The British Secretary of State for Transport, Andrew Adonis, has approved the selection of Keith Conradi to be the next Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, the head of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), it was announced from London on 15th February. He will take up the post later this year, when the current Chief Inspector, David King, retires after more than thirty years with the AAIB, the last five as Chief Inspector.

In February the Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) commenced a renewal of its VTS system and developed an agreement with Transas to facilitate the supply, development and commissioning of a VTS including all necessary hardware, software, sensors, communication systems, training and support.

Also in February it was announced that Transas China and the Ministry
of Transport of the People’s Republic of China had signed a contract for
the supply, installation and commissioning of a Navi-Monitor system.

Transas is currently working on two VTS projects in Morocco, in the
ports of Agadir and Nador with Agence National des Ports (ANP), in
partnership with SOREMAR Group.

Since 10th March, EU Member States have had access to a new, user friendly web service for tracking shipping in European waters. Now for the first time, EMSA’s new SafeSeaNet tracking module ? called STIRES ? allows authorities to see all commercial vessels in and around EU waters in a single view. This will be closely followed by the picture for the whole world. The information has been available to Member States in the SafeSeaNet system for some time, but this is understood to be the first time that users will be able to see it in a fully interactive, multi-functional display.

The Institute of Navigation (ION) presented its Annual Awards during the ION International Technical Meeting (ITM) 2010 in San Diego, California, January 25-27, 2010.

CANSO, the Global Voice of Air Traffic Management, has welcomed the Royal Decree from the Spanish government in respect of the set-up of a new legal framework for the provision of air navigation services in Spain.

In CANSO’s view, this Decree provides a foundation for the delivery of ATM services that are better aligned to the needs of passengers and business both in Spain and elsewhere.

Shortly before the end of 2009 the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) offered its congratulations to Boeing on a successful first flight of the 787 on 15th December. Commenting on the flight IFALPA President Captain Carlos Limon commented, “We welcome the introduction of new technologies and materials and support the responsible way in which Boeing is bringing this aircraft to service as a mature product.”

2009: Worst Demand Decline in History

Encouraging Year-end Improvements

From Geneva IATA has reported December and full-year 2009 demand statistics for international scheduled air traffic that showed the industry ending the year with the largest ever post-war decline. Passenger demand for the full year was down 3.5% with an average load factor of 75.6%. Freight showed a full-year decline of 10.1% with an average load factor of 49.1%.

“In terms of demand, 2009 goes into the history books as the worst year the industry has ever seen. We have permanently lost 2.5 years of growth in passenger markets and 3.5 years of growth in the freight business,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Janet Napolitano, will travel to Mexico City from 16th to 18th February at the invitation of her Mexican colleague, Interior Secretary Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont, to meet with her North, Central and South American and Caribbean counterparts and officials from ICAO to discuss ways to bolster global aviation security.

The Netherlands’ Rijkswaterstaat has chosen Tideland’s SeaBeacon 2 System 6
dual-band racon for installation on buoys as an aid to navigation and to mark
special locations in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.

Northrop Grumman Corporation announced on 10th February that it had received a full-rate production contract from the US Naval Sea Systems Command for its AN/SPQ-9B shipboard radar systems, which will enhance detection and tracking of high-speed threats such as sea-skimming anti-ship missiles.

As the car navigation industry has grown so has incompatibility between navigation systems and the databases that store important location information. Additionally, there is a need to more easily develop navigation system applications. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is contributing solutions to those issues with an International Standard for a navigation system application programming interface (API).

On 26th January, René Oosterlinck, ESA’s Director of the Galileo Programme and Navigation-related Activities, signed the first three contracts for the Galileo full operational capability phase. This event marks the start of building the Galileo operational infrastructure. The signing ceremony took place at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre at Noordwijk in The Netherlands in the presence of Matthias Ruete, Director General Energy and Transport of the European Commission (EC) and Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General.

These contracts cover system, satellites and launch activities.

CANSO, the global voice of air traffic management, announced on 26th January its Middle East Declaration, a statement committing the members of its Middle East Office and other aviation stakeholders in the region to work together to improve Air Traffic Management across the Middle East.

The Declaration was endorsed on 25th January by all the organisations attending the CANSO Middle East High Level meeting. Representatives included all the members of the CANSO Middle East Region, key civil aviation organisations and ANSPs, airlines, IATA, ICAO, and several important industry suppliers.

Minutes of the IAIN General Assembly, held on October 27, 2009, at Kastellet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Minutes of the IAIN Officers’Meeting, held on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, at Kastellet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Report on IMO Activities at the IAIN Officers’ meeting and General Assembly on
October 27, 2009.

Report on IHO Activities at the IAIN Officers’ meeting and General Assembly on
October 27, 2009.

Report on ICG Activities at the IAIN Officers’ meeting and General Assembly on October 27, 2009.

Report on ICAO Activities at the IAIN Officers’ meeting and General Assembly on October 27, 2009.

On 7th December IMO announced that it had published a new consolidated edition
of The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), the most
important of all the international conventions dealing with maritime safety. It
provides an essential reference for maritime administrations, shipbuilders, ship
owners and operators, shipping companies, equipment manufacturers, training
institutes and all others concerned with the SOLAS requirements.

After eleven exciting and interesting years as managing director of via donau,
Österreichische Wasserstrassen-Gesellschaft, Manfred Seitz (46) will be leaving the company at the end of 2009, it was reported from Vienna shortly before Christmas. Under his leadership, via donau became an important partner for the European Commission with regard to issues such as new technologies for inland navigation, the growing importance of the Danube waterway and the Danube
region and the development and implementation of an active European inland navigation policy.

Germany has introduced a funding programme for the purchase and installation of
AIS transponders aboard inland vessels. Starting from 1st November 2009 all
vessels registered in the German shipping register or regularly using German
inland waterways were able to apply for public funding.

In accordance with the US Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act the US Coast Guard announced on 7th January that it will terminate the transmission of all US Loran-C signals effective from 2000Z on 8th February 2010. At that time, the US Loran-C signal will be unusable and permanently discontinued. It is understood that this termination does not affect US participation in the Russian, American or Canadian Loran-C chains. US participation in these chains will continue temporarily in accordance with international agreements.

During the gala dinner in the finest of surroundings, right by the world-renowned Wasa, Captain Dick Smith (centre) had the honour of presenting the 2009 IAIN Awards.

The John Harrison Award was presented to Professor von Villiez (left), the 2009 Necho Award was presented to Håkan Lans (right).

On Christmas Eve IMO announced that it had decided to dedicate the year 2010 to
the world’s seafarers by choosing, as the theme for World Maritime Day, “2010:
Year of the Seafarer”.

In the words of Admiral Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of IMO, “Our intention is to pay tribute to you, the world’s 1.5 million seafarers ? men and women from all over the globe ? for the unique, and all too often over-looked, contribution you make to the wellbeing of all of us.”

“We will do so with deep appreciation, in recognition of the extraordinary service you render every day of your professional life, frequently under dangerous circumstances, in delivering, to the more than 6.5 billion people of the world, the wheat that makes our daily bread, the gas and oil that warms our homes or moves our vehicles and the gifts we will share and enjoy with our families and friends over this Festive Season.”