see Paragraph 11.2.14.

Pursuant to Paragraph 13.3, the LRIT Data Distribution Plan server should have these 14 features (which are reproduced here in verbatim):

[1] allow the International LRIT Data Exchange, the LRIT Data Centres and the LRIT Coordinator to have access to the current version of the plan, see Paragraph 13.3.1;

[2] provide earlier versions of the LRIT Data Distribution Plan to the International LRIT Data Exchange, the LRIT Data Centres and the LRIT Coordinator upon request, see Paragraph 13.3.2;

[3] use a standard protocol for communications and agreed protocols to connect with the International LRIT Data Exchange and the LRIT Data Centres, see Paragraph 13.3.3;

[4] use a standard secure transmission method with the International LRIT Data Exchange and the LRIT Data Centres, see Paragraph 13.3.4;

[5] use a standard and expandable message format for communicating with the International LRIT Data Exchange and the LRIT Data Centres, see Paragraph 13.3.5;

[6] use reliable connections (e.g. TCP) to ensure that the information in the plan is successfully received by the International LRIT Data Exchange and the LRIT Data Centres, see Paragraph 13.3.6;

[7] use industry standard file compression technology to reduce the size of the plan and its incremental updates when these are downloaded by the International LRIT Data Exchange and the LRIT Data Centres, see Paragraph 13.3.7;

[8] provide for the submission of the geographical areas in a standard industry format and use a consistent naming convention for the elements, see Paragraph 13.3.8;

[9] provide for uploading of the geographical areas in batch files in Geography Markup Language (GML) format, see Paragraph 13.3.9;

[10] maintain a unique number for each published version of the plan, incrementing each time a new version of the plan is published, see Paragraph 13.3.10;

[11] provide for the downloading of the plan and its incremental updates by the LRIT Data Centres and the International LRIT Data Exchange on the publishing of a new version of the plan, see Paragraph 13.3.11;

[12] archive all published versions of the plan and its incremental updates, see Paragraph 13.3.12;

[13] use a standard secure access methods with the Contracting Governments and the LRIT Coordinator, see Paragraph 13.3.13; and

[14] provide a web interface for the entry and amendment of information in the plan, see Paragraph 13.3.14.

The technical specifications for the LRIT Data Distribution Plan should be the benchmark for compliance for the LRIT Distribution Plan, see The Long-range identification and tracking system - Technical Documentation (Part 1), MSC.1/Circ.1259, as revised. There must also be compliance with the relevant technical specifications for communications within the LRIT system.

Thank you for reading IMSML Website Article 24/2023

Stay tuned for the next IMSML Website Article 25/2023: Resolution MSC.263(84)/Rev.1 – Performance Standards and Functional Requirements for The Long-Range Identification and Tracking of Ships, Part 8 of 10 - Paragraph 12 & 13, LRIT System Security & LRIT System Performance

Signing-off for today,

Dr Irwin Ooi Ui Joo, LL.B(Hons.)(Glamorgan); LL.M (Cardiff); Ph.D (Cardiff); CMILT

Professor of Maritime and Transport Law

Head of the Centre for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution

Faculty of Law

Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam

Selangor, Malaysia

Friday, 29 September 2023

Note that I am the corresponding author for the IMSML Website Articles. My official email address is: uijoo310@uitm.edu.my