133
1 INTRODUCTION
There are many mandatory ship reporting systems,
vessel traffic services and shipsʹ routing systems
established in the European waters in accordance
withtherelevantrulesadoptedbytheInternational
Maritime Organisation (IMO), mainly in areas
consideredascongestedorhazardousfornavigation.
They play an important role in
the prevention of
accidentsand pollution. It oughttobe ensured that
ships comply with the reporting requirements in
force under reporting systems, use vessel traffic
servicesandthattheyfollow therulesapplicableto
established shipsʹ routing systems. Coastal states
needtoguardagainstthethreatstomaritimesafety,
to the safety of life at sea and to the marine and
coastal environment created by incidents and
accidents at sea and by the presence of polluting
slicksorpackagesdriftingatsea.Knowledgeof the
currentpositionofthevesselindistress,itstypeand
number of persons on board
and the positions and
parameters of other ships in the vicinity affects the
efficiency of SAR operation. Information on
dangerousorpollutinggoodsbeingcarriedonships
andrelevantsafetydata,suchasinformationrelating
to navigational incidents, is essential to the
preparation of operation to tackle pollution or the
riskofpollutionatseaanditseffectiveness.Efficient
service in the ports of ships undertaking
international voyages requires sufficiently early
messages by these vessels with the information
required by the port, customs, border and sanitary
authoritiesandportservices(pilotandtugservices,
etc.). Ships leaving or bound for ports
must notify
this information to the competent authorities of the
portstates.Duetotheirbehaviourorcondition,some
shipsposepotentialriskstothesafetyofnavigation
andtheenvironment.Coastalandportstatesshould
pay particular attention to the monitoring of such
vessels,taketheappropriatemeasuresto
preventany
worsening of the risk they pose, and send any
relevant information regarding these ships to the
otherstatesconcerned.
In order to comply with the above mentioned
tasks, the coastal states shall build infrastructure
needed for monitoring vessel traffic and
communication with ships by means of the nets of
coastal radars, AIS and radio stations. Each state
shallestablishlocalandnationalcentresresponsible
Implementation in Poland of the EU Legislation on
VTMIS and Reporting Formalities for Ships Operating
to or from Ports of the EU Member States
A.Królikowski&R.Wawruch
GdyniaMaritimeUniversity,Gdynia,Poland
ABSTRACT:ArticlepresentstheEUlegislationonVesselTrafficMonitoringandInformationSystem(VTMIS)
and reporting formalities for ships operating to or from ports of the EU Member States, principles of its
implementation in Poland and technical investments made in order to build the Polish
National Maritime
SafetySystemtoensuresafetyandsecurityofshippingandeconomicactivitiesinsidethePolishmaritimeareas
andmeetingtherequirementsoftheseregulations.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 10
Number 1
March 2016
DOI:10.12716/1001.10.01.15
134
for monitoring, communication and exchange of
informationwithshipsandothercentresandstates.
The obligations in this regard of the EU Member
States and the central authorities of the European
Communitydetermine:
Directive2002/59/ECoftheEuropeanParliament
andoftheCouncilof27June2002establishinga
Community vessel traffic monitoring and
information system and repealing Council
Directive 93/75/EEC [7], as amended by the
Directives:2009/17/ECand2009/18/ECof23April
2009[10,11],2011/15/EUof23February2011[4]
and2014/100/EUof28October2014[5];and
Directive2010/65/EUoftheEuropeanParliament
and of
the Council of 20 October 2010 on
reportingformalities for ships arriving in and/or
departing from ports of the Member States and
repealingDirective2002/6/EC[12].
2 EULEGISLATION
2.1 DIRECTIVE2002/59/ECASAMENDED
The purpose of this Directive is to establish in the
EuropeanCommunityavesseltrafficmonitoringand
information system (VTMIS) with a view to
enhancing the safety and efficiency of maritime
traffic, improving the response of authorities to
incidents, accidents or potentially dangerous
situations at sea, including search and rescue
operations, and contributing to a better prevention
and detection of pollution by ships. The Directive
shallnot
applyto[7]:
shipsofgrosstonnagelessthan300;
warships,navalauxiliariesandothershipsowned
oroperatedbyaEU MemberState and usedfor
non‐commercialpublicservice;
fishingvessels, traditionalships and recreational
craftwithalengthoflessthan45metres;and
bunkersonshipsbelow1000grosstonnageand
shipsʹstores andequipment foruse onboardall
ships.
