1 The Maritime Safety Committee (the Committee),
at its seventy-eighth session (12 to 21 May 2004), instructed the
Sub-Committee on Radiocommunications and Search and Rescue (COMSAR
Sub-Committee) to consider questions relating to the message priority
and the testing of ship security alert systems and to develop, if
necessary, guidance to this end.
2 The COMSAR Sub-Committee, at its ninth session
(7 to 11 February 2005), considered the matter and submitted its recommendations
on the issue to the Committee.
3 The Committee, at its eightieth session (11
to 20 May 2005), considered the recommendation of the COMSAR Sub-Committee
and approved the Guidance on the message priority and the testing
of ship security alert systems (the Guidance), as set out at annex.
4 SOLAS Contracting Governments are invited to
bring the Guidance to the attention of all parties concerned with
matters relating with ship security alerts and systems.
5 SOLAS Contracting Governments, international
organizations and non-governmental organizations with consultative
status which encounter difficulties with the implementation of the
Guidance should bring, at the earliest opportunity, the matter to
the attention of the Committee for consideration of the issues involved
and decision on the actions to be taken.