Maritime Safety Committee
The MSC at its ninety-first session
93
noted that a
number of Contracting Governments were not fulfilling
their obligations under SOLAS Regulation XI-2/13 on
communication of information. Therefore, it urged these
Governments to review their information in the Global
Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) and
update it as necessary; in this context, the intention
of the secretariat to review and enhance the module’s
accessibility and value as an information source was also
noted. The MSC further noted the current availability of
the IMO Guide to Maritime Security and the ISPS Code
(IMO sales number: IA116E; ISBN: 978-92-801-1544-4)in English and French, and its expected availability
in Spanish later in 2013, and the need to follow the
procedures detailed therein (IMO, 2012l).
The MSC also reviewed the latest statistics on piracy
and armed robbery against ships (IMO, 2012m) and
noted the encouraging downward trend in piracy
attacks in the western Indian Ocean. However, it was
noted that there were still many innocent seafarers
held hostage in Somalia, some for more than two
years. In addition, a major concern was the increase in
the number of incidents of piracy and armed robbery
against ships in the Gulf of Guinea, and the increasing
level of violence of those attacks (IMO, 2012n,
pages 59–62