Accordingtotherequirements[4,5,7,10,11]:
1 Theoperator,agentormasterofashipboundfor
aportofaEUMemberStateshallnotify
ship
identification (name, call sign, IMO
identificationnumberorMMSInumber),
portofdestination;
estimated time of arrival at the port of
destinationorpilotstation,asrequiredbythe
competent authority, and estimated time of
departurefromthatport;and
totalnumberofpersonsonboard,
Notificationshall
bedonetotheportauthority:
atleasttwenty‐fourhoursinadvance;or
at the latest, at the time the ship leaves the
previous port, if the voyage time is less than
twenty‐fourhours;or
iftheportofcallisnotknownorit
ischanged
duringthevoyage,assoonasthisinformation
isavailable.
The operator, agent or master of a ship,
irrespective of its size, carrying dangerous or
polluting goods and coming from a port
outsidetheCommunityandboundfora port
ofaEUMemberStateorananchorage
located
in a EU Member Stateʹs territorial waters or
leaving a port of a EU Member State shall
notify the following information to the
competent authority designated by that
MemberState:
A.Generalinformation:
ship identification (name, call sign, IMO
identificationnumberorMMSInumber);
portof
destination;
for a ship leaving a port in a EU Member
State:estimatedtimeofdeparturefromthe
port of departure or a pilot station, as
required by the competent authority, and
estimated time of arrival at the port of
destination;
for a ship coming from a port located
outside the Community and bound for a
portinaEUMemberState:estimatedtime
ofarrivalattheportofdestinationorpilot
station, as required by the competent
authority;
totalnumberofpersonsonboard.
B.Cargoinformation:
the correct technical names of the
dangerousand
pollutinggoods,theUnited
Nations (UN) numbers where they exist,
theIMOhazardclassesinaccordancewith
the IMDG, IBC or IGC Codes and, where
appropriate,theclassoftheshipasdefined
by the INF Code, the quantities of such
goods and their location on board and, if
they are
being carried in cargo transport
units other than tanks, the identification
numberthereof;
confirmation that a list or manifest or
appropriate loading plan giving details of
the dangerous or polluting goods carried
and of their location on the ship is on
board;
address from which detailed information
on
thecargomaybeobtained.
The competent authority should have access to
the above mentioned information at all times it
maybeneeded.Theportauthorityshalltakethe
necessary measures to provide this information
electronicallyandwithoutdelaytothecompetent
authorityuponitsrequest,24hoursaday.
2
TheobligationtohaveAISClassAisextendedto
fishingvesselswithanoveralllengthofmorethan
15 metres and flying the flag of a EU Member
StateandregisteredintheEuropeanCommunity,
or operating in the internal waters or territorial
seaofaEUMemberState,
orlandingitscatchin
theportofthatstate.
3 EUMemberStateshall establishshipsmonitoring
systemusingnetofthe coastalAIS base stations
connectedwiththecentreoftheEuropeanVTMIS
locatedintheEuropeanMaritime SafetyAgency
(EMSA). Additionally Baltic States shall
participatein AIS monitoring
system established
according to the requirements of the Declaration
on the Safety of Navigation and Emergency
Capacity in the Baltic Sea Area adopted on 10
September2001inCopenhagenbytheHELCOM
Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting (HELCOM
CopenhagenDeclaration).
4 All EU Member States and the European
Commission shall cooperate in
establishing and
135
work of the EU regional LRTT data centre
conductedbyEMSA.
5 Stateconcernedshallmonitorshipsenteringand
sailing inside areas of mandatory ship reporting
systems,vesseltrafficservicesandshipsʹrouting
systems established in the European waters in
accordance with the relevant rules adopted by
IMO.
6 EU
Member States shall cooperate to ensure the
interconnection and interoperability of the
nationalsystemsusedtomanagetheinformation
about ships and passengers and dangerous and
pollutinggoodscarriedonboard.Communication
systems used to exchange of data between
Member States must utilize SafeSeaNet, be
electronicandallowinformationto
betransmitted
24hoursaday.
7 Coastal stations holding information on the
vesselsconsideredbeingshipsposingapotential
hazard to navigation or a threat to maritime
safety,thesafety oflifeatseaortheenvironment
shall communicate it to the coastal stations
concernedintheotherEUMember
Stateslocated
alongtheplannedrouteofthesevessels.
