News & Events

News

Happy festive season!

IALA offices will be closed from 23 December 2022 to 1 January 2023. We look forward to seeing you in the new year!

WWA mission in Seychelles

The IALA World-Wide Academy conducted a mission in the Seychelles islands in September 2022. View the video to know more about this interesting project.

Vacancy Notice

The IALA World-Wide Academy is looking for a new Education and Training Manager. Please see details of the offer below. The deadline for sending applications is extended to 15 August 2022.

Progress towards Intergovernmental status

Following the end of the signature period in January 2022, three more states have joined:  The Netherlands accepted the Convention on 25 April 2022 and the United Kingdom acceded to the Convention on 5 May 2022 and Canada ratified the Convention on 8 June 2022.

What is the process?

States that have signed the Convention are invited to transmit the instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval to France, the depositary State. All Member States of the United Nations that have not signed during the signature period, may accede to the Convention, which will enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date of deposit of the thirtieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

Workshop on S-100/S-200 development and portrayal

IALA, IHO and the Norwegian Coastal Administration are holding a workshop on S-100, S-200 development and portrayal from 5 to 9 September 2022 in Alesund, Norway.
The objective of the workshop is to:
Harmonize and open feedback channels between IHO and IALA regarding Product Specification requirements and development processes.
Share visions of the use of S-100 / S-200 among stakeholders.
Identify possible updates and recommend amendments to existing documents.
Provide clarity regarding the development of S-100 / S-200 based Product Specifications.

Flyer and Website

Council 75

the 75th session of the IALA Council was successfully held at the Radisson Royal Collection Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark from 30 May to 3 June 2022.

This was the first face to face meeting of the Council since the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic in 2020. All councilors were in attendance, including three who attended remotely.

The Council was updated about the planning of the change of status transition period, which is the period between the entry into force of the Convention and the first General Assembly of the new Organization.

The Council approved the revised budget for 2022 and noted the sound financial situation of the Association. The Council also approved changes to the Basic Documents.

Reports were given on the technical committees, the Industrial Members Committee, the planning of the 20th Conference, and the progress and future actions of the World-Wide Academy and the World Marine Aids to Navigation Day to be celebrated 1 July in Bulgaria.

The Council approved the Homigot Lighthouse from the Republic of Korea as the Heritage Lighthouse of the Year 2022 together with some changes to the future selection process. As a consequence, the ENG committee will nominate the candidates for the Heritage Lighthouse of the Year 2023 at the upcoming ENG16 in October 2022. For more information, please refer to https://heritage.iala-aism.org/.

New and revised recommendations:

  • R1023 Maritime Resource Names (MRN), Ed1.0, June 2022
  • R0204 Marine signal lights – determination and calculation of effective intensity, Ed3.0, June 2022
  • R0141 Training and certification of Marine Aids to Navigation personnel, Ed5.0, June 2022
  • R0119 Establishment of a VTS Ed4.2, June 2022

New and revised guidelines:

  • Revised Guideline G1018 on Risk management, Ed4.0, June 2022
  • Revised Guideline G1123 on the use of the IALA Waterway risk assessment programme or IWRAP, Ed2.0, June 2022
  • Revised Guideline G1124 on Ports and waterways safety assessment (PAWSA MK II), Ed2.0, June 2022
  • Revised Guideline G1058 on The use of simulation as a tool for waterway design and AtoN planning, Ed3.0, June 2022
  • Revised Guideline G1135 on Determination and calculation of effective intensity, Ed 3.0, June 2022
  • Revised Guideline G1127 on Systems and services for high accuracy positioning and ranging, Ed2.0, June 2022
  • Revised Guideline G1129 on the retransmission of SBAS corrections using MF-radio beacon and AIS, Ed 2.0, June 2022
  • New Guideline G1147 on The use of enhanced radar positioning systems, Ed1.0, June 2022
  • New Guideline G1168 on Quality control of third-party AtoN service providers, Ed1.0, June 2022
  • New Guideline G1169 on Training and certification of marine Aids to Navigation personnel, Ed1.0, June 2022
  • New Guideline G1170 on Solar modules for a marine environment, Ed1.0, June 2022
  • Revised Guideline G1150 on Establishing planning and implementing a VTS, Ed3.0, June 2022
  • New Guideline G1171 on Human factors and ergonomics in VTS, Ed1.0, June 2022

Revoked document

  • Revoked G1097 on Technical Features and Technology Relevant for Simulation of AtoN, Ed1.0

Visit from the Embassy of Denmark

On 9 June 2022, IALA had the honor of welcoming the Ambassador, Michael Starbæk Christensen, Brigadier General Prince Joachim and Commander sg. Denis Armand Vad from the Danish embassy. Denmark was one of the first States to sign the IALA convention, and it was a pleasure to brief the delegation about the bright future of the association. 

