Call for papers deadline extended to 20th October 2011

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, 22nd and 23rd March 2012

Following a successful meeting in 2010, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Institute of Navigation are planning a second symposium to bring together current research in the history of navigation.

The symposium will explore the wider impact of the ‘discovery’ of longitude and the ways in which navigation has evolved since then. In particular it will aim to investigate the connections between navigational advances and the development of exploration, surveying, commerce and empire from the 19th century to today.

On 20th September ICAO presented a proposal to the international aviation community that will assist in the modernization of air traffic management systems
in order to cope with the anticipated doubling of passenger traffic to some five
billion by the year 2030.

Some 500 representatives from States and industry attended ICAO Headquarters
for the Global Air Navigation Industry Symposium (GANIS) from 20th to 23rd September.

In order to improve global aviation safety, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Commission (EC) agreed on 22nd September on the use of a single repository and a common categorization scheme (taxonomy) to report all aviation accidents and incidents worldwide, it was announced from Montreal.

Under the agreement, ICAO will promote, among its 190 Member States, the European Co-ordination Centre for Accident and Incident Reporting Systems (ECCAIRS), developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) for collecting and analyzing aviation safety data as well as the sharing of safety information.

A Cessna Aircraft 208 (VH-UMV) was engaged in parachuting operations from Cairns Airport, Queensland on 31st December 2009. While climbing through 12,500 ft in preparation for a parachute drop, the engine failed. The parachutists exited the aircraft and the pilot completed a glide approach and uneventful landing at Cairns Airport.

Australian Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare announced on 16th September that the A39-002 KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport has completed its first flight in Royal Australian Air Force service.

On 18 August 2011, an Aérospatiale Industries AS355F2 helicopter, registered VH-NTV, was operating in an area east of Lake Eyre, South Australia. On board were the pilot and two passengers. The helicopter landed on an island in the Cooper Creek inlet, about 145 km north of Marree, SA, at about 1715 Central Standard Time. At about 1900, the helicopter departed the island, and soon after takeoff it collided with terrain. The pilot and the two passengers were fatally injured, and the helicopter was destroyed by the impact forces and a fuel-fed fire.

Key to an effective confidential reporting scheme is getting the right balannce between disclosing information to improve transport safety while maintaining confidentiality to protect a person’s identity. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) invites comments to help it get this balance right. The ATSB is particularly interested in any concerns readers have about the proposed reforms – whether they agree with the new regulations or would like to see more changes.

Shipping’s call for UN force against Somali pirates – The global shipping industry (represented by the Round Table of international shipping associations) has called for the establishment of a United Nations force of armed military guards to tackle the piracy crisis in the Indian Ocean, which it says is spiralling out of control, it was reported on 9th September.

In a hard hitting letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), BIMCO, INTERTANKO and INTERCARGO demand a bold new strategy to curb rising levels of piracy which have resulted in the Indian Ocean resembling the Wild West.

On 9th September the European Space Agency advised that the first Galileo navigation satellite had arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, ready to begin preparations for launch on 20th October.

The satellite is due to be launched aboard a Soyuz ST-B vehicle on 20th October, together with a second Galileo that is now being readied for its own flight to French Guiana. This will be the first launch of Russia’s workhorse Soyuz rocket from French Guiana and will take place from a new facility 13 km northwest of the Ariane 5 launch site.

A new aviation safety podcast was launched on 1st September by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in conjunction with the Sony Award winning Flaps podcast team. Known as Airspace, the podcast is initially part of the Airspace & Safety initiative (ASI*) work to inform the aviation community of changes resulting from next year’s London 2012 Olympics, but will also feature other
safety and airspace issues.

The first edition focuses on the airspace restrictions that the British Government will be putting in place during the Olympics and can be heard or downloaded here: www.soundcloud.com/flapspodcast/caa-airspace.

The International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), in conjunction with the Arabian Maritime Navigation Aids Services (AMNAS) will host an IALA training seminar on the IALA Risk Management Tool Box – PAWSA, IWRAP Mk2 & Simulation from 27th November to 1st December 2011, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Muscat.

A flyer with more information.

The European Space Agency announced on 2nd September that the 9th September deadline for letters of intent is approaching fast for proposals of experiments relevant to climate change that use the International Space Station as a platform.

ESA is soliciting proposals for flight experiments relevant to climate change studies using the ISS as a platform. Often invisible to the naked eye, profound changes occurring on, in and above Earth and to its climate can be observed by instruments mounted on the Space Station. This is one of many new areas where the Space Station will benefit science and technology, and where the addition of recoverable Earth observation experiments could further expand its capabilities.

IALA workshop on global sharing of maritime data, 12th to 16th September, 2011.

To be held at IALA HQ, 10-14 rue des Gaudines, St Germain en Laye, 78100 France.

Tel: +33 1 34 51 70 01

Fax: +33 1 34 51 82 05

e-mail: iala-aism@wanadoo.fr

URL: www.iala-aism.org

More information in the accompanying pdf.

Report on the 8th POSITION NAVIGATION and TIMING (PNT) BOARD meeting, 9th and 10th June 2011, Crystal Palace Hotel, Washington.

We publish here a report from Dr Refaat Rashad, President of IAIN, (Arab Institute of Navigation) who attended the eighth meeting of the Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Board hosted by NASA in Washington in June.