8 EU Member States shall monitor and take all
appropriatemeasurestoensurethatthemasterof
a ship sailing within their search and rescue
region, exclusive economic zone or equivalent,
immediately reports to the coastal station
responsibleforthatgeographical
area:
anyincidentoraccidentaffectingthesafetyof
theship,suchascollision,grounding,flooding
orshiftingofcargo,anydefectsinthehullor
structuralfailure;
any incident or accident which compromises
safetyofnavigation, such as failures likely to
affect the shipʹs manoeuvrability or
seaworthiness,
or any defects affecting the
propulsion system or steering gear, the
electricalgeneratingsystemornavigationalor
communicationequipment;
anysituationliabletoleadtopollutionofthe
watersor shoreofacoastal state,suchas the
discharge or threat of discharge of polluting
productsintothesea;
anyslickofpollutingmaterialsandcontainers
orpackagesseendriftingatsea
9 The competent authorities designated by a EU
MemberStates consideringthattheexceptionally
bad weather or sea conditions or ice conditions
createaseriousthreattothehumanlifeatseaor
to the environment of
their or other states
shipping areas or coastal zones, shall, where
possible,fullyinformthemasterofashipwhich
isintheportareaconcerned, intendstoenteror
leave that port, of the sea state and weather
conditionsand,whenrelevantandpossible,ofthe
dangertheymay
presenttohisship,passengers,
crewand cargo.Additionally theymaytake any
otherappropriatemeasures,whichmayincludea
recommendation or a prohibition either for a
particularshiporforshipsingeneraltoenteror
leavetheportintheareaaffected
10 EU Member States shall draw up
and carry out
plansfortheaccommodationofshipsinorderto
respondtothreatspresentedby shipsinneed of
assistance in the waters under their jurisdiction,
including,whereapplicable,threatstohumanlife
andtheenvironment.
11 EU Member States shall establish maritime
information management systems, so called
national SafeSeaNet systems, to receipt, process,
storage,retrievalandexchangeofinformationfor
thepurposeofmaritimesafety,portandmaritime
security, marine environment protection and the
efficiency of maritime transport and ensure that
introduced information systems and networks
comply with the requirements of described
directiveandarecompatiblewithand
connected
totheEuropeanSafeSeaNetcentralsystemacting
asanodalpoint.
The SafeSeaNet system shall be used for the
distribution of electronic messages and data shared
or exchanged in accordance with the Directive
2002/59/ECasamendedandrelevantUElegislation,
interalia:
Directive2000/59/ECoftheEuropeanParliament
andoftheCouncilof27November2000onport
reception facilities for ship‐generated waste and
cargoresidues[6];
Directive2005/35/ECoftheEuropeanParliament
andofthe Councilof 7September 2005onship‐
source pollution and on the introduction of
penalties, including criminal penalties, for
pollutionoffences
[8];
Directive2009/16/ECoftheEuropeanParliament
andoftheCouncilof23April2009onportState
control[9];
Directive2010/65/EUoftheEuropeanParliament
and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on
reportingformalities for ships arriving in and/or
departingfromportsoftheMember
States[12].
The central and thenational SafeSeaNet systems
shallcomplywiththerequirementsofEUlegislation
concerning confidentiality and security of
informationinparticularasregardsaccessrights.
EUMemberStatesshallbringintoforcethelaws,
regulations and administrative provisions necessary
to comply with the requirements of the described
directivenotlaterthanby18November2015.
2.2 DIRECTIVE2010/65/EU
Now, there are in use a lot of online reporting
systemsnotharmonized,oftenduplicated,andbased
on different formats and platforms. A SafeSeaNet
systemcoveringreportingrequirementsinrelationto
EU Directive 2002/59/EC as amended is now
developed
to cover Directive 2010/65/EU of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 20
October 2010 on reporting formalities for ships
arriving in and/or departing from ports of the
Member States and repealing Directive 2002/6/EC
(FAL directive) [12]. Directive 2002/6/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 18
February
2002 on reporting formalities for ships
arriving in and/or departing from ports of the
Member States of the Community required EU
Member States to accept certain standardised forms
(FALforms)inordertofacilitatetraffic,asdefinedby
the IMO Convention on FacilitationofInternational
Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention) adopted
on 9
April 1965, as amended. For the facilitation of
136
maritime transport and in order to reduce the
administrativeburdens for shipping companies and
to achieve a European maritime transport space
without barriers, the reporting formalities required
by the international (IMO) regulations and by legal
actsoftheEuropeanUnionandbyitsMemberStates
needtobesimplifiedand
harmonisedtothegreatest
extentpossible.Reportsshallbetransmittedbyships
in electronic manner to the place designated as a
nationalsinglewindow only once and available for
all interested authorities, institutions and
services[12].
