Performance Standards for Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (Arpas)

RESOLUTION A.823 (19) -adopted on 23 November 1995

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR AUTOMATIC RADAR PLOTTING AIDS (ARPAs)

THE ASSEMBLY,

RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in relation to regulations and guidelines concerning maritime safety,

RECALLING ALSO the provisions of regulation V/12 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974,

RECALLING FURTHER resolution A.422 (XI), by which it adopted performance standards for automatic radar plotting aids,

RECOGNIZING that the proper use of automatic radar plotting aids will assist the interpretation of radar data and could reduce the risk of collision and pollution of the marine environment,

RECOGNIZING ALSO the need to ensure that advances in technology are reflected in performance standards, in order to improve the standard of collision avoidance at sea,

BEARING IN MIND that automatic radar plotting aids with inadequate performance standards or operated by insufficiently trained personnel might prejudice safety of navigation,

HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its sixty-fourth session,

1. ADOPTS the Recommendation on Performance Standards for Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPAs) set out in the Annex to the present resolution;

2. RECOMMENDS Governments to ensure that:

(a) automatic radar plotting aids installed on or after 1 January 1997 conform to performance standards not inferior to those specified in the Annex to the present resolution;

(b) automatic radar plotting aids installed before 1 January 1997 conform, at least, to the performance standards set out in resolution A.422(XI);

(c) adequate training is established in the proper use of automatic radar plotting aids to enable masters and deck officers to understand the basic principles of the operation of automatic radar plotting aids, including their