F. Development of Requirements for Wing-In-Ground (WIG) Craft:
The United Kingdom, and other delegations, expressed the view that the draft WIG code prepared earlier required a fundamental revision. A drafting group on this topic was established to prepare a list of different views expressed by Sub-Committee members, identify issues that need to be resolved, and to develop an outline of the work to be done. The Sub-Committee approved the report of the drafting group. The Sub-Committee also agreed that the HSC Code should no longer be used as the base document and an entirely new approach should be undertaken. Furthermore, the standards for WIG craft should be developed as guidelines and not as a code. The Sub-Committee agreed to further clarify the definition for WIG craft, collect and analyze relevant information on craft stability, develop risk based methods for assessment, and prepare draft WIG craft Guidelines. It was agreed that at least two years would be required to carry out this work. The Committee was invited to extend the target completion date to 2003. A correspondence group was established to work on this subject intersessionally.
G. Improved Thermal Protection:
MSC71 tasked the Sub-Committee to develop guidelines for thermal protection of crew and passengers according to environmental factors, and appropriate performance standards. Norway proposed requirements for thermal protective aids including proposed amendments to SOLAS chapter III and the LSA Code. The proposed amendments went beyond the Committee's mandate and could not be considered. The United Kingdom expressed a number of concerns about the Norwegian proposals. Thermal protective lifejackets were identified as a more suitable alternative to immersion suits in some situations. The Sub-Committee invited Norway to reformulate its proposed amendments into proposed guidelines and performance standards to be considered at DE44. The target completion date is 2001.
H. Guidelines under MARPOL Annex VI on Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships:
The Sub-Committee agreed to draft Guidelines for the sampling of fuel oil for combustion purposes delivered for use on board ships, and invited MEPC45 to consider these Guidelines. This part of this agenda item was reported finalized.
The Sub-Committee agreed that Germany should continue to act as a focal point for the collection of information in support of the development of draft Guidelines for on-board NOx monitoring and recording devices. The Sub-Committee recognized that performance standards are already provided in the NOx Technical Code. Therefore the Sub-Committee agreed to focus on the preparation of guidelines as requested by MEPC. The target completion date is 2003.
I. Revision of Resolutions MEPC.60(33) and A.586(14):
MEPC 42 agreed that there was a need to consider amendments to Resolutions MEPC.60(33) and A.586(14) and to prepare performance standards for shipboard pollution equipment. This subject was referred to DE for action. MSC70 assigned a target completion date of 2002. The Sub-Committee established a Working Group to consider relevant documents and comments with a view to preparing draft amendments to Resolutions MEPC.60(33) and A.586(14) or to developing performance standards for pollution prevention equipment. The Sub-Committee approved the report of the Working Group and noted that the review of MEPC.60(33) would involve more complex issues as bilge water contains more ingredients than oily ballast from cargo spaces (which is addressed by Resolution A.586(14)). Therefore, the Sub-Committee decided to consider, first, the specifications for equipment under resolution MEPC.60(33).
