JMSA has completed the construction of its related shore-based communications facilities to accommodate GMDSS, and has already begun operating them.
There is a growing volume of information being sent to the Nodal MCC (Mission Control Center) based in the U.S., the one with which Japan's MCC is affiliated and concerns are expressed that there will be delays in the transmission of information to related countries, caused by the limit to the capacity to handle compilation, collection and transmission, and coordination operations. Therefore, the COSPAS-SARSAT Council formally requested that Japan establish a Nodal MCC. It is for this reason that JMSA is establishing a Nodal MCC to strengthen the system for collecting and processing maritime distress information in the northwestern Pacific sea area. It plans to begin operating this MCC in FY 1997.
