IMSO Signs Agreement to Assess
BeiDou Message Service System
July 2, 2020
The International Mobile Satellite
Organization has signed an agreement with the China
Transport Telecommunication and Information Group Co.
(CTTIC) to perform a technical and operational
assessment of the BeiDou Message Service System (BDMSS).
This follows on from the invitation
by the seventh session of the International Maritime
Organization’s (IMO) Sub-Committee on Navigation,
Communications and Search and Rescue (NCSR) to IMSO to
conduct the assessment, two years after CTTIC submitted
the application to the 99th session of the IMO’s
Maritime Safety Committee (MSC). The assessment process
will evaluate the technical and operational capability
of BDMSS to provide mobile satellite communication
services, in particular, the Global Maritime Distress
and Safety System (GMDSS).
After receiving the go ahead from
NCSR 7, IMSO hosted introductory meetings with
representatives from CTTIC at the IMSO Headquarters,
London in January 2020. Here the process was outlined
and the discussions of the details of the assessment
began. Taking into account the agreed effective date of
the Agreement to be 17 January 2020, the date of the
first meeting, while preparing for the signing of this
agreement, IMSO has simultaneously started the work on
the assessment: selecting the Group of Experts and
Observers, outlining the assessment plan and timeline
for the accomplishment of the tasks.
IMSO has now selected a Group of
Experts for the process who will imminently start to
assess BDMSS compliance with the criteria set out in IMO
resolution A 1001(25) on Criteria for the provision of
the satellite Communication Systems in the Global
Maritime Distress and safety System (GMDSS), taking into
account the guidance laid down in MSC.1/Circ. 1414. IMSO
will then submit a report on this process to the NCSR
Sub-Committee for consideration.
BeiDou is the second new satellite
service provider to undergo this assessment process,
following last year’s integration of Iridium satellite
system. If successful, it (BeiDou) would become the
third provider of satellite services for GMDSS,
alongside Inmarsat and Iridium, following the transition
of the system to a multi-provider environment.
|