1 Introduction
1.1 Modern shipping relies on a large amount of data and information to safely
navigate from berth to berth. A very important set of information is promulgated as
maritime safety information (MSI), as defined in resolution A.705(17), as amended, on Promulgation of maritime safety
information and MSC.1/Circ.1310/Rev.1 on Revised Joint IMO/IHO/WMO Manual on Maritime
Safety Information (MSI). MSI includes navigational warnings, meteorological
information and other urgent safety-related information. In addition to being
safety-relevant, marine information services are used for optimizing voyage routes,
which can include the best passage through ice, a security-risk area or avoiding the
known path of marine mammals. Route optimization may also include taking advantage
of favourable winds and currents and engine loads may be adjusted accordingly.
1.2 To assess the dynamic effects mentioned above, the ship's bridge team needs
up-to-date information for the ship's planned operation. The information flow also
comprises ship-to-shore communications, in particular prior to entering the coastal
waters of a State, as ships are usually requested to provide details of their
voyage, cargo, crew and passengers on board, advising on the next port of call and
other information. Shore-to-ship, ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore and shore-to-shore
information exchange enable new services and technologies to improve safety and
efficiency of shipping. All those marine information services, referred to as
Maritime Services in the e-navigation Strategy Implementation Plan (SIP)
(MSC.1/Circ.1595, as may be revised), are being considered to be transitioned from
conventional transmission methods to contemporary digital technologies.
1.3 The Strategy for the development and implementation of e-navigation (MSC
85/26/Add.1, annex 20) assigns the governance of the e-navigation concept to IMO as
the organization responsible for establishing mandatory standards for enhancing the
safety of life at sea, maritime security and protection of the marine environment,
as well as having global remit.
2 Purpose
2.1 The purpose of this Guidance is to ensure that Maritime Services are implemented
internationally in a standardized and harmonized format. To support this purpose, a
template to describe Maritime Services is provided in appendix 1 and descriptions of
Maritime Services are consolidated under MSC.1/Circ.1610, as may be revised, as
appropriate.
2.2 The SIP requires that all Maritime Services be S-100 conformant as a baseline.
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) S-100 framework standard specifies
the method for data modelling and developing product specifications.
3 Application
This Guidance is recommended for Member States providing Maritime Services,
international organizations acting as domain coordinating bodies and other service
providers.
4 Terminology
For the purpose of the Guidance, unless expressly provided
otherwise:
-
.1 Maritime Service refers to the provision and exchange
of maritime-related information and data in a harmonized, unified
format.
-
.2 Technical Service comprises a set of technical
solutions including data model and communications means to provide a
Maritime Service.
-
.3 S-100 IHO Universal Hydrographic Data Model is a
standard that makes provision for the development of data models and
associated product specifications.
5 Three levels of responsibility
Overarching coordination level
5.1 IMO, in its role in leading e-navigation development, is responsible for guiding
the establishment and harmonization of information and data transfers relating to
Maritime Services. This includes providing leadership to harmonize Maritime Services
through the provision of guidance.
Functional and operational level
5.2 International organizations and Member States propose the description of specific
Maritime Services, using the template as provided in appendix 1, to the Organization
and manage and maintain the agreed description through harmonized operational and
technical specifications.
5.3 International organizations as domain coordinating bodies, such as IHO, WMO, IALA
and others, provide guidelines to stakeholders and domain management. This should
include descriptions of current and future Maritime Services and identification and
specification of associated technical services.
5.4 When domain coordinating bodies for Maritime Services are unknown or may not
exist, descriptions and specifications derived from other Maritime Services may
assist with harmonizing technical specifications.
Service level
5.5 Member States and other service providers within Member States (e.g. port
authorities, Hydrographic Offices, SAR services, etc.) are responsible for the
provision of Maritime Services.
6 Flow chart for the development of a new Maritime Service
6.1 Figure 1 reflects a recommended process of steps to be followed for the
development of a new Maritime Service.
6.2 The domain coordinating bodies and Member States should submit the descriptions
of Maritime Services, using the template in appendix 1, to the Organization (1).
6.3 Descriptions of Maritime Services should contain references to relevant
international standards, recommendations and guidelines which may contain criteria
for the implementation of these Maritime Services, as well as identified user
requirements for data and information (2).
6.4 The assigned IMO body should consider the submitted descriptions of Maritime
Services (3) and decide, as appropriate, the steps needed to resolve any issues and
agree to update the relevant IMO instrument (4).
Figure 1: Recommended process for the development of Maritime
Services
7 Relationship between the different levels of service
descriptions
7.1 Figure 1 illustrates the interactions between service levels.
7.2 The description in the template reflects a common understanding and definition of
a Maritime Service. This safeguards the harmonization of the information needed as
decision support based on the user needs and operational requirements. The
information could be presented on a grapical display on board in accordance with
e-navigation solution 4 (see MSC.1/Circ.1595, as may be revised). The harmonized
development of S-100 based specifications aims at ensuring userfriendliness for all
relevant stakeholders in receiving and using the information in addition to enable
the industry to develop systems based on the same data language.
7.3 Technical services are needed to coordinate a seamless combination between
different product specifications. Information provided using S-100 based product
specifications is brought together by technical services to deliver a Maritime
Service.
7.4 Digital information regarding, for instance a restricted area, will combine
several attributes from a set of S-100 products to provide the navigator with a
complete information picture.
Figure 2: Interaction between different service levels
8 Description for the
harmonized specification of technical services
8.1 Maritime Services are described by using a common template, as set out in
appendix 1. This template includes references to relevant technical services.
8.2 The interoperability of technical services is ensured by a coordinated approach
of the domain coordinating bodies to define needed communication means and data
models.
8.3 Technical services should follow the appropriate guidance and product
specification developed by the appropriate domain coordinating body and, where
appropriate, be based on the S-100 framework with associated S-100 based product
specifications.
8.4 Appendix 2 provides a description for the harmonized specification of technical
services.
9 Relationship between Maritime
Service and S-100 based product specification
9.1 Some Maritime Services and their associated technical services may rely on
information from multiple S-100 based products. In cases where information is
produced by different domain stakeholders, care should be taken to ensure
compatibility at both the feature/attribute and data products levels.
9.2 The IHO GI Registry is the mechanism to ensure consistency in the way that
different stakeholder communities model real-world concepts and define them as
features/attribute combinations. To ensure complete service provision, stakeholders
should consult the IHO GI Registry, in particular the Feature Data Dictionary and
the test-bed registers.