Directive2010/65/EUconcernsthetransmissionof
datarequireduponarrivalinand/ordeparturefrom
portsunder:
described in the previous paragraph Directive
2002/59/EC,asamended[7];
mentioned at the end of the previous paragraph
Directives: 2000/59/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 27 November
2000onportreceptionfacilitiesforship‐generated
waste and cargo residues and 2009/16/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 23
April2009onportstatecontrol,asamended[6,9];
Regulation (EC) No 725/2004 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004
onenhancingshipandportfacilitysecurity[14];
International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code
adopted
in 1965, with the amendments thereto
adopted and having entered into force (where
appropriate).
AccordingtotheEuropeanCommissiondecision
FAL forms should be accepted for providing
information required by the above‐mentioned legal
acts. EU Member States should deepen the
cooperationbetweenthecompetentauthorities,such
as their customs, border
control, public health and
transportauthoritiesinordertocontinuetosimplify
and harmonise reporting formalities within the
Unionandmake themostefficient useofelectronic
datatransmissionandinformationexchangesystems.
Electronic means of data transmission for all ship
reporting formalities should be implemented by 1
June2015
atthelatest.WithintheEU,theprovision
ofinformationinFALformsinpaperformatshould
be the exception and should be accepted only for a
limited period of time. Reporting formalities
regarding information for solely national purposes
shouldnotneedtobeintroduced intheSafeSeaNet
system[12].
Directive
on reporting formalities for ships
arriving in and/or departing from ports of the EU
memberstatesshouldnotaffect:CouncilRegulation
(EEC)No2913/92of12October1992establishingthe
CommunityCustomsCode,CommissionRegulation
(EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down
provisions for the implementation of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the
Community Customs Code, Regulation (EC) No
562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the
Councilof15March2006establishingaCommunity
Code on the rules governing the movement of
persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code),
nationallegislation inthe area of border control for
those EU Member States which do not apply the
Schengen border control and Regulation (EC) No
450/2008 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 23 April 2008 laying down the
Community Customs Code (Modernised Customs
Code).Shipsoperatingbetweenportssituatedinthe
customs territory of the Union
should be exempt
fromtheobligationtosendtheinformationreferred
to in the FAL forms, where the ships do not come
from, call at or are headed towards a port situated
outsidethat territory. The access to the SafeSea‐Net
and other electronic systems used for reporting
purposes should be
regulated in order to protect
commercialandconfidentialinformation[12].
3 IMPLEMENTATIONOFTHEDESCRIBEDEU
LEGISLATIONINPOLAND
3.1 LEGALIMPLEMENTATION
Requirements of the EU maritime directives were
introducedinPolandbythePolishActof18August
2011 on maritime safety [2] and of 24 July 2015
amending
theactonmaritimesafetyandsomeother
acts[3]andtheregulationsofthePolishMinisterof
Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy
(currentlyMinisterofMaritimeEconomyandInland
Navigation) issued on the base of these laws. The
main regulations implementing directives described
inchapter2are:
Regulationof
4December2012onNationalVessel
TrafficMonitoringandInformationSystem[15];
Regulationof8February 2012ontheoperationof
anelectronicdatabaseofshipsofPolishflag[16];
Regulation of 8 March 2012 on Maritime
TelemedicalAssistanceService[17];and
Regulation of 16 May 2012
on a plan to grant
refuge to ships in need of assistance in Polish
maritimeareas[18].
AccordingtotheselegalactstheNationalVessel
Traffic Monitoring and Information System, called
the National SafeSeaNet System was established to
ensure the collecting, storage and exchange of
information about ships and events necessary
to
ensurethesafetyandsecurityofthePolishmaritime
areasandthe adjacentcoastal zone,especially[2,3,
15]:
posingapotentialhazardtoshippingorathreat
to maritime safety and security, the safety of
people or the ma rineenvironment, the effects of
which may extend to
a Polish maritimeareas or
maritime areas in other Member States of the
EuropeanUnion;and
necessary to effective organisation and
conducting of the SAR operation, vessel traffic
monitoring including management and
surveillance of ships movement and affective
workofthePolishportsandharbours.
National SafeSeaNet System consists of
SafeSeaNetCoordinator,technicalinfrastructureand
SafeSeaNet users‐offices, institutions and services
having a right of access to data from the vessel
monitoringsystemandtheinformationstoredinan
electronicdatabasesofshipsofPolishflagorcalling
at Polish ports, passengers and cargo carried on
boardsuchshipsand
theseamenhavingdocuments
issuedbythe Polishmaritimeadministrationor the
obligationtoenterdataintothesedatabases[15].
