According to a statement issued by the European Commission in mid-June ministers are expected to reach a general agreement (known as a ‘general approach’) on a proposal modifying the mandate of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to enable it to deal with new challenges in an ever-changing world.

Commission requests nine Member States to comply with EU vessel traffic monitoring and information system regime

It was announced from Brussels on 16th June that the European Commission has requested Belgium, Estonia, France, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Finland and the United Kingdom to adopt national legislation to implement EU rules setting up a vessel traffic monitoring and information system.

The new access fairway to the Swedish Port of Norrköping was inaugurated on 9th June amid numerous key personalities including the Swedish Minister for Infrastructure. These works, which now enable 24-hour access to the port and its new intermodal terminal, began in 2009 and benefitted from €3.5 million in EU co-financing from the TEN-T budget, managed through the TEN-T Executive Agency.

After a successful 2011 conference with more than 130 participants from 21 countries, the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and the EfficienSea project with the support of the Nautical Institute and the International Association for Marine Electronics’ Companies (CIRM) have decided to repeat the event next year.

On 21st and 22nd September the EfficienSea project is arranging the third and final open conference hosted by the Estonian Maritime Administration, presenting results of the project.

From all corners of the globe, submarine rescue specialists, parachuting diving teams, engineers and military doctors gathered in Spain to prove rescue systems and procedures that have been developed to rescue submariners from the worst case scenarios at the end of May. Over the period from 27th May to 10th June the world’s experts in sub sunk operations were concentrated off the Spanish port of Murcia in the Mediterranean to improve their response capability. ESPS Galicia, the Spanish Navy’s command ship, steamed from Cartagena to take part.

The European Space Agency, Arianespace and the European Commission announced on 23rd May that the launch of the first two satellites of Europe’s global navigation satellite system is planned to take place on 20 October.

This will be the first of a series of Galileo satellite launches by
Arianespace from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Britain’s Armed Forces officially end operation in Iraq in the coming days, with the conclusion of a Royal Navy mission to train Iraqi sailors – It was announced on 22nd May by the MoD Press Office that the UK/Iraq Training and Maritime Support Agreement has come to an end marking the conclusion of Operation TELIC – the name for UK operations in Iraq that began with the invasion and subsequent removal of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

UK combat forces, primarily based in the southern city of Basrah, withdrew from Iraq in July 2009 but since then, at the request of the Iraqi Government, the Royal Navy has continued to train the Iraqi Navy to defend its territorial waters and offshore oil infrastructure.

British forces have been involved in this important task since 2003. Royal Navy personnel have worked alongside US forces to train and mentor Iraqi sailors and marines at their main naval base in Umm Qasr.

A total of 1,800 Iraqi personnel have been trained on 50 different courses,
including maritime, small arms, oil platform defence, and maintenance training. A ‘train the trainer’ focus has also given the Iraqi Navy the ability to develop an independent and self sustaining force for the future.

A significant milestone was achieved earlier this month proving the capability of the British Army’s Apache helicopter to operate and strike from the sea. Cannon and Hellfire missiles were successfully fired against seaborne targets in a long planned exercise near Gibraltar early in May.

Towards the end of May the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) issued a report into accidents occurring to a high speed ferry in March and August last year.

An advance warning has been received from the Royal Institute of Navigation that the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich will be the venue on 22nd and 23rd March next year for a symposium with the title After Longitude – Modern Navigation in Context.

Following a successful meeting last year, 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. It is understood 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 the present.

The deadline for registration is June 1, 2011. Please do read the PDF, as it includes all the pertinent details and links.

On 10th May the European Space Agency (ESA) reported that Pau Pyrénées in southern France has become Europe’s first airport to use the new EGNOS Safety-of-Life Service, to guide aircraft in for landing using only this highly accurate space navigation signal.

Clermont-Ferrand Airport in central France is also set to start using EGNOS – serving mainly business aircraft – while Marseilles Airport should also join them, chosen because it is used by Eurocopter for helicopter certification.

Le Bourget Airport is also scheduled to be equipped with EGNOS by the time the Paris Air Show starts in June.

It was reported from the Australian Defence Force Media Centre in Canberra on 9th May that F/A-18F Super Hornets were taking part on their first mission during Exercise Bersama Shield 2011 over Malaysia.

The Super Hornets, also known as Rhinos, commenced the Force Integration
Training phase which saw aircrew practise basic fighter manoeuvres alongside
military aircraft from the Malaysian and Singaporean defence forces.

Six of the Rhinos from No 1 Squadron touched down at the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base in Butterworth, on 29th April to participate in their first overseas deployment since delivery of the multi-role fighter jets in March last year.

