The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) announced that in 2024, Denmark will be hosting European Maritime Day with more than 1,000 participants. With its maritime surroundings, the city of Svendborg will be the setting of the conference.

A vital global educational resource on the human element was launched on 12 July for the benefit of the whole maritime industry. Lloyd’s Register Foundation and The Nautical Institute have joined together in producing a special limited edition bound set of all 40 issues of Alert! the human element bulletin.

It is understood that enough have been produced for every maritime training college in the world to have a copy so all will have access to the topics and case studies covered by the project over its 14-year history.

The volume acknowledges the enduring significance of these topics and the continued role of Alert! bulletins in helping to improve safety at sea, said Professor Richard Clegg, Foundation Chief Executive, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, which has funded the project.

As a result of the project some 2.5 million of the four series of Alert! bulletins comprising 350 articles had been distributed around the world; 21 innovative videos were produced for free download and a reference library of 250 papers has been made available online.

Renovation work on Anholt Lighthouse has begun and is expected to be completed in late October. During this time attention will be paid to the station’s brickwork, windows and doors. This was announced by the Danish Maritime Authority on 6 June.

Anholt Lighthouse is one of Denmark’s oldest. It was established in 1561 following a Royal Resolution of 1560 when it was decided to construct four strategic lighthouses in Denmark. It therefore represents an important part of the Denmark’s maritime cultural past. The first brick-built lighthouse on the island of Anholt was established in the years 1785-1788.

The Maritime Cloud is a communications framework that enables efficient, secure, reliable and seamless electronic information exchange among all authorized maritime stakeholders across available systems.

This framework is currently under development in collaboration between different projects: EfficienSea2 (EU), Sea Traffic Management – the STM validation project (EU) and the SMART Navigation project (Republic of Korea).

As a partner in the EfficienSea2 project, IALA is participating in the work on maturing the Maritime Cloud, in order to assess its potential as the generic communication framework for e-Navigation at large.

It is in this role of being a partner in the EfficienSea2 project that IALA is organising and hosting this workshop.

Information and registration.

The Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation (RNT Foundation) is a non-profit, public benefit corporation that helps protect critical infrastructure by promoting resilient navigation and timing worldwide. The Foundation has strong views on GPS and GNSS.

Other sites featured are: the United States Coast Guard Navigation Center, the Norwegian Armed Forces Forum website and particularly this page reporting the demolition of Loran aerials in Norway, this wonderful collection of material on hydrographic and related topics, a free subscription to receive regular breaking maritime news and IALA-AISM’s Annual Report for 2016.

On 3 June The Nautical Institute launched the Ice Navigator Training and Certification Scheme. This is the latest in the Institute’s expanding series of professional training schemes and has been developed in response to rapidly growing demand for officers with proven expertise in handling ships in ice.

Captain Duke Snider FNI, (photo), President of The Nautical Institute: ‘Operating ships within any ice regime requires specialist knowledge, skills and a level of awareness beyond those of the majority of mariners. This course will help to equip ships’ officers to meet the unique challenges posed by navigating in ice.’

The eMaritime Group (eMG) offer a range of services including onboard Bridge Team ECDIS audits. In recent months, their navigation auditors have been sent widely abroad including to Spain, Italy, The Netherlands and Malta.

Aim of the audit is to provide the shipmaster, management company or operator with an objective assessment of the state of the bridge team and associated administration and equipment. The intense one-day procedure can be conducted worldwide, it is understood, be it alongside or underway and includes the whole bridge team and highlights every aspect of navigation.

Mr. John Pepper, Director of OceanWise Ltd., prepared this report on the first Assembly of the International Hydrographic Organisation, held at the Auditorium Rainier III in Monaco, 24-28 April 2017. IAIN holds representative status in several international organisations.

More documents here.

History was made on 26 June as HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier, set sail from Rosyth to commence first stage sea trials off the north-east of Scotland.

Three years after she was officially named by HM the Queen, the nation’s future flagship will spend an initial period of around six weeks at sea to test the fundamentals of the ship. The sea trials will monitor speed, manoeuvrability, power and propulsion as well as undertaking weapons trials and additional tests on her levels of readiness. Following this initial period, HMS Queen Elizabeth will return to Rosyth for further testing and maintenance before heading back to sea for a second stage which aims to test her Mission Systems. She will transit to her home port of Portsmouth Naval Base to be handed over to the Royal Navy later this year.

Get the PDF here.

Twenty-nine Royal Air Force aircraft soared over Buckingham Palace, Central London, on 17 June in an impressive flypast to mark the Queen’s Birthday Parade.