137
The coordinator acts as the National Competent
Authority (NCA) mentioned in the IFCD (Interface
and Functionalities Control Document). He is
responsibleformaintainingtheNationalSafeSeaNet
Service operating around the clock, 7 days a week.
ThemaintasksoftheNCAinclude,amongothers[2,
3,15]:
providinginformation
requiredbythecompetent
authoritiesfromotherEUMemberStates;and
immediatenotificationoftheNationalSafeSeaNet
usersonreceivedinformationfromtheEuropean
SafeSeaNetSystemonshipsoreventsthatcreatea
potential danger to navigation or a threat to
maritimesafety orsecurity,thesafetyofpeople
or
themarineenvironment,theeffectsofwhichmay
extendtothePolishseaareasorcoastalzone.
An Electronic data base for ships of Polish flag
containsinformation[2,3,15]:
1 Foreachvessel regarding
itsidentification;
recognized organisation involved in its
classificationandcertification;
carried
out flag state inspections: the body
which carried out the inspection, date of the
inspection,itsresultsandissuedcertificates;
the body which carried out the inspection of
the vessel in the framework of the Port State
Control,dateoftheinspectionanditsresults,
inparticular concerningdeficiencies
andship’s
detention;
marine accidents and incidents involving the
vesselinquestion;
2 Identifying vessels that changed their flag from
Polishtotheforeigninthepast12months;and
3 Other data deemed relevant by the maritime
authorities.
Database is administrated by the Director of the
Maritime Office in
Gdynia. Access tocollected data
has,throughtheNationalSafetyNetSystem,eligible
employees,inspectorsandofficers ofthe Polish[15,
16]:
maritimeadministration;
State Commission on Marine Accident
Investigation;
SearchandRescueService;
CoastGuard;
CustomsService;
recognized organisations authorizedtocarry out
the
tasksofthePolishmaritimeadministration;
Maritime Chambers leading Polish register of
maritimeships;
sports association leading Polish register of
maritimeyachts;and
Hydrographic Office and Maritime Operations
CentreofthePolishNavy;
marinefisheriesauthorities;
entitiesmanagingseaportsorharbours;
seaandport
pilotstations;
StateSanitaryInspection;
theregionalgovernmentalauthorities;and
other entities, which the administrator provides
access to the database beca use of their
responsibilities related to the needs of the
maritimeadministration.
Additionally, information collected in the
databaseisavailableforthe[15]:
authorities of the
EU Member State if it is
necessary to ensure the safety and security of
shippingandmarineenvironmentalprotectionof
thatcountry;and
European Commission to ensure security and
safetyorprotectionofthemarineenvironmentof
theMemberStatesoftheEuropeanUnion.
SAR Service participates in the exchange
of
information about the threat to human life at sea,
threat of pollution of the marine environment and
information related to the received security alert.
Naval Hydrographic Office participates in the
National SafeSeaNet System as the National
Coordinator for navigational warnings in the
exchangeofcartographic,hydrographicandnautical
information
[15].
Informationisdeliveredtothedatabasebyship‐
ownersofPolishvessels,FlagStateControlandPort
State Control inspectors, inspectors of recognized
organisations, Polish entities responsible for the
investigationofmarine accidents and incidents and
entitiesleadingPolishregistersofmaritimeshipsand
yachts.Theinformationcontainedinthe
databaseis
updated continuously. Delivered information is
introduced to the database within 7 working days
from the date of receipt. Entering information into
the database, its update, and delete those from the
database are recorded. Information about entering
theinformationintothe database,their updating or
removalfromthedatabase
hastobekeptforatleast
twoyears[16].
InformationonshipssailingtothePolishportsis
collected mainly from reports sent to the harbour
masters by ships’ masters, owners or their
representatives. According to the regulations, the
operator, master or agent of the ship heading the
Polishport
isobligedtoprovidetheharbourmaster
informationconcerningtheidentityoftheship,port
of destination, estimated time of arrival at the port
and estimated time of departure from port and the
totalnumberofpersonsonboard[2,3,15]:
atleast24hourspriortoarrival;
no later than when the ship leaves the previous
port,ifthejourneytakeslessthan24hours;or
when the port of destination is not known or
changes during the journey‐immediately after
obtainingsuchinformation.
Additionally, the captain of a ship in the Polish
maritime areas immediately
inform the nearest
coastal radio station or vessel traffic service (VTS)
aboutallincidentswhich[2,3,15]:
affect the safety of the ship, such as collision,
stranding, damage or malfunction of the ship’s
equipment,floodingorshiftingofcargo,damage
tothehullorstructuralelementsofthe
ship;and
threaten maritime safety, such as equipment
failure which may affect the ship’s
manoeuvrability or fitness for navigation,
including affecting the propulsion system,
steering system, power generation, navigation
equipmentormeansofcommunication.
