Background

Under the "Interreg Adrion Programme 2014-2020" the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure is the leading project partner of the Adriatic-Ionian joint approach for the development and harmonisation of procedures and regulations in the field of navigation safety (EUREKA project). Partners in this initiative include maritime administrations from the Adriatic-Ionian region, namely: Albania, Italy, Greece, Montenegro and Slovenia. The Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina is associated project partner.

The Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure on behalf of the EUREKA Consortium, sent to EMSA a request for Technical Assistance to support the EUREKA Consortium during the preparatory and implementation phase for modernising the IMO adopted Ship Reporting System (SRS) in the Adriatic Sea (ADRIREP). The request is connected to the Agency work on the facilitation of ship to shore reporting.

The EMSA Administrative Board held on 15 June 2022 considered and approved that EMSA provides Technical Assistance requested by the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure on behalf of the EUREKA Consortium under Phase 1 aiming at development of a common understanding and defining the business and technical requirements of the modernised ADRIREP.

Objectives and demonstrated need for the modernised system

The existing ADRIREP system is based on the ship's navigation and communication means, as well as coastal states capabilities available in 2003. Since 2003, when ADRIREP was adopted, the technology for ships monitoring at sea improved.

The main objective of amending ADRIREP is to automate ship reporting, as much as possible, reducing ships administrative burdens while at the same time improving navigation monitoring by usage of modern technologies and tools. Also, it is crucial to expand the scope of ADRIREP to include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece as this would improve overall safety at sea across the entire Adriatic-Ionian maritime region.

The following diagram outlines the communication methods for ships reporting to the modernised ADRIREP.

Figure: Context diagram for ship reporting in the modernised ADRIREP SRS

Phase 1 of TA outcome

EMSA supported the EUREKA Consortium in the preparatory phase for modernising ADRIREP SRS. The following documents (available for download below) were prepared and approved in Phase 1 of Technical Assistance:

1. Business requirements – the document outlines the business requirements for the modernised ADRIREP system as agreed by the stakeholder group on modernisation of ADRIREP. It will serve as the foundation for drafting the submission to IMO to amend the ADRIREP system requirements as well as for drafting the technical requirements.
2. Technical requirements – the document presents the technical solutions based on the business requirements agreed by the stakeholder group. It forms the basis for drafting the technical specifications to amend EMSA’s Integrated Distribution Report (IRD) service and the national/local systems of countries participating in ADRIREP.
3. List of changes to EMSA’s IRD and national/local systems of ADRIREP – the document presents the list of changes required in the EMSA’s IRD service as well as in the national/local systems of ADRIREP CST along with the implementation plan for modernising the ADRIREP system.

Extension of TA to Phase 2

The High-Level Meeting on Modernization of Mandatory Ship Reporting System in Adriatic Sea ADRIREP within EU Adrion Interreg EUREKA Project held in Zagreb on 20 October 2022 approved the results of Phase 1 of EMSA Technical Assistance (TA) and agreed to request further assistance of EMSA.

The request was presented at the 65^th EMSA Administrative Board meeting (17-18 November 2022), where it was approved that EMSA would provide technical assistance to the EUREKA Consortium under Phase 2A. The Cooperation Agreement between EMSA and EUREKA Consortium, signed on 24 January 2023, defined the conditions related to the EMSA technical developments for modernisation of the ADRIREP MRS, in Phase-2A.

According to Article 3 of the Cooperation Agreement, EMSA:

• upgraded the EMSA’s Integrated Reports Distribution (IRD) system to prepare it for the data exchange in the modernised ADRIREP MRS, in accordance with the approved business and technical requirements for the modernised ADRIREP MRS, and
• made it available for use by the maritime administrations of the countries participating to the EUREKA project Consortium.

To sustain the EUREKA project outcomes after the completion of the project a Maritime Safety Permanent Transnational Network (MSPTN) was established in the region. In November 2023 the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, on behalf of the MSPTN requested further extension of the technical assistance of EMSA to Phase 2B, which was approved by the EMSA AB.

This Phase is on-going and includes the following tasks: integration of systems, training activities, operational tests, operational procedures, development of the platform for requesting ship access to interface for electronic ship reporting and submission to IMO of proposal to amend ADRIREP system.