Vienna 16th February 2009

IAIN was represented by Elisabeth Klaffenboeck (OVN), participants were:
the European Community, the United States, the Russian Federation, Japan,
the People?s Republic of China, Italy, India, the European Space Agency,
the Bureau international des poids et measures (BIPM), the International
Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN), the European Position
Determination System (EUPOS) and the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU).

We are very happy to present you our new website. Please also consider this announcement as an invitation to contribute to our common goals. We have build in a platform four YOUR contribution on our website. We invite you to send in opinions, ideas, concerns, or any other information that relates to the objectives of the IAIN.
You can share with us by sending an e-mail with your contribution to the IAIN webmaster.

Malaysia
It was announced on 5th February that Saab TransponderTech has been awarded a
contract to supply a coastal Automatic Identification System (AIS) network for the
east coast of the Malaysian peninsula and an integration of all AIS systems in the
country.

The 2008 Federal Radionavigation Plan published by the Department of
Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of
Transportation was issued on 26th January 2009.
The document can be found on the Web site: www.pnt.gov see column
one, click on ?Public Releases,? see centre column ?2009 Releases? and
the date ?Jan 26 Federal Radionavigation Plan.?

The ENRI International Workshop on ATM/CNS (EIWAC2009) will be
organized by the Electronic Navigation Research Institute with the
support of the Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan. The workshop will open
on 5th March 2009 at the Otemachi Sankei Plaza, Tokyo, and conclude
the following day.

The international symposium CERGAL (CERtification of GALileo System &
Services), jointly organised by the German Institute of Navigation (DGON)
and GZVB, takes place on 18th and 19th March 2009.

The Formal Board dates are 14th and 15th May and 5th and 6th November
with the same Thursday and Friday combination for the formal
meeting, and one preparatory day the Wednesday before. There has been much
good work conducted by the Board over the last two years, and Dr. AJ Oria is
finalizing the PNT Board Report from the 1st charter period
2007-2008.

On October 31, 2008 the XXVI General meeting of the International Academy
of Navigation and Motion Control (ANMC) was held in Moscow. At present
384 persons are the members of the Academy, and it has the branches in
Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Perm, Saratov and Tula) and in the Ukraine.
Among the Academy members beyond the branches there are 24 notable
scientists from the USA, Germany, France, Canada, South Korea, China,
Turkey, Serbia and India.

A further step towards the deployment of Europe?s Galileo global navigation satellite system was taken on 27th April with the successful launch of ESA?s second Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element (GIOVE-B) satellite, carrying what has been described as the most accurate atomic clock ever flown into space. The GIOVE-B satellite was lofted into a medium altitude orbit around the earth by a Soyuz/Fregat rocket departing from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan by launch operator Starsem. Lift-off occurred at 04:16 local time on 27th April (00:16 Central European Summer Time).

On 8th July an Agreement was signed in Prague enabling the Czech Republic’s accession to the ESA Convention. Signatories were Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA, and Mirek Topolanek, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic already has a strong tradition of space exploration. For example, Vladimir Remek of Czechoslovakia went into space in 1978. Since the early 1990s, ESA has negotiated and concluded framework co-operation agreements with a number of central and eastern European countries. The Czech Republic signed such a Co-operation Agreement with ESA in 1996, requesting more specific collaboration.

The United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) issued an update in July.

The meeting was held in the newly refurbished IMO headquarters in July with a very heavy agenda.
The dominating issue concerned the mandatory carriage of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) which had been under discussion for some years. After very considerable debate mandatory carriage was finally agreed for new ships after 2012 of size 500 gross tonnage for passenger ships and 3,000 gross tonnage for cargo ships. A timescale for existing ships down to 10,000 gross tonnage for cargo ships was agreed extending out to 2018. A further mandatory carriage requirement was agreed for a Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System for passenger ships and cargo ships of 150 gross tonnage starting from 2011.