Fifteen types of RAF aircraft took part in the flypast, including two of the RAF’s world-class display teams – the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
(BBMF) and the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team – the Red Arrows.

This formation flew over the Palace at 1300BST, divided into eight elements, in roughly 30-second intervals.

IAIN Corporate Member ECDIS Ltd have created a new online training calendar, showing all available dates for the key courses in their portfolio and an option to instantly book in seconds, it is reported.

It is understood that the online booking system has been a long time in development. It was created to allow complete transparency for all major courses by providing prospective students with clarification on the availability and flexibility of the company’s training schedule.

According to Robyn Harrigan, ECDIS Ltd Training and Production Manager:
‘We are unlike most training establishments as we are able to accommodate almost any of our courses on dates suitable for our students and clients. This has always proven to be a difficult concept to present on our website as people are used to colleges having fixed timetables.’

On 7 June it was reported that MarineFields and Inmarsat had signed an MOU to partner in investigating how sea traffic management and satellite connectivity can make port calls more efficient for all stakeholders through improved information sharing, situational awareness, optimised processes, and collaborative decision making.

It is understood that the joint effort will be focused on providing a marketplace for port call optimization services resulting in just-in-time operations and shortened turn-around times.

Perseus PortCDM will connect the various stakeholders involved in, or related to, sea transport, including vessels, shipping companies, ports, terminals, and hinterland operators.

The aim of the project will be to focus on enhanced standardised data sharing,and enable third party providers to bring new and innovative services to keystakeholders in the maritime industry.

The IALA World-Wide Academy, in conjunction with China Maritime Safety Administration (China MSA), will run a training seminar on the IALA Risk Management Toolbox – IWRAP Mk2; PAWSA and Simulation – from 11 to 15 September 2017 at Jimei University, Xiamen, China.

More information can be found in this flyer.

The Nautical Institute is focusing on mentoring at sea in the latest edition of The Navigator, exploring how mentoring can, and has, enhanced careers and best practice.

Author Captain Andre Le Goubin contributes an article on how mentoring complements training and why the tradition must be continued. To encourage others to engage in practical mentoring, The Nautical Institute is asking readers to share their stories by e-mailing: navigator@nautinst.org.

Emma Ward of The Navigator: ‘Life works better when we all pull together, and life at sea is no exception. Being able to share and benefit from each other’s knowledge for the good of the entire crew is a wonderful thing and should be encouraged.’

David Patraiko adding: ‘Mentoring doesn’t just improve safety and better commercial services, it also improves life on board. This simple act of kindness can reduce social isolation, help overcome language and cultural barriers and generally improve our working and living environment.’

Corporate Member of IAIN, eMaritime Group, report that they now offer a range of tailored training packages for the superyacht industry. These packages are discounted bundles of courses, allowing superyacht crew to complete several courses in succession, it is understood.

Courses include ECDIS Generic and HELM (that is Human Element Leadership and Management, either in Management or Operations method) offered at a 20% discount from the standard listed price. These combination courses can be completed at a date which suits the student, and any course combination is possible due to the flexibility of the company’s training schedule.

The European project EfficienSea2 has joined forces with Royal Arctic Line to complete the first-ever test of how space weather in the Arctic region influences the full range of a vessel’s communication channels.

When shipping companies deliver cargoes across the world, they depend on a broad range of communications equipment to ensure safe passage and reliable links at sea. The scope of these systems is certain to grow in the future and increase safety in the maritime world.

It does, however, pose a risk with regard to the phenomena of space weather, explained Jean-Jacques Valette, Space Systems Engineer at Collecte
Localisation Satellites (CLS), a partner in the EU funded EfficienSea2 project running a test to measure the impact of space weather. He said: ‘A full understanding of how space events affect our communication methods is essential. The more dependent we become on satellite communications, the more crucial it becomes to prepare for the effects of an outburst of disruptive energy and ejected particles from the sun.’

On June 27, there will be a combined meeting of the RNT Foundation and the US Institute of Navigation (ION) (DC Section) from 1800 to 2030. An evening in USS Constellation (managed by Historic Ships) in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

The evening will include:

– Guided tours of USS Constellation

– Reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres, wine, and beer

– Presentation by the Father of GPS, Dr Brad Parkinson

– Opportunity to meet leading members of the PNT community from around the world.

Attendees are invited to the public meeting of the US PNT Advisory Board over the following days (28 & 29 June) at the Marriot Inner Harbor Camden Yards.

Corporate Member of IAIN eMaritime Group have announced a one day conference to help the industry better understand the transition to the new IHO ECDIS S52 4.0. They ask Will your ECDIS be legal from 31 August?

