Oman to observe Seafarer's Day today
MUSCAT -- The Ministry of Transport and Communication will launch two important services today that will ease the legal procedures governing the visiting vessels and coinciding with the Seafarer's Day. The systems, being introduced as part of organising the sector and improving its services to the general public, are considered to be major achievements in the maritime history of the Sultanate.
"We are introducing two major systems with a view to streamline, simplify and improve the services of the ministry to the general public," Rashid bin Mohammed al Kiyumi, Director- General, Maritime Affairs, the Ministry of Transport and Communication, told the Observer. The first in the series is the 'Vessel Registration System' with which the issuance of certificates will now be through an automated system unlike in the past. This system will help the ministry to collect and retain the database of customers, details of vessels and all other pertinent information regarding the visiting vessel in its virtual Data Centre. This procedure is just like the vehicle registration system which sees through that all the vehicles on the road needs to be registered. This system would help owners of all local as well as international vessels or yachts to register them either online or across the counter.
Usually, the commercial vessels are registered upon their port call by the respective country agents while that of the private yachts is done by its owners with the maritime administration department at the ministry located at the Sultan Qaboos Port, Salalah Port and Sur. The only difference is that in the past the procedures were manually carried out whereas with this system, the procedures are simplified and automated, he said, adding that the new system would need one to enter one's name to retrieve all the information on that particular company or individual.
Yet another internationally acclaimed system that the ministry is launching today is the 'Long Range Identification and Tracking System' (LRIT) which is mandatory by the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) of which Oman is a member since 1974. This too will help the country to achieve substantial milestone in the maritime sector while providing the country with the facility of identification and tracking of ships.
The obligations of ships to transmit LRIT information and the rights and obligations of SOLAS Contracting Governments and of Search and rescue services to receive LRIT information are established in regulation V/19-1 of the 1974 SOLAS Convention. "The LRIT system consists of the shipborne LRIT information transmitting equipment, the Communication Service Provider, the Application Service Provider, the LRIT Data Centre, including any related Vessel Monitoring System, the LRIT Data Distribution Plan and the International LRIT Data Exchange. Certain aspects of the performance of the LRIT system are reviewed or audited by the LRIT Coordinator acting on behalf of all SOLAS Contracting Governments. LRIT information is provided to Contracting Governments to the 1974 SOLAS Convention and Search and rescue services entitled to receive the information, upon request, through a system of national, regional and co-operative LRIT Data Centres using the International LRIT Data Exchange.
"The other rules and regulations of the LRIT are that each administration should provide to the LRIT Data Centre it has selected, a list of the ships entitled to fly its flag, which are required to transmit LRIT information, together with other salient details and should update, without undue delay, such lists as and when changes occur. Ships should only transmit the LRIT information to the LRIT Data Centre selected by their administration".
© Oman Daily Observer 2013
