New technologies for greener shipping has been chosen as the World Maritime theme for 2022, reflecting the need to support a green transition of the maritime sector into a sustainable future, while leaving no one behind. This was reported by IMO in July.

The IMO Council, meeting for its 125th session (28 June-2 July), endorsed the theme following a proposal by IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim.

Mr Lim said the theme would provide an opportunity to focus on the importance of a sustainable maritime sector and the need to build back better and greener in a post pandemic world. He commented: ‘IMO actively supports a greener transition of the shipping sector into a sustainable future, and showcases maritime innovation, research and development, and the demonstration and deployment of new technologies.’

According to news from the excellent IMO media service on 23 July senior maritime administrators in the Caribbean participated in the latest Regional Workshop, which was held virtually on 19 & 20 July.

This workshop provided Caribbean maritime administrators with an overview of regulatory and other developments in the international and regional maritime sector as well as on current and future technical cooperation activities organised by IMO. The workshop facilitated exchange of information between Caribbean administrations.

It was reported from Lystrup, Denmark on 19 July that the Space Department at Terma were following anxiously the Proton rocket launch on 21 July at Baikonur bound for the international space station, ISS. On board is the new robotic arm in which the Danish company has been deeply involved.

Carsten Jørgensen, Senior Vice President and Director of the Terma Space division commented: ‘Even though there has over time been many rocket launches, space travel will never become routine – even for us who have worked within this area for many years.’

He and his colleagues have during the last 20 years been involved in design and development of the new robotic arm, also known as European Robotic Arm or ERA, which will now be sent to the space station. Here it will be used to complete the space station and among other things handle some of the larger construction panels, replace spare parts, and inspect the surface of the space station.

The Officers of IAIN are disappointed to have to announce that the 17th IAIN World Congress, due to be held in Edinburgh in November 2021 has been cancelled as a result of restrictions on travel arising from the current global pandemic.

It is anticipated that the next IAIN World Congress will be held in the People’s Republic of China in 2024.

More details such as venue and dates will be announced in due course.

It was announced on 8 July that Australian researchers in industries such as agriculture and natural disaster management can apply to direct the Earth observation satellite NovaSAR-1 by accessing Australia’s share of the satellite, managed by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. This will mark the first time Australia has managed its own source of Earth observation data, contributing to the growth of the nation’s space industry.

It is understood that the satellite can take images of the Earth through all weather, including heavy cloud and smoke, offering a valuable data advantage to the many industries now harnessing the estimated $2.5 billion in economic benefits from the Earth observation sector.

The Institute of Navigation announces its quarterly journal, NAVIGATION, The Journal of The (US) Institute of Navigation, has recorded its sixth consecutive year of growth of the publication’s Journal Impact Factor (JIF).

We at IAIN send our congratulations.

The JIF, an index that calculates the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in a journal, is considered a bellwether of the relative importance of a journal within its field. A journal with a higher impact factor generally is viewed as being more important than those with a lower impact factor due to its citation rate.

NAVIGATION’s JIF has now increased to 2.1, representing a consecutive seven-year increase.

5 July marked the start of Maritime Safety Week 2021, a week that gives the UK marine industry an opportunity to focus on the steps that can collectively be taken to improve safety.

Andrew Moll, Chief Inspector of marine accidents shared a few words: ‘As our recent Annual Report highlights, the industry continues to face a number of persistent safety challenges. For MAIB there are three main areas of concern that we’ll be highlighting this week along with reiterating the important safety learning uncovered through our investigations. We’ll be discussing safety issues involving ultra large vessels and container ships; recreational craft and fishing vessel safety.’

The Day of the Seafarer, held on 25 June every year, draws global attention to the contribution that seafarers make to world trade.

As the world slowly moves through the pandemic, it is more important than ever not only to acknowledge the efforts that seafarers have made to keeping the supply chain open despite extremely challenging conditions, but also to ensure that the future being built is one that is fair to them. This is why IMO’s 2021 Day of the Seafarer campaign chose the theme: A Fair Future for Seafarers.

Readers are invited to see IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim in the 2021 Day of the Seafarer video.

Protector is the Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol Ship, and has recently completed a five-yearly refit and subsequent Operational Sea Training package. One of the most versatile ships in the Royal Navy, Protector will later this year deploy to the Antarctic where she will carry out work supporting the UK’s obligations as one of the signatories to the Antarctic Treaties. In addition, the ship will support partner agencies within HM Government and work with others to develop understanding and further the natural preservation of the continent.

On 17 June while deployed in the Arctic, Protector‘s hydrographic specialists conducted ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) training, practising driving skills and getting a unique underwater perspective of the ice. Protector carries a SEABOTIX LBV300-5 ROV consisting of a control box with screen and joystick and as well as two cameras and has a sonar with about 20m range. Typically, these devices would be used at up to 50m depth for nearshore seabed surveys, wreck investigation, jetty survey or hull inspection. In the remote parts of the world with below freezing sea temperatures where Protector operates, the ROV provides these capabilities where divers would be restricted.