They invite the industry to meet the manufacturers, express your concerns and opinions and get the answers.

Mark Broster, eMaritime Group Managing Director said: ‘We have spoken to
many of our shipping company clients over the last year about the ECDIS 4.0 upgrade, and listened to their concerns. There seems to be a general confusion and in some cases panic about the changes in August. So we created this one day conference to help clear up these issues and better informing company representatives to allow a smooth transition.’

At last week’s Nautical Institute London Command Seminar held at Trinity House on 17/18 May Philip Wake retired after 14 years in post as CEO and was succeeded by Captain John Lloyd.

Speaking at Trinity House, at the third of the Institute’s 2017 command seminar series, Captain Lloyd said: ‘I am delighted to be leading the next phase of development at The Nautical Institute, at a time of great change for our industry. Now more than ever it is important that the Institute champions best practice and professionalism and promotes a culture of safety first.’

In his previous role as Chief Operating Officer, John had overall responsibility for the Institute’ specialised training services, including the industry-standard Dynamic Positioning Operator (DPO) accreditation and certification scheme.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the progress being made in closer cooperation between the Alliance and the European Union in a meeting with EU Defence Ministers on 18 May 2017. He highlighted that this cooperation has reached a new level.

The Secretary General highlighted cyber defence as an example of tangible progress. During the recent ransomware attacks, NATO issued a warning to all Allies, as well as the EU, and exchanged information with the EU. The EU’s cyber security hub CERT-EU has also been granted access to NATO’s Malware Information Sharing Platform. ‘Now NATO and the EU are able to share information in real time on cyber-attacks,’ said Stoltenberg.

The Secretary General and EU High Representative (Foreign Affairs & Security Polocy) Federica Mogherini will report on the progress of NATO-EU cooperation to the Councils of both organisations next month. This cooperation will also be highlighted at the upcoming meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels on 25 May.

Columbia Shipmanagement together with Marlow Navigation have emphasised their individual commitment to a digital agenda in quality ship management by signing a partnership with Lufthansa Industry Solutions that will pave the way for a new era of advanced thinking in the maritime sector.

This agreement, reported on 19 May, is between Blue Dynamics, an advanced software company previously set up by Columbia and Marlow, and Lufthansa Industry Solutions is aimed at providing the highest standards of information technology relating to performance monitoring, predictive maintenance, remote sensoring, procurement, logistics, crew planning and other important topics such as development resource sharing, lab utilisation and avant-garde development processes.

On 14 January 2016, while taking-off from Ballina/Byron Gateway Airport, Airbus A320, registered VH-VQS (VQS) and operated by Jetstar Airways, came in close proximity to Beech Aircraft Corporation BE-76 Duchess, registered VH EWL (EWL). The Duchess was conducting navigation training in the vicinity of the runway and was noticed by the flight crew of VQS during the take off roll and below the maximum speed from which they could stop.

The take-off was continued and while manoeuvring to maintain separation from EWL, the crew of VQS received master warning/caution alerts regarding the aircraft’s configuration. The crew also commenced flap retraction at low altitude and turned contrary to operator-prescribed departure procedures before departing for Melbourne. There were no injuries or damage to equipment recorded during the occurrence.

On 16 May leading global ship tracking intelligence company MarineTraffic and the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Under the agreement, UNCTAD and MarineTraffic will be sharing information and data that will enable both organisations to enhance their services and allow for more accurate analysis of global trade and shipping trends.

Geneva-headquartered UNCTAD plays an important role in integrating developing countries into the world economy, with maritime-related research, policy analysis and data collection an integral part of this process.

MarineTraffic currently records 800 million vessel positions and 18 million vessel- and port-related events monthly by tracking ships’ Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) through a network of terrestrial receivers and satellites.

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) took a significant step in structuring their cooperation on coast guard functions by signing a Tripartite Working Arrangement as foreseen by the amended founding regulations of the three Agencies of October last year. This was reported by EMSA on 11 May 2017.

It is understood that the agreement sets out the framework for the enhanced synergy between the European agencies which will enable them to support in an effective and cost-efficient way the activities of more than 300 civilian and military authorities in the Member States responsible for carrying out coastguard functions in a wide range of areas such as maritime safety, security, search and rescue, border control, fisheries control, customs control, general law enforcement and environmental protection.

Aligned with their mandates Frontex, EFCA and EMSA will cooperate in sharing maritime information, providing new surveillance and communication services, building capacity, analyzing operational challenges and emerging risks in the maritime domain as well as planning and implementing multipurpose operations.