12 Responsibilities of a NAVTEX Co-ordinator

  12.1 The NAVTEX Co-ordinator is responsible for the messages transmitted by each station under their control. This responsibility includes checking that the content of each message is in accordance with the Joint IMO/IHO/WMO Manual on Maritime Safety Information and also, that it is relevant to the NAVTEX service area of the transmitting station. Thus a user may choose to accept messages, as appropriate, either from the single transmitter which serves the sea area around their position or from a number of transmitters. Ideally, the user should select the station within whose coverage area their vessel is currently operating and the station into whose coverage area their vessel will transit next.

  12.2 The NAVTEX Co-ordinator must:

• .1 act as the central point of contact on matters relating to NAVTEX transmissions for a given transmitter or number of transmitters;

• .2 be responsible for continuously ensuring quality-control for the operation of the NAVTEX transmitting stations under its jurisdiction. This shall be achieved with the co-operation of the information providers to ensure that:

  • a) messages are always concise and can be transmitted within the designated 10 minute time slots assigned by the IMO NAVTEX Co-ordinating Panel;

  • b) MINIMUM power is used to achieve satisfactory range performance; and

  • c) the co-ordinated service is operating satisfactorily;

• .3 assess all requests for NAVTEX messages immediately upon receipt;

• .4 schedule each message for broadcast in accordance with the requested priority of VITAL, IMPORTANT or ROUTINE;

• .5 monitor the international NAVTEX frequency along with any other National frequency used by the transmitters under their jurisdiction in order to ensure that the messages have been correctly broadcast;

• .6 monitor the international NAVTEX frequency along with any other National frequency used in order to identify vacant transmission periods required for VITAL or IMPORTANT messages;

• .7 pass maritime safety information which warrants promulgation outside of their NAVTEX service area directly to the appropriate authority, using the quickest possible means;

• .8 allocate a message identity to each message, including the sequential NAVTEX number;

• .9 ensure that NAVTEX messages which have been cancelled are removed from the broadcast schedule at the same time as the cancellation message is promulgated;

• .10 promote and oversee the use of established international standards and practices with respect to the format and protocols associated with NAVTEX messages;

• .11 maintain records of source data relating to NAVTEX messages in accordance with the requirement of the National Administration of the NAVAREA Co-ordinator;

• .12 be aware of the responsibilities of a NAVAREA, Sub-area and National Co-ordinator contained in IMO resolution A.706(17), as amended, paying particular attention to the specific guidance for the promulgation of internationally co-ordinated maritime safety information provided there-in; and

• .13 take into account the need for contingency planning

  12.3 Management of the service

• .1 Data priority:

  Most information broadcast on NAVTEX services relates to either Navigational Warnings or Meteorological Information. These types of information often originate from different organizations within a country and it is not until they arrive with the NAVTEX Co-ordinator that an assessment can be made as to whether there is too much information for the relevant broadcast time slot. Each data provider may consider their data to be more important and therefore, require transmission in full. However, the NAVTEX Co-ordinator needs to control the overall volume of data broadcast and may need to refer back to data providers to prioritise their information and reduce the amount of data to be broadcast. Some NAVTEX Co-ordinators utilize digital systems which include software that provides a readout of predicted transmission times for data held ready for broadcast. This enables the Co-ordinator to anticipate any problems and take action before the scheduled broadcast.

  Data to meet purely national requirements shall not be broadcast on the International NAVTEX service, but shall be migrated to a national NAVTEX service (see section 14).

• .2 Data formatting:

  The period of each transmission shall be kept to a minimum by strictly formatting messages and avoiding the use of free text whenever possible.

  12.4 Balancing the volume of data to be broadcast throughout the daily transmission cycle

For many categories of message there is no option with regards to when they shall be transmitted. However, in order to minimize the risk of over-running the allocated 10-minute time slot, it is possible to balance the overall length of transmissions by broadcasting NAVAREA warnings at different times from weather forecasts and the weekly summary of navigation warnings in force. An example of how this may be managed is given below for a station with a B₁ transmitter identification character C: