6 Use by ships trading through many SAR regions

  6.1 It will significantly enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the response to an emergency if passenger ship crews and operators have developed a good mutual understanding with the SAR services available to them. This is as true for passenger ships, which routinely transit many SAR regions, as for any other passenger ship. Direct co-operation planning between ships, companies and local SAR services is encouraged wherever possible.

  6.2 However, there are administrative difficulties in maintaining direct links between a ship transiting many SAR regions, such as some cruise ships, and each SAR service with which she might come into contact. For such ships it is not neither necessary to hold a copy of the ship's SAR co-operation plan at all the Rescue Co-ordination Centres^footnote (RCCs) whose regions she transits, nor to maintain on board extensive and up-to-date details of each and every SAR service.

  6.3 The administrative difficulties can be overcome by use of the SAR data provider system, which permits the use of contact points between the global SAR service and cruise ship operators.

  6.4 Under this system, the SAR data provider holds the ship's SAR co-operation plan on behalf of the SAR services. SAR services contact the SAR data provider to obtain the co-operation plan when it is required.

  6.5 The company or the ship should select a suitable SAR data provider. A shipping company, RCC, or other suitable entity may act as an SAR data provider. However, the ship cannot be her own SAR data provider, as this would negate the fundamental concept of easing the load on ship's staff during an emergency.

  6.6 The SAR data provider should be able to provide essential information rapidly to the parties concerned. In order to achieve this, each SAR data provider should:

• .1 arrange easy, continuous and immediate access to its SAR co-operation plans for relevant shipping companies and operators and for all RCCs with responsibilities in the operating areas of the ships concerned;

• .2 ensure that essential technical capabilities, such as computers and communications links, are reliable and are redundant or have arrangements in place for rapid repair, and are provided with sources of emergency power; establishing a back-up SAR data provider may satisfy this requirement;

• .3 ensure that updates to plans are made promptly and that back-up data in paper or electronic form is kept in a suitable safe location and is readily available; and

• .4 ensure that, if staff are necessary to provide with data access to authorised users, such personnel are always available to handle urgent requests, trained to properly retrieve and transmit the needed information and proficient in the use of the English language; and

• .5 ensure that pertinent information in the International SAR Co-operation Plans Index, including information on the primary and any back-up SAR data providers, is kept up-to-date. Details of the Index and the procedure for updating it are at section 8 below.

  6.7 SAR data providers should only release copies of co-operation plans to those parties named in the plans' controlled distribution lists - and to co-ordinating RCCs on request, in the event of emergency or for contingency planning purposes.

  6.8 A passenger ship such as a ferry, which trades on fixed routes, should not use the SAR data provider system, but should compile a co-operation plan incorporating details of all the SAR services along her route, in accordance with appendix 1 of these Guidelines. Other passenger ships transiting many different SAR regions, perhaps on a seasonal basis, such as some cruise ships, may choose to use the SAR data provider system. Such ships are not required to include in the co-operation plan information beyond that set out in appendix 2 to these Guidelines.

  6.9 Flow diagrams summarising the SAR co-operation planning process in both cases are given at appendix 3.

  6.10 Regardless of which system ships use, they are still encouraged to liaise as best they can with relevant SAR services. Direct communications, where practicable, will always be better than indirect.