Denmark joined IALA from the inception of the organization in 1957 and immediately became one the most active members at the forefront of many initiatives and projects. It was depositary of the “Agreement on the implementation of the Maritime Buoyage System A” which was signed in Copenhagen on 16 March 1977. During the drafting process, Denmark played a major role in the Technical Committee on the “Unification of the Buoyage Systems”. Denmark’s first election to Council was in 1980 and they have always been reelected since then.  Denmark has hosted several IALA Meetings like ENAV and VTS committee, LAP and Council. The IALA Council has also appointed two Secretary-Generals from Denmark since 1994.

Brigadier General Prince Joachim, Secretary-General Francis Zachariae, Ambassador Michael Starbæk Christensen
Commander sg. Denis Armand Vad, Brigadier General Prince Joachim, Secretary-General Francis Zachariae, Ambassador Michael Starbæk Christensen

Visit of the Republic of Guinea to HQ, 18 May 2022

Durant cette visite, La République de Guinée a souhaité réaffirmer son engagement auprès de l’AISM à continuer ses efforts pour mettre en place la formation du personnel et la mise en place d’infrastructures locales à travers le pays afin de garantir la sécurité des navires et des personnes. La Guinée a aussi sollicité l’appui de l’AISM pour mettre en route la procédure de ratification de la Convention Internationale pour les aides à la navigation maritime.

During this visit, the Republic of Guinea wished to reaffirm its commitment to IALA to continue its efforts to put in place the training of personnel and the establishment of local infrastructures across the country in order to guarantee the safety of the ships and of the people. Guinea has also requested the support of IALA to initiate the procedure for the ratification of the Convention on the International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation.

M. Sory Camara, Directeur Général de l’Agence de Navigation Maritime (ANAM), ministère des Transports, M. Francis Zachariae, Secrétaire-Général de l’AISM (IALA), M. Mamadou Alpha Baldé, Secrétaire-Général de l’Agence de Navigation Maritime (ANAM), ministère des Transports.

International Day for Women in Maritime

The inaugural IMO International Day for Women in Maritime on 18 May 2022 will focus on the theme “Training-Visibility-Recognition: Supporting a barrier-free working environment” View IMO dedicated page here.

In support to this day, IALA would like to share Monica Sundklev’s words as she has been very important and actively involved in the work of IALA for many years.

-What do you find is the most challenging in your job?

I work mainly with rules and requirements in various fields of maritime traffic and I am active both within IMO, IALA and the European Union, and I have noticed that there are different views on what rules and regulations that should be implemented and how. Maritime transport is a global business and therefore global and harmonized development and implementation is crucial to get a smooth and seamless transport chain.

Being part of developing rules and regulations today as the digitalization and automation is moving very fast, is also very thrilling. I hope that by trying to analyse and understand the complexity of this development without being a hindrance to this progress, I hope that I can contribute with my knowledge and experience so that the marine transport chain is perceived as both safe, modern and environmentally friendly.

The challenge is to get everyone on board, both individuals like seafarers and VTS operators as well as different jurisdictions such as other countries and their authorities, and to move in the same direction for the benefit of all.

-What do you find is the most pleasant in your job?

All the wonderful people that I meet in various meetings and situations! The maritime domain is rather small and it gets very familiar when you meet the same people in different places at different meetings.

Especially within the VTS Committee of IALA, I meet many interesting people from all over the world and it’s amazing what a huge network of contacts you can get within an international organization such as IALA. I have met so many friends within IALA and we still keep in contact. This is also known to be the IALA spirit of the IALA family. Join an IALA workshop or a committee meeting and you will see J

-What could you say the work with IALA brought to you and to your job?

I have learned so much through IALA that I have been able to bring back to my daily work, particularly from the comradery both from the participants from all over the world but also from the IALA secretariat.  This includes, but is not in any way limited to cooperation, collaboration, engagement, enthusiasm, respect and willingness to learn.

Also through IALA I have been involved in producing many recommendations and guidelines for VTS. I have also been able to visit several VTS centres as well as VTS trainings centres around the world. This has given me a better understanding of the different challenges that may exist in different areas and the justification of implementing a VTS, but also that different training methods and course structures may apply depending on the need. All this will definitely be considered when new VTS rules will be developed in Sweden. I would be very happy to be part of such a development.

Monica Sundklev, Senior Adviser at the Swedish Transport Agency, Chair of the IALA VTS Committee.

PAP46

The Policy Advisory Panel was happy to meet physically from 2 to 5 May 2022 for its 46th session after 2 years of virtual meetings due to the pandemic of Covid-19. The panel managed to discuss all the items of the agenda in a timely manner, and then proceeded to the selection of abstracts for the 20th conference planned in 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A hybrid solution with possible connection through Microsoft Teams was also available so participants who could not be present could join remotely. We have good hope that this successful meeting was the first of the post-pandemic era and will be followed by many others where our members from around the world can renew contacts and work in the best possible conditions towards our common goals!