Legislation Review - Papua New Guinea National Maritime Safety Authority

MARITIME SEARCH & RESCUE LEGISLATIVE REFORM OVERVIEW

The National Maritime Safety Authority (“the NMSA”) was established by the National Maritime Safety Authority Act 2003 (Act) and provides coordination of the maritime search and rescue in Papua New Guinea.

Per the Act, the NMSA maintains and operates a Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre to:

• coordinate search and rescue operations for vessels in distress or lost a sea according to the terms and conditions of a search and rescue plan prepared by the Minister from time to time and approved by the Authority;
• coordinate with other agencies and persons including international organizations and consultants on matters concerning search and rescue operations at sea;
• collect data relevant to search and rescue operations;
• act on behalf of the State with domestic and international agreements relating to search & rescue operations at sea to which the State is a party;
• make recommendations on policy to the Minister regarding search and rescue at sea; and
• Consult and enter into agreements with other agencies at the national, provincial, and local level governments (with the consent of the Minister), commercial, and industrial bodies to supplement incident or consequential acts as are necessary to convenient for carrying out search and rescue functions.

Consistent with the above functions, the NMSA has developed a legal policy to provide a comprehensive legislative framework to give effect to the functions of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre.

As a member of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), PNG is also obligated to comply with international standards, codes of practice, and other related rules set by IMO to which it is a Party. Thus, this reform enables the alignment of relevant international standards for domestic implementation by the NMSA in promoting safety at sea.

In the recent past, a gap analysis was conducted against the current regime, and drafting instructions have been incorporated into the legal reform to introduce a comprehensive legislative framework, the Maritime Search & Rescue Bill.

The NMSA is now seeking stakeholders’ response to the Bill to appreciate best practice, trends, challenges and issues faced by the maritime industry and other stakeholders in order to have a law that can effectively serve the maritime industry into the future.

Please note, the following Concept Paper provides a set of guidelines only to guide the NMSA and its Stakeholders during the external consultation in preparation for the relevant government clearance processes prior to enactment by Parliament.

It contains a brief overview of the formulation of the Bill, the consultation roadmap, and explanatory notes of the proposed draft legislation.

As such, the NMSA invites its valued stakeholders to participate in the National Awareness and Consultation workshops of the Maritime Search & Rescue Bill as scheduled from September to October 2024 in a collaborative manner to bring about the desired reform that is required to serve PNG’s growing maritime industry, trade, and transportation.

The external consultation schedule will be on following dates, centres, and venues.

NMSA looks forward to receiving the feedback of our stakeholders to ensure that the proposed Maritime SAR Bill will be a practical guide to all maritime users in PNG.

The following are the designated portal for stakeholders’ feedback:

1. NMSA Website – www.nmsa.gov.pg
2. Email address – Legislation@nmsa.gov.pg; or
3. Post Office mail – The Legal Services Manager
   National Maritime Safety Authority
   P.O Box 668,
   PORT MORESBY
   National Capital District
   Attention: Senior Legislation Officer-Legislation

All responses to the legal reform are to be submitted by Friday 29^th November, 2024 at 4pm.

Draft Maritime Search and Rescue Bill Concept Paper