The fourth meeting of the FM Maritime Forum Group was held last 2-4 October in Valetta, Malta, with the following highlights:
- production of the table to be published on the European Communications Office (ECO) website, with information on administrative procedures for the registration, certification and use of emergency position indicating radio beacons (EPIRBs) in CEPT administrations. The aim is to ensure a broader view within CEPT and propose a possible harmonisation;
- start of work to draw up a document with data from CEPT administrations containing information on frequencies used for on-board communications in territorial waters. This issue concerns agenda item 1.15 of the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15), which will study the possibility of allocating more spectrum to on-board communications in maritime mobile service in the UHF frequency band;
- start of revision of the reference document on maritime licensing, as well as the report on current and future developments in maritime radiocommunication;
- monitoring of matters associated to results from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) COMSAR 16 meeting, whereby issues related to revision of the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS) information and procedures were highlighted, along with the proposed revision and reform of the IMO and proposed use of the universal automatic identification system (AIS) for rescue communications;
- continuation of work on revision of ERC/DEC(99)01 on the harmonisation of material for the general operator’s certificate (GOC) and restricted operator’s certificate (ROC) exams;
- production of a document based on ERC REC 31/04 on harmonised CEPT examination procedures for the short range certificate (SRC) for non-SOLAS vessels, whose aim is to help develop a manual of guidelines for CEPT administrations on how to implement SRC training courses;
- monitoring of matters associated to the spread of power line communication (PLT) equipment and its eventual impact on maritime radiocommunication.
