RECALLING Article 28(b) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Committee,
RECALLING ALSO the provisions of regulation V/19-1 (the regulation) of the International Convention
for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (the Convention) on
the Long-range identification and tracking (LRIT) of ships and, in
particular, that, as from 31 December 2008, ships shall transmit and
Contracting Governments to the Convention (Contracting Governments)
shall be able to receive, pursuant to the provisions of the regulation,
LRIT information transmitted by ships,
RECALLING FURTHER that, at its seventy-ninth session, it
had agreed that the purpose and scope of long-range identification
and tracking should be extended to include safety and environmental
protection applications,
NOTING that the use of LRIT information for safety and marine
environment protection purposes would provide significant added value
through an improvement of the knowledge of ships positions and identity,
BEARING IN MIND that the conditions for the entry into force
of regulation V/19-1 have been
met and the regulation will enter into force on 1 January 2008,
HAVING CONSIDERED, at its eighty-third session, a proposal
to allow the use of LRIT information for safety and marine environment
protection purposes stating that the LRIT information specified in regulation V/19-1.5 was adequate in
that respect and provided a significant added value for these objectives,
1 AGREES that Contracting Governments may request,
receive and use, LRIT information for safety and marine environment
protection purposes;
3 INVITES the Marine Environment Protection Committee
to note this decision.