Transmittedinformationshallcontain[2,3]:
ship’s identification, position, ports of departure
anddestination;
138
address data entity in possession of information
on dangerous or polluting goods, if they are
carriedontheship;
numberofpersonsonboard;and
event details and other information necessary to
conductrescueoperations,inaccordancewiththe
requirementslaiddownbyIMOonthereporting
systemsandreportsfromshipsincidentsrelating
to dangerous goods, harmful substances and
pollutants.
VTS or coastal radio station, after receiving the
notification about the threat to human life or the
threatof pollution of themarine environment,shall
immediately notify the MRCC (Maritime Rescue
CoordinationCentre).
In the cases
referred to in the Act of 16 March
1995onpreventionofpollutionfromships,director
of maritime office with jurisdiction over the place
wheretheshipis,inordertoensurethesafetyoflife
at sea, safety of navigation and protection of the
marineenvironmentmay[1,2,3]:
1 Ordermasteroftheshipindistressoroftheship
in need of assistance to execute commands, in
particular:
restrictthemovementoftheshiporfollowthe
specific course; the command does not affect
the masterʹs responsibility for the safe
navigationoftheship;
take the necessary measures to stop or
minimizethethreatcausedbytheshiptothe
environmentormaritimesafety;
proceedtodesignatedplaceofrefuge;and/or
usepilotand/ortowingservice.
2 Examine on board vessel the level of hazard
posedbytheshiptomaritimesafetyand
safetyof
marine environment and provide the master of
helpingtoimprovethesituation,informingabout
takingactiontheVTSService.
Maritime Telemedical Assistant Service (TMAS)
wasestablishedinordertoperformtasksrelated to
thegrantingofmedicaladvicetotheshipsbyradio.
Service is performed by the
University Centre for
Maritime and Tropical Medicine in Gdynia. It
performs its tasks without interruption 24 hours a
day,7daysaweek,withthehelpofdoctorsonduty
having[17]:
experience as a ship’s doctor or training in the
basicsofmarineandtropicalmedicine;
the ability
of oral and written communication in
PolishandEnglish;
knowledge about the principles of SAR service
functioninganditsfittingwithdrugsandmedical
equipment;and
knowledge of medical equipment and drugs
carried on ships in accordance with the
recommendations of IMO, the World Health
Organization (WHO) and
the European Union
and qualifications of ships’ captains and crew
membersinfirstaidandmedicalcareforpatients
asdefinedintheSTCWConventionandCode.
Advice provided by TMAS shall assist and
facilitatedecisionsthattakethecaptainoftheship.It
mayinclude[17]:
assisting the captain
or crew member in the
diagnosis,helpinchoosingmedicalpracticesand
medical support of person sick or injured on
boardaship;
provisionofadvicerelatingtoadecisiontocarry
outamedicalevacuation;
provisionof adviceto helpthemasteror a crew
member of
the vessel to take a decision on
changing the port of destination in order to
providemedicalhelptothesickorinjuredperson;
and
assisting the SAR MRCC in making decisions
related to planning and carrying out rescue
operationofthesickorinjuredpersondepending
onhiscondition.
The last of mentioned regulations issued on 16
May2012obligesdirectorsofeachofmaritimeoffices
todevelopplanstograntrefugetoshipsindistress
or in need of help located in the part of the Polish
maritime areas under their supervision taking into
accounttheIMOguidelines
andsetsouttheelements
whichshouldbeincludedinatheseplans[18].
3.2 TECHNICALSOLUTIONS
Technical infrastructure of the so called Polish
National Maritime Safety System (KSBM) was
createdformanyyears.Therearefunctioning:
1 Vessel Traffic Management Service (VTMS)
Szczecin‐Świnoujście established in the Polish
inner
watersbytheDirectorofMaritimeOfficein
Szczecin.
2 EstablishedbyIMO:
trafficseparationschemas(TSSs)inthePolish
waters of the Gulf of Gdańsk and between
SłupskaBankandPolishcoast;
ship reporting system (SRS) for ships in the
PolishwatersoftheGulf
ofGdańsk;
VTSinthePolishwatersoftheGulfofGdańsk.