Some presentations made during the gathering are to be found at:
www.pnt.gov/advisory/2011/06

EUROCONTROL announced in July that it is assisting the European Commission in building the Single European Sky, contributing to its regulatory and technology elements. A formal letter was received from the Commission, nominating the Agency to take on the role of European Network Manager as defined in the Single European Sky II (SES) legislation.

Following the invitation of the Commission, EUROCONTROL is now seeking the formal approval of its Members States to accept the nomination.

Towards the end of July in Montreal ICAO announced that it expects global air traffic to grow by about 5.3% in 2011, 6.2% in 2012 and 6.1% in 2013, in terms of
passenger-kilometres performed. The projected increases reflect positive economic prospects worldwide, based on an average 3.5% growth in the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the next three years, as estimated by IHS/Global Insight, a major economic forecasting organization.

Despite multiple headwinds, such as potentially higher oil prices and the implementation of fiscal austerity policies in key economies, this reduced forecast from the 3.9% global GDP growth in 2010 should, nevertheless, allow the
momentum in traffic growth to continue, fuelled by strong air travel demand due to improved household balance sheets and robust business cash flows.

On 15th August the Nautical Institute, which has been serving the maritime professional since 1971 announced that it is to expand its accreditation services.

Members’ input, which has fed into the Institute’s current five year strategic plan, highlights that focus on competency and professionalism across the entire maritime industry is greater than ever.

The issue of competency in the modern era is consistently raised by members in
terms of the effectiveness of training, reduction of sea time and experience,
assessment and use of simulation. There is a strong perception that competency is
reducing across the board at sea and ashore, not merely due to the rapid promotion of officers but due to the shortage of suitably qualified personnel.

On 15th August the new, improved, NATO Shipping Centre (NSC) website went live providing more comprehensive and timely information about pirate activity around the Horn of Africa for the shipping community.

It was announced from Washington on 31st July that the National Transportation Safety Board had launched a team of investigators to assist the government of Guyana with its investigation into the previous day’s accident at Cheddi Jagan
International Airport, Georgetown, Guyana, involving a scheduled passenger
flight.

On 30th July at approximately 0125 (EDT), Caribbean Airlines flight 523,
(Trinidad & Tobago registration 9Y-PBM), en route from Trinidad to Guyana,
overran the runway during landing at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Guyana.

Report on the second planning and organizational meeting for the Sixth
Meeting of the International Committee on GNSS (ICG), Vienna, 7th June 2011

The website for the 6th ICG Meeting is available under www.icg2011.go.jp.

All the ICG-6 participants should have registered online by 15th July 2011.

Participants wishing to give a presentation during the first plenary
session are requested to submit the titles of their presentations by 30th
July 2011.

Pirate attacks on the world’s seas totalled 266 in the first six months of 2011, up from 196 incidents in the same period last year, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) revealed on 14th July simultaneously in London and Kuala Lumpur.

More than 60% of the attacks were by Somali pirates, a majority of which were in the Arabian Sea area said the report, Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships. As of 30th June, Somali pirates were holding 20 vessels and 420 crew, and demanding ransoms of millions of dollars for their release.

Shortly after noon on 14th July the Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond, gave HMG’s updated Coastguard reforms. Broadly speaking it is Westminster’s belief that Coastguard stations will be better coordinated and more resilient to the challenges of the coming decades under the updated modernisation proposals.

In his statement the Minister said the Coastguard has been helping to manage our seas and protect those who use them for over two centuries. However, the service has undergone few changes over the past 40 years and is now in need of modernisation as the current structure is not sufficiently resilient and fluctuating workloads cannot be properly distributed.

Air cargo security – From Montreal on 27th June it was announced that ICAO and the World Customs Organization (WCO) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for increased co-operation to protect air cargo from acts of terrorism or other criminal activity and for speeding up the movement of goods by air worldwide.

Aviation safety information – On 15th June the Council of ICAO adopted a code of conduct to oversee the collection, sharing and use of aviation safety information, in support of the Organization’s ongoing drive to further improve safety worldwide.

Fatigue risk management – The Council of ICAO adopted at its meeting of 13th June international standards for Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS) as an alternative to prescriptive flight and duty limitations to address crew fatigue, often cited as a factor in aircraft accidents. The new standards become applicable on 15th December this year.

An invitation has been issued by the Danaish Maritime Safety Administration (DAMSA) for the Third and final EfficienSea Major Event arranged with the Estonian Maritime Administration and to be held in Tallinn, Estonia on 21st and 22nd September this year.

The EfficienSea project started in January 2009. Now almost three years have passed the organisers have called for fresh input and focus in order to make the most out of the project.

On 21st September, the respective themes of the project will be:

• Recruitment and Competences
• e-Navigation
• Maritime Planning and Vessel Traffic Data
• Dynamic Risk Management

These topics will be presented by the work package leaders.

MonaLisa, an EU co-funded project

The MonaLisa project, an action in the Baltic Sea region aimed at improving the quality of maritime transport, will benefit from €11.23 million in EU contribution from the 2010 TEN-T Multi-Annual Call, it was announced by the EC on 15th June.

MonaLisa aims at improving quality of maritime transport, safety at sea, exchange of maritime data and facilitation of environmental performance of shipping and implementation of e-Maritime relevant applications.