IMO Circular No.3781 - 2018 IMO Award for Exception Bravery at Sea.

E 4 ALBERT EMBANKMENT LONDON SE1 7SR Telephone: +44 (0)20 7735 7611 Fax: +44 (0)20 7587 3210 Circular Letter No.3781 27 October 2017 To: IMO Member States States which are not Members of IMO United Nations and specialized agencies Intergovernmental organizations Non-governmental organizations in consultative status Subject: 2018 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization has the honour to invite nominations for candidates for the 2018 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. For this purpose, annex 1 to this circular contains Guidelines defining the purpose of, and the criteria for granting the Award; the process by which nominations for the Award will be sought, considered, assessed, judged and decided; the form of the Award; and the manner in which it will be awarded. Nominations for the Award may be made by: - United Nations Member States; - intergovernmental organizations; and/or - non-governmental international organizations in consultative status with IMO. The recipient of the Award will be presented with a medal, which will be accompanied by a certificate citing the act of exceptional bravery performed. The presentation will take place at a special ceremony to be held in conjunction with the celebration of a major IMO occasion, as appropriate. Although the Award is, in principle, to be awarded annually, the Council may decide not to make an award in any particular year if, in its opinion, the acts performed by the shortlisted nominees for that year do not merit such a distinction. In such cases, the Council may, nevertheless, decide to recommend that acts performed by such nominees should be recognized by the Organization through the award of an appropriate certificate of commendation. I:\C_L\CL No.3781.docxCircular Letter No.3781 Page 2 The Secretary-General would be most grateful if nominations of candidates to be considered for the 2018 Award (for actions performed during the period 1 March 2017 to 28 February 2018) could be sent as soon as possible in order to reach IMO by no later than 16 April 2018. It should be noted that actions performed outside the qualifying period, and nominations received after the deadline has expired, will not be eligible for consideration. Nominations should indicate clearly the nominating Government (and need not be confined to its own nationals) or organization and bear an appropriate mark of authentication. To this end, a nomination form, which should be completed, is attached (annex 2). In addition, in order to ensure that adequate information is given to enable the Panel of Judges to assess the merits of the candidates concerned and to facilitate the task of the Panel of Judges in considering the nominations for the 2018 Award, a form entitled "Description of Circumstances and Events" has been developed (annex 3), which should also be completed and submitted by nominating Governments/organizations, together with the nomination form, and a short narrative of events (not exceeding three pages). In this connection, it would be appreciated if Governments and organizations, when nominating candidates, provide, in paragraph 7 of annex 3, sufficient information on the rescue act in the narrative, most especially the reasons why the rescue act in question warrants the description of "exceptional bravery at sea", to enable a proper and fair assessment by the judging panels. All nominations should be submitted to ero@imo.org and/or addressed to: The Secretary-General International Maritime Organization 4 Albert Embankment London SE1 7SR United Kingdom *** I:\C_L\CL No.3781.docxCircular Letter No.3781 Annex 1, page 1 ANNEX 1 GUIDELINES FOR THE IMO AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL BRAVERY AT SEA Introduction 1 The aim of these Guidelines is to define the purpose of, and the criteria for granting, the IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea ("the Award"). They stipulate the process by which nominations for the Award will be sought, considered, assessed, judged and decided; the form of the Award; and the manner in which it will be awarded. Purpose and Criteria 2 The purpose of the Award is to provide a unique, international recognition for those who, at the risk of losing their own life, perform acts of exceptional bravery, displaying outstanding courage at sea. 3 The Award will be conferred on individuals or groups of individuals who, at the risk to their own life, perform acts of exceptional bravery in attempting to save life at sea or in attempting to prevent or mitigate damage to the marine environment. Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, the nominated rescues should occur at sea or those rescued should emanate from a vessel. The Award may also be granted posthumously. Nominations 4 Nominations for the Award should be made by United Nations Member States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. Such nominations should be addressed to the Secretary-General (in accordance with procedures outlined in the circular inviting nominations) and should provide a full description of the circumstances and events giving rise to the nomination. They should, as appropriate, include such factors as: .1 location of the incident; .2 prevailing weather conditions; .3 skill displayed; .4 leadership demonstrated; .5 determination to conduct the rescue operation; .6 exceptional courage demonstrated; .7 degree of risk (to human lives and/or the marine environment) involved; as well as .8 any other information supporting the nomination. I:\C_L\CL No.3781.docxCircular Letter No.3781 Annex 1, page 2 Form of the Award 5 The Award will take the form of a medal which will be accompanied by a certificate citing the act of exceptional bravery performed. Assessment Panel 6 Nominations for the Award will be scrutinized by an Assessment Panel composed of the Secretary-General or his nominee, as Chair, together with experts nominated by the following non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in consultative status with IMO: - the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS); - the International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA); - the International Federation of Shipmasters' Associations (IFSMA); - the International Salvage Union (ISU); - the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF); and - the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF). 7 When the circumstances of a nomination involve marine environmental protection, an expert nominated by relevant environmental NGOs will be included in the Panel. 8 The members of the Panel will be appointed by the Secretary-General and will serve for one year in their personal and expert capacity and not as representatives of the organizations nominating them. 9 The function of the Assessment Panel will be to review the nominations for the Award, taking into account the Award's purpose and criteria vis-à-vis the description of the factual circumstances giving rise to the nomination and the related supporting documentation. The Panel will submit to a Panel of Judges a shortlist ranking the nominees in order of preference, along with the rationale for their recommendation. Panel of Judges 10 A Panel of Judges composed of the Chairs of the Maritime Safety Committee, the Marine Environment Protection Committee, the Legal Committee, the Technical Cooperation Committee and the Facilitation Committee and chaired by the Chair of the Council will consider the recommendations of the Assessment Panel and select the recipient of the Award. 