The 110th session of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) was held from 18 to 27 June 2025. The meeting was chaired by Mrs. Mayte Medina of the United States, with support from Vice-Chair Captain Theofilos Mozas of Greece.

During the session, the Committee considered, with a view to adoption, draft amendments to several mandatory IMO instruments. These included amendments to the SOLAS Convention, such as the inclusion of a new definition for "gaseous fuel" in Chapter II-1 alongside the existing definition for "low-flashpoint fuel," and updates to Chapter V on pilot transfer arrangements. Amendments to the IMSBC Code and the IGC Code were also reviewed as part of efforts to enhance safety standards across the industry. There are two key subject areas of immediate concern to Search and Rescue at sea:

Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) and SAR Requirements

Building on the momentum from a symposium co-organised by IMO and Norway on 17 June, the Committee made progress in developing a goal-based instrument for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS). The report of the MASS Correspondence Group was considered, and a dedicated MASS Working Group was established during this meeting, to advance the finalisation of key chapters of the draft MASS Code. The IMRF was represented in this Working Group and made several interventions to try to protect SAR as a requirement of all MASS. The text for the SAR Chapter of the non-mandatory MASS Code was finalised for this session of MSC, but IMRF has ongoing concerns that a MASS with no crew or other personnel on board might be considered by some IMO members as unable, or have limited capability, due to technical and procedural challenges, to conduct rescue of persons in distress. Further work will be done by IMRF in the coming months, and a further paper will be submitted to MSC 111, next year, making clear the IMRF’s position and asking the MSC attendees to clarify the status of an uncrewed MASS for SAR response. The IMRF’s view is that all ships at sea, regardless of their technical and operational status, must be able to rescue persons in danger. The maritime industry must therefore work to develop technologies and capabilities that can be remotely or autonomously operated to recover persons from the water, and other vessels/craft.

The IMOs timeline for the implementation of a code for MASS is that the non-mandatory code will be finalised in 2026. This will be followed by a two-year Experience Building Phase (EBP) whereby MASS can be designed, built, tested and operated, and operational, technical and other lessons can be gathered and fed into the mandatory code, which is expected to be finalised from 2028  and to come into force on 1^st January 2032.

Maritime Safety Information

Reports from IMO Sub-Committees were also considered. The Sub-Committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue submitted draft amendments to SOLAS regulations concerning maritime safety information and the introduction of the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES), along with related updates to the 1994 and 2000 HSC Codes. The Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment presented draft amendments to the LSA Code regarding the simulated launch of free-fall lifeboats and other unified interpretations.

The decisions and discussions during MSC 110 reflect the IMO’s ongoing commitment to safer, cleaner, and more secure shipping operations. The outcomes of this session are expected to have lasting impacts on regulatory frameworks and operational practices across the maritime industry.

IMRF members can share their views regarding this subject by emailing [email protected].