Transport Ministry to set about navigation safety
RF Ministry of Transport is going to develop an integrated information system of safe navigation. Its interaction with other information systems is supposed to make it possible to solve a number of urgent issues of maritime and inland water transport.
To minimize risks
As it was noted at an extended meeting of the RF Transport Ministry’s Board, there are a number of technical information systems being applied to solve specific problems of navigation safety at local and national levels in Russia today. Apart from this, Russia has an experience of creation and support of non-integrated international information systems in this area. As Igor Levitin, RF Minister of Transport, told the Board, it is time for a comprehensive approach to their creation and development. Mr. Levitin reminded that the Transport Strategy of Russia till 2030 approved by the RF Government on November 22, 2008, pays a serious consideration to improvement of transport system safety.
According to statistics provided by the Department of State Policy in the field of Maritime and River Transport, over 90% of cargo handled in the world falls on maritime and river transport being the safest and ecologically cleanest. At the same time, frequency of emergency situations at waterways is 13 times less as compared with that at railways. “Our task is to assess all the risks and to minimize them”, Aleksei Klyavin, Director of the Department of State Policy in the field of Maritime and River Transport, said at the meeting.
As for navigation safety, the majority of requirements to design and technical state of vessels as well as to crews and shipping companies are set at an international level. Both the states and individual ship owners are obliged to meet them. “The Russian Federation bears responsibility for compliance of the vessels flying its flag with Russian and international requirements in the sphere of navigation and protection of marine environment wherever the vessels are,” Mr. Klyavin said. “We have an efficient system for control of Russian vessels enabling us to ensure adequate level of their technical state”.
In 2006, Russia entered a so-called White List of Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control, while in 2007 the Russian Federation was approved as a state to enter the White List of Paris MoU, which cuts the number of inspections for Russian vessels in foreign countries. RF Transport Minister Igor Levitin told he had addressed IMO Secretary General to confirm Russia’s intention to be inspected by IMO for 2009-2010.
Comprehensive system
Growing traffic of maritime and river transport brings up an issue on creation of a comprehensive integrated control system to ensure safe navigation and protection of environment from pollution by vessels.
Against intensification of shipping, in particular, transportation of hazardous cargo, safety measures in ports and at approaches become especially important. Last 10-15 years saw a considerable change in attitude to navigation safety.
“Today, there is a focus on creation of hi-tech integrated systems with international diversification of functions and intensive data exchange,” Mr. Klyavin said. “Ship traffic control systems have been recently created and upgraded in Russia’s regions with the most intensive traffic”. In particular, Mr, Klyavin noted creation of a global automated system for vessel monitoring and tracking; regional system for safe navigation in the Gulf of Finland; regional system for management of vessel tracking in the Gulf of Peter the Great. The latter operates in all ports the Gulf: Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Vostochny, Posjet, Zarubino, Slavyanka as well as at approaches including inland sea waters and adjacent territorial waters of Russia.
As for international piracy problem, Mr. Klyavin thinks it is necessary to undertake special “frightening measures” at international level. From January 1, of the coming year the Ministry of Transport will commence stage-by-stage introduction of a long range identification system.
Victoria system has been based on the existing global monitoring system. Upon the system introduction the vessel will provide information on its location several times a day with a possibility to determine the vessel’s location at any moment. Apart from this, there are proposals being considered today on how to enable cargo owners to get on-line information about location of vessels carrying their cargo.
To summarize the safety issue, Aleksandr Davydenko, Head of the Federal Agency of Marine and River Transport, said one of the Agency’s priority tasks is to integrate all the existing measures into one information system to ensure safe navigation. The more so, Davydenko reminded, RUR 1 billion had been allocated within the framework of a corresponding federal targeted program till 2010 while earlier (before 2002) development of safety systems was financed by off-budget sources.
Sophya Vinarova,