RESOLUTION A.861(20) adopted on 27 November 1997 PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR SHIPBORNE VOYAGE DATA RECORDERS (VDRs) 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 that, by resolution 12, the Conference of Contracting Governments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, being of the opinion that it would be desirable that ships, in particular passenger ships, be fitted with voyage data recorders (VDRs) to assist in investigations into casualties, requested the Maritime Safety Committee to develop, as a matter of urgency, operational requirements and performance standards for such recorders, taking into account any potential human element implications, NOTING that consideration is being given to the development of carriage requirements for VDRs for inclusion in the SOLAS Convention at the earliest opportunity, HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendations made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its sixty-eighth session and by the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation at its forty-third session, 1. ADOPTS the Recommendation on Performance Standards for Shipborne Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs), set out in the annex to the present resolution; 2. INVITES Governments to encourage shipowners and operators of ships entitled to fly their flag to install VDRs on such ships, as soon as possible, especially considering that the carriage of VDRs may soon be made mandatory under the SOLAS Convention; 3. RECOMMENDS Governments to ensure that VDRs installed on board ships flying their flag conform to performance standards not infe...