3 Adataba se system–PolishHarbourInformation
and Control System (PHICS) consisting of 5
components, established before 1998 and
modernisedseveraltimes:
data base of ships entering Polish ports
(including ship preliminary declaration)
working with Lloyd’s Register of Shipping
database;
data base of dangerous, hazardous and
pollutantcargoesonboardshipsandhandled
atPolishports;
databaseofpassengersonboardshipsleaving
Polish ports as required by the Council
Directive 98/41/ EC of 18 June 1998 on the
registration of persons sailing on board
passengerships operating toorfrom ports of
theMemberStatesoftheCommunity;
databaseofinspectionsconductedbythePort
StateControl(PSC)inPolishportsandPolish
FlagStateControl(FSC)connected withParis
MoUandRecognisedOrganisations(RO)data
bases;
and
data base of seafarers holding documents
issued by the Polish maritime administration
including data sub‐base of the Polish Central
MaritimeExaminationCommission(CMKE).
4 The Maritime Safety Information Exchange
System (SWIBŻ)‐the electronic system to
exchange information required by EU directives
and national legislations (introduced in
January
139
2004 and modernised later) working as the
National SafeSeaNet System and allowing data
exchange:
oninternationallevel‐betweenPolishnational
serverlocatedinGdyniaandEMSAandother
EU Member States administrations servers;
and
on national level between authorities of the
Polish maritime administration and
cooperativeinstitutions.
5
Polish national monitoring system using shore‐
based AIS stations established according to the
requirements of the Declaration on the Safety of
NavigationandEmergencyCapacityintheBaltic
Sea Area adopted on 10 September 2001
(HELCOMCopenhagenDeclaration).
6 Long and short range coastal radars installed in
portsandas
VTMSandVTStechnicalequipment.
7 Net of the shore radio stations enabling
communicationwithvesselsintheVHFband.
8 National contact point of the Long Range
IdentificationandTracking (LRIT)System.
9 Mainusersofthesystemare:
Polish maritime administration (ministry
responsible for maritime economy, maritime
and
harbourmastersoffices);
PolishMaritimeSearchandRescueService;
Maritime Department of the Polish Border
Guard(PolishCoastGuard);
Maritime Operations Centre of the Polish
Navy;
GovernmentalCrisisManagementCentreand
itsregionalbranches;
customsandpolice;
HydrographicOfficeofthePolishNavy;
Maritime Branch of the Institute of
MeteorologyandWaterManagement;
portauthorities;and
sanitaryandveterinaryservices.
The data from the system is partly available for
the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in
Lisbon and NATO Management Centre in
Northwood(UK).
According to the legal requirements ICT
(Information and
Communications Technology)
systems operating within the National SafeSeaNet
Systemshall[16]:
have an availability of not less than specified in
the Interface and Functionalities Control
Document (ICFD) drawn up by the European
Commission in cooperation with EU Member
Statesanddefiningdetailedrequirementsforthe
operation, technical standards and
operational
procedures of national SafeSeaNet systems and
thecentralpartofSafeSeaNetsystem;
providetheabilitytoarchiveandrecoverdatafor
theperiodspecifiedinthedocumentIFCD;
allowthetransmissionofinformation24hoursa
day,7daysaweek;
allowthetransfer,immediatelyafterreceiving
the
request, to the competent authorities of the EU
Member States, information on ship and
dangerous or polluting goods carried on board
theship;
constantlymaintainrequiredlevelof ITsecurity;
and
provide access to the information to authorized
usersonly.
Exchangeofinformationusingthetelephone,fax
ore‐ma ilshallbeensuredintheeventofafailureor
planned downtime if the ICT systems operating
withintheNationalSafeSeaNetSystem.
Currently, the system is moderniz ed and
expanded. Much of the work has been done in the
lastfewyearsinthescopeofprojectco‐financed
by
the EuropeanUnion. The direct beneficiary and the
applicant of the project is the Polish maritime
administration (Maritime Office in Gdynia in
collaboration with the Maritime Offices in Słupsk
and Szczecin) and Polish Maritime Search and
Rescue(SAR)Service.Theprojectwasimplemented
intwostages:KSBM‐I
andKSBM‐II.ProjectKSBM‐I
waslocatedonthemainlistofindividualprojectsof
the Operational Programme “Infrastructure and
Environment” for 2007‐2013 and was realized with
thesupportofEUfundsfinancedinthePriorityVII
“Environmentally‐friendlytransport”underMeasure
7.2 “Development of Maritime Transport”. The
amount
of co‐financing from EU funds was up to
85%.
The main goals of the projects were [13, 19, 20,
21]:
1 Increasing the coverage of the Polish national
networkofAISbasestationsbyinstallationoffive
additionalAISbasestations,includingoneonthe
Petrobaltic platformʺBaltic Beta”
located to the
north of Cape Rozewie and completion and
ensuring homogeneity and monitoring
capabilitiesofthesystem.
