c) Insert a new Rule 12
All vessels engaged in towing in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore should ensure that the length of tow is minimised, commensurate with good seamanship and handling abilities, and shall ensure that the towing vessel and tow are identifiably part of the same arrangement.
(It has been reported, on several occasions, the length of tow is so excessive that on occasion it is not possible to determine which towing vessel is attached to which tow. This is especially so at night, when often the tow has little or no light displayed as required by Rule 24 of the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea. As the majority of vessels in the area are engaged in towing across the traffic separation schemes, we feel that it is essential that the towing vessel can be identified with the tow and that the tow can be seen).
.3 NAV 43/15 - Annex 8 (MSC 69/5, paragraph 2.9)
MANDATORY SHIP REPORTING SYSTEMS DESCRIPTION OF THE MANDATORY SHIP REPORTING SYSTEM IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA AND SlNGAPORE.
a) Include into the‘Radio Reports to the Ship Reporting System' (Appendix 4), a requirement to report the destination of the reporting ship. If this is confidential then the destination can be reported as the termination of the scheme or the point en-route that the vessel intends leaving the scheme.
(This information is useful for ships in transit as well as the operators of the reporting scheme).
b) Move the Reporting position in the vicinity of the Horsburgh to the commencement of the traffic separation scheme as recommended in 2.1)a).
(This will give more notice to vessels calling at Singapore Port of the availability of the pilot enabling an adjustment of speed to arrive at the correct time, and thus prevent waiting in the vicinity, of the boarding grounds and causing congestion - see2.1)b))
c) The operators of the Ship Reporting System , when they observe a contravention of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea or The Rules For Vessels Navigating Through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, should report the offending ship to the Flag State of the ship and additionally the Port State Control for appropriate action.
d) The number of vessels that will be using the Straitrep, it is envisaged, will overload one channel per VTS Authority (Appendix 3), especially at the commencement of the scheme at One Fathom Bank and In the Singapore Straits. It is suggested that each VTS Authority has three channels, one for passing the Straitrep, one for navigational broadcasts and one for communication with vessels who have passed their Straitrep and are in transit. It is also suggested that with the compulsory use of NAVTEX, under GMDSS, most ships transiting the area will already have the navigation warnings in print, especially if they are long standing. Thus to reduce VHF traffic being received by transiting vessels from the VTS Stations then only the current warning numbers need to be passed, initially, with the Navigation Warnings being read afterwards. This will prevent distraction of the bridge team having to listen to the complete text of all navigation warnings to ensure that they are in receipt of all the current warnings, which have previously been received by NAVTEX.
