Marine transportation safety recommendation M08-03

Transport Canada (TC) indicated in its response that it agreed with the general intent of the recommendation, and planned to implement domestic carriage requirements for VDR/S-VDR for certain domestic commercial vessels.

Following the recommendation, TC communicated with Canadian ferry operators in March 2008 to encourage operators to voluntarily adopt this measure. In addition, TC is also working toward incorporating this requirement into regulation. As part of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 Regulatory Reform project, TC commissioned a study to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of potential regulatory requirements for VDRs and simplified voyage data recorders (S-VDRs) for Canadian non-SOLAS vessels.

TC referred to the United States study in the TSB report, where the United States Congress directed the United States Coast Guard to study the use of VDRs on certain specified ferries, and noted that the United States Coast Guard concluded that, based on the findings of this study, the Coast Guard recommended against requiring the use of VDRs or S-VDRs on the subject ferries.

TC indicated that it will take into account the results of the study, in consultation with stakeholders, and follow the regulatory process in developing and implementing domestic carriage requirements for VDRs/S-VDRs.

In addition to the original response, the following was provided by TC officials as a follow-up to a discussion, held 03 July 2008.

The proposed Voyage Data Recorders Regulations will provide for the mandatory carriage and annual testing of VDR and/or Simplified VDR (S-VDR) equipment onboard certain Canadian passenger vessels and cargo vessels not engaged on international voyages on an equivalent basis to ships required to comply with the requirements of the SOLAS Convention. The proposed Voyage Data Recorders Regulations will also consolidate the SOLAS Convention VDR and S-VDR requirements, including those currently reflected in the Navigation Safety Regulations.

Pre-publication in Part I of the Canada Gazette is anticipated for February 2009. Final approval and publication in Part II of the Canada Gazette is anticipated for September 2009.

Although the response indicated TC's intention to develop and implement the domestic carriage requirements for VDR/S-VDR for certain domestic commercial vessels, it has not specified vessels for which the requirements will be made mandatory. However, the additional information from the follow-up discussion stated the intent of the carriage requirement on an equivalent basis to ships required to comply with the requirements of the SOLAS Convention.

TC is working toward incorporating this recommendation into regulation and anticipates that pre-publication and publication will be made in the Canada Gazette are for February 2009 and September 2009, respectively. Any extension of the mandatory VDR/S-VDR carriage requirement will provide significant safety benefits to those operators, and allow investigators increased access to safety information in an increased number of occurrences.

The response is considered to be Satisfactory Intent.

TC's update, dated March 2010, indicated that the proposed Voyage Data Recorder Regulations will provide for the mandatory carriage and annual testing of VDR and/or Simplified VDR equipment onboard certain Canadian passenger vessels and cargo vessels.

A cost-benefit analysis was completed in December 2008. The findings were presented to the Canadian Marine Advisory Council (CMAC) in May 2009 and to the TSB. The marine industry was consulted on the draft regulations at CMAC in May and November 2009. Prepublication of the proposed regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette is anticipated for the spring 2010.

The results of the cost-benefit analysis indicated that although it was not possible to quantify the benefits, such as the positive impact on safety over the long term and improved operational procedures, it can be expected that a VDR or S-VDR would have a positive impact on safety over the long term. The study also found that the potential for the benefits to outweigh the costs is greatest for passenger vessels and that mandatory carriage would be generally acceptable for the larger ferry operators. However, cargo vessel operators were concerned about the high cost of retrofitting and maintaining an S-VDR and did not generally accept that there would be any benefit to retrofitting an S-VDR on existing vessels.

During the National CMAC meeting held in November 2009, the proposed new Voyage Data Recorder Regulations were presented. At that time, it was indicated that the regulations would apply to the following vessels:

• Canadian passenger vessels of 500 gross tons or more and operating on domestic voyages;
• Canadian passenger vessels of 150 gross tons or more and operating on international voyages, and;
• Canadian cargo vessels of 3000 gross tons that do not engage solely on inland voyages (i.e. the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River as far east as Anticosti).

The proposed new Voyage Data Recorder Regulations are anticipated to be prepublished in Part I of the Canada Gazette in the third quarter of 2010.

Given the proposed regulatory expansion of the mandatory VDR/S-VDR carriage requirement, the assessment of the response remains at Satisfactory Intent.

TC's update in December 2010 indicated that, following consultation with the marine industry, the proposed Voyage Data Recorder Regulations will provide for the mandatory carriage and annual testing of VDR and/or Simplified VDR (S-VDR) equipment onboard certain Canadian passenger vessels and cargo vessels.

The proposed Voyage Data Recorder Regulations were pre-published in Part I of the Canada Gazette on November 6, 2010. It is anticipated that final approval and publication in Part II of the Canada Gazette will be in the second quarter of 2011.

With the publication of the proposed Voyage Data Recorder Regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette, TC has taken a step closer to having domestic VDR regulations in place. If these regulations are fully implemented, the proposed actions will substantially reduce or eliminate the deficiency.

Therefore, the assessment of the response remains as Satisfactory Intent.