deployment of the PLA Navy ships in the - Information Resource ...

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they want and also at competitive prices. This is
because they follow open standards, be it design,
build, operate, maintain and disposal.
Further, the crew has to take one set of courses,
as defined by International Maritime Organisation, in
STCW 95. They follow the common syllabus, but still
are able to operate and maintain variety of ship’s and
equipment. Though one may argue that naval
platforms role viz a viz commercial ships are different,
it is opinion of the author that as far as the equipment
and systems supporting the ships ability to float and
move are concerned, there is a lot of commonality. It
may therefore be advisable for the IOR navies, some
of them are not very advanced, to follow commercial
ship practices.
International Maritime Organisation. The
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) formed in
Geneva 1948 had its Convention entered into force
in 1958. The purposes of IMO as summarize by Article
1(a) of the Convention are among others ”to provide
machinery for cooperation among governments in
the field of regulation and practices relating to
technical matters of all kinds affecting shipping
engaged in international trade.
IMO’s first task was to adopt a new version of the
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS), the most important of all treaties dealing with
maritime safety. Although safety was and remains
IMO’s most important responsibility, newer problems
have began to emerge mainly related to pollution and
security.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on 4 April
1949 by the Foreign Ministers of twelve nations. The
twelve being Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France,
Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, United Kingdom and United States of
America. Greece and Turkey acceded to the Treaty in
1952, the Federal Republic of Germany in 1955, Spain
in 1982 and the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland
became full members in 1999.
NATO functions through large number of both
high level and working level committees and groups.
One of them high level committee at the strategic level
is dedicated to Standardization, called Military Agency
for Standardization (MAS) addresses operational and
procedural standardization, and NATO Terminology
through four Service Boards (Navy, Army, Air and
Joint) and their related working groups. The MAS
monitors the production and updating of operational
Standardization Agreements (STANAGs) and Allied
Publications (APs). expand is the UK authority for
ratification of Operational STANAGs and co-ordinates
the national staffing of theses STANAGs, as well as
overseeing the activities of UK delegations to the many
working parties supporting the MAS boards.
WAY AHEAD AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• Create Interoperability Framework.
A set of norms, standards, and references which
describe an accomplished or desired
agreement of interested parties on ways of
interconnectivity should be created.
Interoperability framework should be a living
document which must keep up to date with the
changes in technology, norms and business.
The main requirements, which each standard
for equipment and systems and the interfaces
between various naval assets within the
individual navy and across the navies, must
meet, should be well defined.
• Secure Interoperability.
Interoperability must be secured at the technical
(norms and standards for equipment and
systems), semantic (meaning of data) and
process levels (defining processes and
actualizing cooperation between various naval
units).
• Interoperability should not be treated as
selling equipment or systems; rather it should be
about building trust through relationships.
• Common Technical Training. The only
way to reach effective interoperability in spite of
the effects of the “cultural” differences is by living
and training together, and by gaining
understanding and knowledge - as well as
acceptance - of the other’s ways of seeing and
doing things. There is no substitute for wellplanned
and rigorous training programs for all
military forces, especially multinational ones.
The mission effectiveness of the combined
operations depends on it.
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