NEWS FROM THE SUBCOMMITTEES
SC1 Lifesaving and Fire Protection (USA)
A busy and productive year for SC 1 - balloting in progress for four DIS. SC 1 (Lifesaving and Fire Protection) roared into its fourth year of operation with the circulation on 13 August of four Draft International Standards for formal balloting： ISO/DIS 15370 for Low-location lighting on passenger ships, ISO/DIS 15371 for Fire extinguishing systems for protection of galley deep-frying equipment - Fire Tests, ISO/DIS 15372 for Inflatable rescue boats - Coated fabrics for inflatable chambers, and ISO/DIS 15734 for Hydrostatic release units. Several other projects are rapidly approaching fruition, most notably ISO/CD 15738 for Gas inflation systems for inflatable survival craft and marine evacuation systems which recently completed balloting for DIS status. In keeping with our mission of developing standards in support of IMO requirements, and at the request of the IMO Sub-Committee on Fire Protection (FP), ISO/DIS 15370 and ISO/DIS 15371 will be submitted to the 43rd session of the Sub-Committee, along with ISO/CD 17631 Safety plans for fire protection, lifesaving appliances and means of escape - Arrangement, recently completed by a well-attended meeting of WG 2 (Fire Protection) in Genoa. Our operations have been truly international, with our March 1998 plenary meeting in Baltimore agreeing to meet again in London in March 1999, and intersessional working groups meeting in Copenhagen, Lubeck (Germany), Genoa, and Hamburg. With numerous other projects still in progress, and the recent balloting of several new work items, we look forward to 1999 being another busy and productive year developing standards in support of IMO and the marine industry!
SC 2 Marine Environment Protection (USA)
SC 2 has published a draft standard for oil spill response terminology (ISO/CD 16165). It defines common terms with technical precision, and could be adopted in the summer of 1999, according to Scott Newsham of the US Coast Guard, who is secretary to ISO TC 8/SC 2.
The glossary is the first step toward global standards for spill response. The subcommittee may issue draft standards for booms, skimmers, and universal adapters for boom connections next June. They have asked the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) to review the draft glossary later this year. In the meantime, they seek industry comments on the draft terminology standards, based largely on standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Other sources include the Oil Companies' European Organization for Environment, Health and Safety 1981 field guide to oil spill control and clean up; the 1985 American Petroleum Institute (API) guide to oil spill response, and the incident command system (ICS) glossary devised by the US National Interagency Fire Center in 1994. The USCG uses a version of that system for oil spill response.
The committee draft divides terms into broad categories such as surveillance or oil categorization. Terms involved in containment, recovery, dispersal, or in situ burning techniques are subdivided into equipment terminology, engineering terminology, and operational terminology. The glossary defines terms used in with shoreline cleaning (such as "boulder" and "pebble"), and in worker safety ("hot zone.")
A sampling of ISO's proposed definitions, from the mundane to the arcane：
Oil： petroleum in any form including crude oil, fuel oil, oil refuse, and refined products.
Sheen： very thin oil slicks with a silvery or rainbow-colored appearance, with a thickness less than 0.001 mm.
Heavy shoreline oiling： pooled deposits or a layer of surface oil.
Group I (non-persistent) oil： petroleum-based oil that consists of hydrocarbon fractions： at least 50% of which distill at a temperature of 340°C; and at least 95% of which distill at 370°C.
Debris： any solid or semisolid substance that could interfere with the operation of a spill control system.
Ladder search： aerial surveillance to find and delineate oil slicks, carried out in a direction perpendicular to the wind in order to increase the probability of locating slicks and windrows.
Custody： physical possession or control. A sample is under custody if it is in an individual's possession or under immediate control of some individual so as to prevent alteration of its characteristics.
Herding： the collection of oil into a smaller surface area caused by surface pressure exerted by a dispersing chemical.
ISO/TC 8/SC 2 has voting members from 12 countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
SC 3 Piping and Machinery (USA)
This subcommittee has 8 active working groups with 24 new work items and 4 additional possible proposals for new work items. Two items are related to propeller systems, five items are for drainage systems aboard ships, two are for identification colours of contents of piping systems, two are for test methods for fire resistance of hose assemblies, two are for drinking water supply systems aboard ships, and two are for performance of gasketed mechanical couplings and performance of fittings in those couplings. Other items are： pressure/vacuum valves for cargo tanks, shipboard incinerators, engine room ventilation in diesel ships, ventilation of cargo spaces where internal combustion engine vehicles may be driven, identification colours for ventilation systems, and thermosetting resin fiberglass pipe and fittings used in marine applications.
SC 6 Navigation (Japan)
Almost all draft ISO standards for navigational equipment under the deliberation of ISO/TC 8/SC 6, contain the feature of being compatible with the IMO's standards for the performance of navigational equipment, specified by the IMO/NAV (i.e. those given the number [IMO-link-NR]). The outline and the status of consideration are as follows：
Note： The standards assigned with the number of [IMO-link-NR] are those to be made compatible with IMO's counterparts.
1.1 ISO/DIS 613 "Magnetic compasses, binnacles and azimuth reading devices - Class B" (Rev. of ISO 613：1982)
This DIS is a draft amendment to an ISO standard' for the performance of magnetic compasses, binnacles and azimuth reading devices, and its content is going to be amended to be compatible with the contents of ISO 449-1997： "Magnetic compasses and binnacles, class A". Japan is responsible for the preparation of the draft, and ISO/DIS 613 is scheduled to be circulated this autumn.
1.2 ISO/CD 694 "Positioning of magnetic compasses in ships" (Rev. of ISO/R 694：1982)
This standard specifies the requirements for the determination of fitting location of magnetic compasses to be equipped in ships to enable them to avoid magnetic interference caused by the magnetic field in the environment.
Germany is responsible for the preparation of the draft. ISO/CD 694 is scheduled to be circulated this autumn.