2 Establishing a system for monitoring and
managingmaritimetrafficalong the Polish coast
(especially in sensitive areas)‐Marine Traffic
Surveillance and Monitoring System‐consisting
of operating already in the Polish waters VTMS
and VTS along with their technical equipment
(currentandnewinstalled)andnewnationaland
auxiliary centres located, respectively, in the
Maritime Office in Gdynia‐national centre
cooperating with the European VTMIS and
regionalcentres in Gdynia, Słupsk and Szczecin.
Theinvestmentincludedinstallation:
28 shore based radars
with tracking facilities,
installed as VTS, port and shore remote
controlledsensors;
26videocameras;
5radiodirectionfinders(RDF)workinginthe
VHFband;
12VHFshorestations;and
14hydro‐meteorologicalstations.
3 Building a new system of operational
communication for the Maritime Search and
Rescue(SAR)Service:8VHF/DSCshorestations,
2centres:RCCGdyniaandRSCŚwinoujście.
4 Construction of telecommunications
infrastructurealongthePolishcoastformaritime
safety and monitoring systems and exchange of
information, so called Pomeranian
Telecommunications Bus (over 600 km of new
fibre‐optic cable and 21 km
of new submarine
cable).
5 EstablishmentoftheEarlyWarningSystem(EWS)
formarineareasofPoland(onenationalcentrein
Gdynia, two such sub‐centres in Szczecin and
140
Słupsk or Ustka, four VTS centres in Gdynia,
Szczecin,Świnoujście and Ustka and 12 harbour
masters offices in Darłowo, Dziwnów, Elbląg,
Gdańsk,Gdynia, Hel,Kołobrzeg,Łeba, Szczecin,
Śwonoujście,UstkaandWładysławowo).
National maritime safety centre and sub‐centres
are responsible
for: risk assessment, early warning,
crisis management and exchange of information
concerning safety and security of navigation and
environmental protection (ISPS, SafeSeaNet,
CleanSeaNet, etc.). They are equipped with the
Electronic System for the Exchange of Maritime
SafetyInformation(SWIBŻ) realizing inthis respect
followingfunctions[13]:
1 Presentationof:
datareceivedfromKSBMinnersensors: VTS,
VTMS, port radars, Polish AIS net, hydro‐
meteorologicalsensors,radiodirectionfinders
(RDF),databaseofvessels,e‐inspection,etc.;
data from outer AIS systems (HELCOM,
EMSA);
data from outer radars (Polish Coast Guard
andPolishNavy);and
weatherforecastsand
navigationalandhydro‐
meteorologicalwarnings.
2 SafeSeaNetnotifications.
3 Modellingthedriftofoilpollution.
4 Riskassessment.
5 Supporting crisis management and exchange of
information.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Built to implement the provisions of the EU
legislations on Vessel Traffic Monitoring and
Information System (VTMIS) and reporting
formalitiesforshipsoperating
toorfromportsofthe
EU Member States, described in this paper Polish
National Maritime Safety System (KSBM), after
completion of its implementation and passing with
positive results all SAT (Side Acceptance Test)
procedures will meet all requirements for VTMIS
presented in the Directive 2002/59/EC and will be
able
tomeettherequirementsforreceivingreportsof
shipsandtransportedthempassengersandcargoas
defined in the Directive 2010/65/EU. Its
implementation provides the technical mea sures
necessary Polish maritime administration to ensure
safetyandsecurityofshipping andprotectionofthe
environmentandeconomicinterestofPolandinthe
Polish
maritime areas by effective monitoring and
controlofmaritimetrafficandeconomicactivitiesin
these areas. It provides information necessary to
makedecisionregardinggrantingplaceofrefugeand
enablesincreasingefficiencyofthesearchandrescue
operation,protectionof the environment and action
involvingtheliquidationofconsequencesof
natural
disasters and accidents with ships at sea. Data
obtainedfromthesystemareusefultootherservices
and institutions related to maritime safety and
security, border protection, maritime economy and
portactivities.
Currently,workisunderwaytoestablishnational
andregionalsinglewindowsinaccordancewiththe
EuropeanUnion requirements
that will meet future
tasks assigned to the single point of contact in the
projects: e‐maritime implemented by the EU and e‐
navigation developed by the IMO. Established in
Maritime Office in Gdynia national single window
haspassedsuccessfullytestinthefieldofautomatic
dataexchangewithEMSA.
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