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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Report on three ICG meetings.

The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) published on 1st August 2007 a notice in the Federal Register a request for public comment on the Nationwide Differential GPS (NDGPS) system.

This event took place at Trinity House, London, from 2nd to 4th July 2007 and was attended by 82 delegates from 25 countries.

On the first forenoon there were welcomes from Rear-Admiral Jeremy de Halpert, Deputy Master of Trinity House and Torsten Kruuse Secretary General of IALA. Admiral Efthimios Mitopoulos, IMO’s Secretary General delivered the keynote speech in which he reminded delegates of the agreed definition of e-Navigation:
“E-Navigation is the harmonised collection, integration, exchange and presentation of maritime information onboard and ashore by electronic means to enhance berth to berth navigation and related services, for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment.”

On 1st July 2007, the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) celebrated the 50th anniversary of its formation.

On 29th May the General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) of the United Kingdom and Ireland launched their GLA Radio Navigation Plan (GRNP) that sets out how the GLAs are going to deliver the radionavigation aspects of their Marine Aids to Navigation Strategy, 2020 The Vision in support of the emerging e-navigation concept.

The following Officers of IAIN were elected in Jeju:
President: Dick Smith.
Senior Vice-President: President NNF.
Vice-President: President AIN.
Vice-President: President OVN.
Small members? rep: Boris Rivkin.
Treasurer: Johan Rutten.
Secretary General: Norman Bonnor.
Immediate Past-President: Bengt Stahl.

A number of issues were raised during the General Assembly at the 12th World Congress in Jeju, Republic of Korea, and these are now being addressed by the Officers, who will next meet on Monday, 28th May 2007 at the International Convention Centre, Geneva, Switzerland prior to the ENC-2007 Conference.

For those not present in Jeju, the 13th Triennial Congress will be held in Stockholm from 27th to 30th October 2009, and the next General Assembly will therefore be in Stockholm on 26th October 2009.

Since the World Congress, our President, Captain Dick Smith, has been honoured to accept a request from NASA to serve in the capacity of IAINs representative to the US Space-Based PNT Advisory Board. The Officers have also asked Dr Elisabeth Klaffenboeck to act as IAINs representative to the International Committee on GNSS (ICG) of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA); this relatively new committee came about as the result of a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly related to the peaceful uses of outer space.

All those involved in navigation and transport will have been shocked to hear the sad news that Loyola de Palacio had died. She was such an important figure in European politics and transport policy not the least for her advocacy of GALILEO.