Although the emissions targets for aviation are in line with the overall goals of the Paris Agreement, there is a high likelihood that the climate impact of aviation will not meet these goals, according to a new study.

Aviation is an important contributor to the global economy, but contributes to climate change by creating carbon dioxide as well as non-CO2 effects such as forming nitrogen oxides, ozone and contrail cirrus clouds, which all contribute to global warming.

Researchers believe that, as long as the industry stages a recovery, the restrictions placed on global air travel in response to Covid-19 lockdown will only have a temporary effect on the overall climate impact of aviation.

Publishing their findings on 21 June in Nature Communications, an international research team including experts from the University of Birmingham believes that non-CO2 effects will continue to make a major contribution to aviation’s climate impact over the coming years.

The UK’s Carrier Strike Group has joined the fight against Daesh with F-35 jets carrying out their very first combat missions from HMS Queen Elizabeth. This was reported by the Ministry of Defence on 22 June.

Stealth jets of 617 Squadron RAF (The Dambusters) carried out operational sorties for the first time from the carrier in support of Operation Shader and US Operation Inherent Resolve.

For the task group, which has spent previous weeks in the Mediterranean working with NATO allies and partners, it marks a change of emphasis. From exercises and international engagements, the Carrier Strike Group is now delivering its full might of naval and air power, putting the ‘strike’ into Carrier Strike Group and contributing to the UK’s fight against Daesh -Operation Shader, which forms part of the Global Collation against Daesh.

Join the ION on Monday, June 28 at 11:00 a.m. EDT for a complimentary webinar featuring Factor Graph Optimization for GNSS/INS Integration: A Comparison with the Extended Kalman Filter by Weisong Wen, Tim Pfeifer, Xiwei Bai and Li-Ta Hsu.

Factor Graph Optimization for GNSS/INS Integration: A Comparison with the Extended Kalman Filter was published in the Summer 2021 issue of NAVIGATION, Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 68, No. 2, pp. 315-331.

Factor graph optimization (FGO) recently has attracted attention as an alternative to the extended Kalman filter (EKF) for GNSS-INS integration.

News has been received in recent weeks that the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) has drawn the attention of its members to the history behind the NOTAM (Notice To Airmen) system which is nearly as long as commercial aviation itself.

In a message to Members the Federation indicated that the burden of this history is clear in pilots’ daily pre-flight information bulletins. There have been numerous efforts through the years to improve the system, but none have been successful. This year will be different. IFALPA is an active contributor to ICAO’s Information Management Panel and the work of the Panel and its sub-groups will now bring the first concrete step of improvement to the NOTAM system, it is reported.

The first target of the process is quantity. There is a need to reduce the amount of valid NOTAMs. Globally, the volume of NOTAMs published has increased from 250k in 2000 to 1.7 million in 2020. One of the main issues is that too many of these NOTAMs remain published past their recommended duration of 90 days. Roughly 20% of all active NOTAMs in 2020 were older than 90 days.

This Navigation Workshop is a biennial event organized and sponsored by the Israel Association for Automatic Control (IAAC). The IAAC is a non-profit organisation bringing together a large number of members from academe and industry interested in the broad areas of Control and System Theory.

Following the huge success of previous events, IAAC is now starting to organise the 2022 edition, scheduled for 31 January next, at the Daniel Hotel, Herzliya, Israel. This workshop is a one day event dedicated to technical talks that range from fundamental research, to applications, to field test results.

Topics of interest include positioning, navigation, and timing in all their variations, sensors, systems, optimal integration of multiple sensors, and novel or emerging technologies in the field of navigation.

Effective use of navigational ‘layers’ to support and enhance decision-making and ways of getting the best out of modern Integrated Navigational Systems combine to become the focus of the latest edition of The Navigator, the free magazine published by The Nautical Institute aimed at maritime navigators around the world, which rolls off the presses this month.

The issue contains an in-depth feature about using ECDIS and radar alone and as part of a wider Integrated Navigation System, as well as a close look at Parallel Indexing and Line of Positions as key position fixing techniques. The UK P&I Club contributes an article on the importance of synchronising layers of navigational information, while the Royal Institute of Navigation looks into the future of electronic intelligence, navigational layering and data display.

The Office of the Prime Minister, No 10, announced on 30 May that a proposed national flagship will showcase advanced British design, engineering and green technology while boosting trade and driving investment.

It was reported that the ship will be the first of its kind constructed in the UK, creating jobs and reinvigorating the shipbuilding industry.

Once built, the flagship will host trade events and promote UK interests around the world. British businesses will be given a new global platform to promote their products through a new national flagship announced by the Prime Minister on 30 May.

The ship will be the first national flagship since 1997 when the HMY Britannia (pictured) was decommissioned.

Les is currently Chairman of Margaret Black Ltd and for the past 13 years has been a volunteer Director at the London Shipping Law Centre. He is also a Trustee of George Green’s School Trust Funds on behalf of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners (HCMM).

