Ship Reporting Systems
The SOLAS Chapter V mechanism obliging ships to report to a coastal authority, how IMO adopts a mandatory system, and the systems in force.
A ship reporting system obliges or invites ships to report prescribed information to a shore authority at prescribed points or intervals. Regulation 11 of SOLAS Chapter V , formerly regulation V/8-1, is the legal basis, and it provides that ship reporting systems adopted by IMO are used by all ships or certain categories of ship in accordance with the requirements of the system.
Only IMO can make a system mandatory. A government proposing one submits it to IMO for adoption, and the guidelines and criteria against which proposals are assessed are in resolution MSC.433(98), adopted 16 June 2017, which superseded MSC.43(64). A system adopted this way binds ships of all flags within its area, which is what separates it from a national or voluntary reporting arrangement.
STRAITREP in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore Strait , adopted by resolution MSC.73(69) on 19 May 1998 and in force from 1 December 1998, is the worked example: nine sectors, six categories of ship required to participate, a fixed report format and named reporting points. The full article will cover the SOLAS basis, the adoption procedure, report content and formats, the relationship with AIS and with vessel traffic services , the move toward automated electronic reporting, and the mandatory systems in force worldwide.