Luxembourg, 02/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - After an agreement of principle reached in June, the Transport Council adopted, on Tuesday 2 October, a resolution on creating a European long-range identification and tracking data centre (LRIT). The centre, which should be operational by 31 December 2008, could be housed by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in Lisbon. It would be responsible for receiving data on goods carried by each ship going to European ports, at a distance of 1,000 nautical miles.
In its resolution, which will be the EU's position during the meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to be held from 3-12 October, the Council stresses that the objectives of the centre should be maritime security, search and rescue (SAR), maritime safety and the protection of the marine environment. Probably established in Lisbon at the European Maritime Safety Agency, the centre will also benefit from participation from Norway, Iceland and other European Economic Area (EEA) states. The EU27 call on the Commission and member states to define the technical, legal and political criteria of possible third country participation. The Council stresses, however, that the data contained in the LRIT (such as the kind of goods carried) will remain the property of the flag states. The Commission, via EMSA, will be entrusted with covering the setting up, maintenance and operation of the LRIT. The funding of additional activities (such as reports from ships calling at ports of the member states or sailing off their coasts) should, the Council says, be covered by member states requesting additional reports, in the light of rules and modalities to be defined at EU level. The Council stresses that the centre should also be able to store information from other identification systems such as the AIS (Automatic Identification System likely to provide information on the positioning and ownership of a vessel).
The centre will be set in place in line with IMO international conventions on the Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS). Adopted in 2006, the latter stipulates that each contracting party should determine what data centre (national, regional, common or international) should receive the LRIT reports from ships bearing their flag. The convention's provisions are due to take effect by 31 October 2008. (aby)