Les joined the Honourable Company in 2001 and became a Liveryman in 2014. He was elected to the Court of Assistants in 2013 and 2016 and elected as Warden in 2017. He is a Fellow of the Nautical Institute, a Younger Brother of Trinity House and Chair of the South East Regional Grants Committee, Trustee of the Hill Trust and Greenwich Sea Cadets, Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, Past Chairman of London Branch of the Nautical Institute and Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.

‘Except for the Graduate Students in Control seminar days (GSC’20 and GSC’21), the Israeli Association for Automatic Control refrained from organizing workshops during the corona year, since it was felt that the zoom or hybrid formats were not suitable. Now, when the Ministry of Health allows larger gathering, we are happy to announce our intention to organize a one-day IAAC Control Conference, to be held at the end of June 2021, or the beginning of July, at the Technion, Haifa.’

‘The conference is planned as a one-track event, with 20-minutes presentations. We invite all academic, and all industrially active researchers and developers in all areas of automatic control / navigation, except students eligible for taking part in GSC events, to present their corona year work.’

The European Space Agency is currently looking for a new Director of Commercialisation, Industry & Procurement, to join its executive board and support the Director General, with responsibility for relevant ESA activities and overall objectives.

The Director of Commercialisation, Industry & Procurement is responsible for elaborating and implementing ESA’s industrial policy, representing the Director General in all relations with industry, elaborating and implementing the Agency’s procurement rules and policies, and conducting negotiations and managing procurement for all activities and programmes.

The Director will also support the industrialisation and the commercialisation of space products and services, the scale-up on global markets, as well as access to investments and finance for European space industry.

News was received from the US Coast Guard 7th District (Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) HQ in San Juan that USCGC Willow completed a twelve- day mission on 19 May servicing 23 critical aids to navigation (AToN) across eight maritime ports in Puerto Rico. The crew of the cutter Willow serviced AToN in the ports of San Juan, Mayaguez, Tallaboa, Ponce, Guanica, Ceiba, Culebra and in the southwest pass of Vieques, Puerto Rico.

As the only heavy lift asset within the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, cutter Willow is primarily responsible for the continuous operation of 245 fixed and floating aids to navigation spanning from the US Virgin Islands to South Carolina, and relies on a crew of 48 personnel to complete this and other Coast Guard missions.

The European Union Agency for the Space Programme, EUSPA, was launched on 12 May marking the start of a new era for EU Space.

Building on the legacy of the European GNSS Agency, EUSPA will take on responsibilities to create even more opportunities from Space for EU citizens and its economy.

Adoption of the Regulation establishing the new EU Space Programme on 27 April marks a new beginning for the EU Space Programme and for the European GNSS Agency (GSA), which has now officially evolved into EUSPA, with an expanded mandate and new responsibilities.

Under the new Space Regulation, EUSPA’s mandate will now include increased responsibilities in managing the exploitation of Galileo and EGNOS, including their service provision and operational security. Furthermore, the Agency’s new remit includes coordinating the user-related aspects of GOVSATCOM in close collaboration with the Member States and other involved entities.

In the UK the Maritime Charities Group (MCG), Trinity House, Nautilus Slater Fund and the Merchant Navy Welfare Board have announced the extension of the MCG Retraining and Redundancy Bursary Fund until the end of this year.

This fund, which is administered by The Marine Society on behalf of MCG, provides extra cash for training and refresher courses and is aimed at merchant seafarers who’ve lost work due to Covid-19 and want to stay in the industry. Forty-eight applications have been approved since the fund was launched last November and over £20,000 awarded in grants and it is understood that another £20,000 remains available.

Chair of MCG, Commander Graham Hockley (pictured) explained: ‘The fund was due to close at the beginning of May but with furlough coming to an end in September and many jobs under threat, the need for this kind of support hasn’t gone away. With no government funding available for seafarer retraining, it makes sense to extend the scheme.’

Trinity House announced on 12 May that it will replace the Channel Lightvessel with one of its largest Safe Water Mark buoys, now that the lightvessel position has successfully established a marine traffic pattern in the area. The operation to deploy a replacement buoy is set to take place in mid-August.

Following the grounding of the Amoco Cadiz in 1978, the IMO adopted the Off Casquets Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in 1979; Trinity House established the Channel Lightvessel so as to clearly define the new TSS to all mariners at a time when such schemes were a relatively new maritime feature.

It has been determined that as the lightvessel does not marks any physical hazards to navigation, it could be removed now that the marine traffic patterns in the area are well established. Recognising that the Channel Lightvessel has become a prominent physical mark, Trinity House has decided to replace the lightvessel with one of its largest Safe Water Mark buoys in order to enable position verification in the area.

The eighth NCSR session was held from 19 to 23 April, 2021.

On 28 April IMO kindly provided a briefing in which we learn that the Sub-Committee addressed all aspects of safety of navigation, reliable communications and improved coordination to avoid maritime accidents; and ensuring a quick and efficient response in case of a search and rescue incident.

With regard to the above Moshe Idan, IAAC President, writes:

‘You are cordially invited to participate in the annual meeting of graduate students in the field of Control and Systems Theory.

The event is organized by Professor Rafi Linker from the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Technion, and will be held in-person and online on 3 May 2021.’