TNAG-2897-FCO40-4171-Hong-Kong-piracy-in-the-South-China-Sea-1993 — Page 95

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subject to IMO's approval, if an attack is reported in an area covered by NAVTEX transmissions, a piracy attack warning with category "Important" or "Vital", as appropriate, should be transmitted whenever such warnings can be transmitted sufficiently early to enable ships to take precautions appropriate to preventing attacks. If an attack is reported in an area which is not covered by NAVTEX transmissions, a piracy attack warning should be transmitted as an EGC SafetyNET message through the INMARSAT system. In this respect, relevant authorities are recommended to make arrangements with one or more Coast Earth Station(s) covering relevant areas, as to be registered as "information providers";

those countries that have established, or which plan to establish, radar surveillance and/or VHF DF (direction finding) systems, are recommended to investigate the potential suitability of such facilities for anti-piracy purposes. If such facilities are judged to be suitable for such purposes, the facilities and procedures necessary for their rapid and efficient use should be established.

International Maritime Organization

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to further contribute to the prevention of piracy and armed robbery, consideration should be given to authorizing warnings of piracy attacks to be transmitted through the NAVTEX system with priority "Important" or "Vital", as appropriate, whenever such warnings can be transmitted sufficiently early to enable ships to take precautions appropriate to preventing attacks. Consideration should also be given to defining a new "subject indicator" for "Piracy warning messages", to be included in the preamble of such messages

(i.e. the "B2-character");

in order to minimize potential problems of delays and misunderstandings in distress and safety situations involving RCCs from different countries, consideration should be given to amending the SAR Convention (1979) so as to include the following requirement: "Every national RCC, which may be contacted by RCCs from other countries, shall ensure that, at all times, at least one person with a satisfactory knowledge of the English language, both written and spoken, is on duty";

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taking into account that some countries do not have their RCCs continuously operational, consideration should be given to amending MSC/Circ.597 so as to allow for the possibility of using coast stations as an alternative to using RCCs as the "point of contact" in cases of piracy attacks.

SEARCH AND RESCUE

46 The SAR officials the Group met in all three countries were knowledgeable and concerned about providing a viable search and rescue capability in their respective areas of responsibility. Although there was some concern over the lack of dedicated SAR resources, the Group was assured that, when an incident occurred, resources were made available in a timely fashion.

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