The impact on transport of the winter weather in December 2010

More can and should be done to ensure UK transport networks continue to operate in severe weather, said British Members of Parliament in a report issued on 12th May. The welfare of air and rail passengers must be taken more seriously and better real time information must be provided to road users.

A report examining how snow chaos last December closed Heathrow, disabled parts of the rail network and disrupted many roads, was launched by Transport Committee Chairman, Louise Ellman MP (Labour/Co-operative Liverpool Riverside).

Captain Dick Smith RN has resigned as IAIN representative to the US Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board.

Dick – RIN President 1999-2002 and Immediate Past-President of the International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN) – has represented IAIN on the Board since its inception in 2007. Now finding it hard to cope with the travel involved, he has handed over representation to the current IAIN President, Dr Refaat Rashad, President of the Arab Institutes of Navigation.

It is ideas time again… The 8th European Satellite Navigation Competition www.ukesnc.com has begun and we are again looking for the most innovative ideas for a location based service or a new satellite navigation application.

The European Satellite Navigation Competition provides a unique platform for innovators to showcase their work and receive well-deserved recognition from their peers nationally and internationally.

Do you or someone you know have an idea that uses satellite navigation technology as a core part of the system? You could win up to £ 10,000 plus additional investment, business consultancy and services from a range of UK and European partners.

The UK winner will also be in with the chance of winning the overall European prize worth an additional € 20,000.

This year’s European Navigation Conference, ENC 2011, to be held in London, will cover advances in all aspects of location and navigation technology and their applications.

Sessions will be organised into both plenary and parallel means which will cover navigation system infrastructure and policy, technical and commercial aspects of varied applications, and safety and security issues.

Authors are invited to submit a brief outline of their presentation, not exceeding 300 words. Please note the closing date for this call for papers is 9th May 2011.

The organisation has provided us with more information

RAIL TRAINING – The 1st UIC World Congress on Rail Training was successfully held in Madrid. Some 170 delegates representing 34 countries from all continents attended this first UIC congress dedicated to rail training and educational issues, among them heads of railway human resources departments, railway training centres and academies, consultancies, universities, national rail safety agencies, regulatory authorities and railway manufacturers.

WORLD BANK TRANSPORT FORUM 2011 – On 29th March UIC was given the opportunity to provide its railway input to the Transport Forum organised by the World Bank from 28th to 31st March in Washington D.C. on the theme of 50 years of Innovation in Transport: Achievements and Future Challenges.

UIMI is the International Union of Marine Insurance and currently has 55
national associations as members.

Major casualties at sea continue at a disturbing level, marine insurers are
warning. The number of incidents reported in 2010 followed the negative trend of the previous four years, IUMI reports in its substantial annual statistical exercise covering vessels over 500 gt issued on 23rd April. According to the IUMI communiqué there have been 623 serious losses reported to date for 2010, a similar figure to 2009. This means that 2010 joins the five worst vessel loss years in the last 17.

Air traffic control incidents – On 22nd April the (US) National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released preliminary reports on two air traffic control incident investigations.

NTSB investigation into Lubbock, Texas crash – On 22nd April NTSB announced that it will hold a public Board meeting on its investigation into an accident in which a cargo airplane crashed on approach to landing in Lubbock, Texas.

NTSB and a 2010 plane crash involving former Senator Stevens – As part of its continuing investigation into the 9th August, 2010 aviation accident in Alaska, NTSB announced on 21st April that it had made the accident docket available to the public.

Annual aviation statistics for 2010
The safety of civil aviation in the United States continued to make incremental
improvements across most industry segments in 2010, based on the preliminary
aviation accident statistics released on 20th April by the NTSB.

Australia’s Department of Defence announced that the Australian command of coalition maritime operations in support of counter-terrorism operations in the Gulf region of the Middle East has passed to the French Navy, it was reported from Canberra on 6th April.

Commodore Greg Sammut of the Royal Australian Navy handed over command of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150) to Rear-Admiral Jean-Louis Kerignard of the French Navy on 4th April at a ceremony in Bahrain.

IMO’s Secretary-General Admiral Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, has expressed his
profound sadness for the reported drowning of more than 200 migrants when their
vessel capsized in the Mediterranean in the early hours of 6th April.

He acknowledged the role of the Italian Coast Guard in rescuing 53 persons.

On 31st March Senator The Hon. David Feeney MP., Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, celebrated the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Australian Air Force when he attended a reception at Point Cook Officers’ Mess. Senator Feeney toured a display of historic aircraft for Air Force’s Air Pilgrimage. He remarked on the advances in capability and the achievements of the RAAF over the past 90 years. The reception had the theme: ‘tradition, innovation, evolution’.

By the deadline of 31st March 2011, six candidates had been nominated by their
Governments for the position of Secretary-General of the International Maritime
Organization (IMO).