Operational Aspects Volume 2 - 1994 Project Work

(By A. Baskin ; INSROP Working Paper No. 91 – 1997, I.1.2)

This project consists of two parts. The first part is prepared by CNIIMF as a continuation of the 1993-1994 investigations on operational aspects of sailing the NSR. It is composed of seven sections:

1. Legal Support. This work intends to treat the legal and normative acts of the Russian Federation regulating the Arctic navigation. Under the IMO Resolution A.741 (18) of November 4, 1993, the International management code for the safe navigation of ships and for pollution prevention (International safety management (ISM) Code) was adopted. Since the ISM Code was adopted as Chapter IX of the International Convention SOLAS-74 whereupon its provisions became mandatory; the order of the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation of July 26, 1994 #63 "On measures to improve the safety of navigation" was issued to bring the provisions into effect. This work has been performed to bring changes and updating of the legal base of merchant shipping of Russia into line with the requirements of the ISM Code.

2. Route Planning. The provision of Russian nautical charts for mariners has drastically changed. This report describes these changes and tries to show the tendencies involved.

3. Navigation and Positioning. Two problems of positioning in the Russian Arctic are considered. One is the introduction of a differential GPS service in order to provide the positioning accuracy needed for sailing the NSR safely. The proposed configuration of the DGPS sub-system is described. The second problem concerns the practical use of highly accurate position fixes produced by DGPS, i.e. plotting the fixes on local nautical charts. Recommendations on mathematical methods for relating a position in one datum to co-ordinates in another are given.

4. Communications. Here the development concept of communication system for support of marine transportation in the Arctic basin of Russia is considered. Requirements to the communication system are formulated. The system structure and functional principles are proposed having regard to the Arctic region. Organisation of distress and safety communications to comply with the GMDSS requirements is discussed. Recommen-dations on composition of radio equipment are made.

5. Crew Training. The basic form of the simulation training is practical work on the navigation bridge; the trainees are arranged on the bridge according to their functional duties imposed on the watch on duty, i.e. on the master, chief mate, pilot, and watchman; the course of training is completed with individual check-up exercises.

6. Vessel Performance. The main purpose of this Section is to prepare, on the basis of comparative calculations, proposals for the identification tables of Arctic classes of the running Rules of the Russian Marine Register of Shipping (MRS) and of leading foreign classification societies. The proposals for the identification tables have been developed by the comparison of the Rules requirements to elements of the ice belt with due regard to the analysis of the results obtained at the first stage of the work. Principal results are shown in tables.

7. Marine Casualty. Actual data on ship accidents during the shipping season in the Russian Arctic Seas, and data on ice accident rate are submitted.

The second part is prepared by AARI and deals with hydrometeorological problems in the context of operational aspects. There chapters are titled:

1. Features of obtaining data on information conditions at a normative-legal regulation of shipping along the NSR.

2. Regioning of the NSR zone by the difficulty and safety of navigation.

3. Considerations on type and state of ships for providing effective and safe navigation in various ice conditions of the NSR .

A. Baskin, 1997, Operational Aspects Volume 2 - 1994 Project Work, INSROP.©