VT Communications (VTC), part of VT Group plc announced on 28th
October at the RIN-ILA Conference that it had been awarded a GBP 4 million
contract by the General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) to upgrade and
enhance 14 Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) reference
stations in the UK and Ireland. The DGPS system operated by GLAs
delivers correction messages to maritime users, providing dramatically
improved accuracy and integrity of navigation around the UK coast.

On 22nd December 2008 the US Coast Guard’s Acquisition Directorate announced the award of a contract to Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corporation to deliver the core Nationwide Automatic Identification System data exchange capability.

The 2008 IAIN Officers’ Meeting was held on 22-Apr-2008 in Toulouse.

Since the last meeting of IAIN Officers, the principal item on the ICAO Agenda has been the 36th (triennial) Assembly of Member States, Montreal 18-28th September 2007. The Assembly sets the work program, and agrees the budget for ICAO for the next 3 to 6 years. With the decline in the value of the US dollar, and increasing demands made on the Organization in the fields of Air Safety, Aviation Security, and Environmental Protection, ICAO has been facing a severe budget challenge. This is being met by internal reorganization, and refocus of resources to priority action programs against deliverables and performance standards, with reduced emphasis on the more traditional industry standard setting role.

Review of COLREGS regarding the right of way of vessels over pleasure craft.

The 25th biennial meeting of the IMO Assembly has unanimously confirmed the decision of the Organization’s Council to extend the appointment of Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos for a further term of four years, for the period from 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2011.
Admiral Mitropoulos thanked delegates for the continuing trust they had placed in him and for their unfailing understanding and co-operation during his first four years as Secretary-General. He also thanked the Secretariat for its hard work and support.
In sharing with the IMO Members his vision for the future, he said that, in the years to come, the focus of the many challenges facing the Organization should be on: Keeping alive the spirit of this year’s World Maritime Day theme, on responding successfully to environmental challenges.

IMO has a good and improving record in enhancing safety and security at sea and preventing marine pollution from ships, but more needs to be done, the Secretary-General told delegates at the opening on 19th November of the 25th Session of the Organization’s governing body, the Assembly.

The meeting is being attended by more than 1,000 delegates from IMO Member States as well as international and non-governmental organizations.

Report by Elisabeth Klaffenböck (OVN) on the Informal Preparatory Meeting for the third meeting of the ICG Organised by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Vienna, Austria, 18th to 19th February 2008.

The inaugural IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea was presented on 19th November to two seafarers who risked their lives to save others in a dramatic rescue operation in gale-force winds.
Second Officer Mustafa Topiwala of the 83,155dwt Bahamas-registered oil/bulk ore carrier Searose G and Captain Zvonimir Ostric (who was in the vessel as onboard trainer at the time of the incident) were selected to receive the inaugural 2007 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea, in recognition of their part in the rescue of survivors from the sunken vessel Teklivka, in the eastern Mediterranean, in March 2006.
They were nominated by the Bahamas and by the International Federation of Shipmasters’ Associations (IFSMA).

The next IAIN Officers’ Meeting will be held on 22nd April 2008 in Toulouse, France.
Captain Rein van Gooswilligen MSc MBA FRIN provides us with an update on IMO activities.

In 2008 IMO celebrates the 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the convention that established the organization. IAIN?s presence at IMO since 1976 has always been closely related to its objectives. That is uniting national and multinational institutes and organisations which aim to foster human activities particularly at sea plus a contribution to the development of the science and practice of navigation and related information techniques. Within this framework during 2008 IAIN activities centred around NAV 53, MSC 83 and STW39. Hereunder follow the main particulars for more information members are invited to read the more extensive report that is also available.

The second meeting of the PNT advisory board was held in Washington DC in
October 2007. The minutes of the public meeting may be found at www.PNT.gov
and were previously circulated by email.

After the 17th International Hydrographic Conference in May 2007, the IHO is implementing the decisions taken at the Conference. The status of the implementation is reported on the website www.iho.int.