11 In the event that one or more of the participating Chairs is not available to serve, the corresponding Vice-Chairs (or the first Vice-Chair of Committees which are served by more than one Vice-Chair) may serve in their place as members of the Panel. 12 In the event that the Chair of the Panel (i.e. the Chair of the Council) is not available, the Vice-Chair of the Council will serve as Chair. I:\C_L\CL No.3781.docxCircular Letter No.3781 Annex 1, page 3 13 No Award will be made in the event that the Panel of Judges decides that the acts performed by the shortlisted nominees do not merit the Award. In such cases, however, the Panel of Judges may, nevertheless, decide to recommend that one or more of the acts performed by such nominees should be recognized by the Organization through the award of an appropriate certificate. 14 The Council will be invited to endorse the outcome of the Panel of Judges. Award ceremony 15 The IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea will be presented by the Secretary-General at IMO Headquarters on the occasion of World Maritime Day or another major IMO occasion, as appropriate, taking into account, inter alia, the availability of the recipient. 16 In exceptional circumstances the Award may be presented at an alternative location, possibly in conjunction with a World Maritime Day parallel event celebration. Timetable 17 Every effort should be made to ensure that a timetable along the following lines, leading to the Award ceremony, be observed: - Circular letter inviting nominations September - Deadline for receipt of nominations April (following year) - Review by Assessment Panel May - Consideration by the Panel of Judges June (Friday before Council week) - Council invited to endorse outcome of June Panel of Judges - Notification of recipient and press release June - Award Ceremony – World Maritime Day/ September/to be determined another major IMO occasion *** I:\C_L\CL No.3781.docxCircular Letter No.3781 Annex 2, page 1 ANNEX 2 NOMINATION OF CANDIDATE FOR THE 2018 IMO AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL BRAVERY AT SEA The Government of ................................................................................................................. (Name of country) or The ................................................................................................................................................... (Name of organization) hereby nominates (name, title and nationality of candidate (if an individual is nominated) to be inserted) ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... for the 2018 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. For, and on behalf of, the Government of ........................................................................... or ............................................................................................................ (Name of organization) Signed: ........................................................... Date: ........................... Name: ........................................................... Designation: ........................................................... Official seal (where appropriate): *** I:\C_L\CL No.3781.docxCircular Letter No.3781 Annex 3, page 1 ANNEX 3 DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES AND EVENTS In accordance with paragraph 4 of the Guidelines for the IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea, the candidature of ……………[nominee]……………… is supported by the following description of the circumstances and events giving rise to the nomination. It is noted that not all of the information requested below may be available; nonetheless, as much information as possible should be provided to enable the Panel of Judges to make an informed decision. 1 Location of incident (latitude/longitude or distance/bearing from known geographic point of reference): ............................................................................................................................ 2 On-scene weather (wind/sea state/precipitation/temperature): ............................................................................................................................ 3 Details of incident (Please note that the intent of the Award is to recognize actions in response to a specific incident, rather than multiple incidents that may have occurred during the period of time under consideration, i.e. from 1 March 2017 to 28 February 2018): .1 Nature of distress (sinking, fire, collision, etc.): ........................................................................................................................ .2 Date/time of incident: ........................................................................................................................ .3 Name/description of vessel (or person) in distress: ........................................................................................................................ .4 Total number of lives at risk: ........................................................................................................................ .5 Number of lives saved: ........................................................................................................................ .6 Name of Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) (or other shore-based organization involved that may have relevant records of incident: ........................................................................................................................ I:\C_L\CL No.3781.docxCircular Letter No.3781 Annex 3, page 2 4 Details of individual/group nominated: .1 Ship/unit to which nominee was attached at time of rescue: ........................................................................................................................ .2 Parent company/organization: ........................................................................................................................ .3 Nominee's name, nationality and position/assignment on board: ........................................................................................................................ .4 Nominee's role in rescue operation: ........................................................................................................................ 5 Is nominee a SAR professional (or trained and/or experienced in Search and/or Rescue beyond fundamental level required of their regular non-SAR related position): ..................................................................................................................................... 6 If incident involved attempting to mitigate damage to the marine environment, please describe consequences to the environment if nominee's action was not taken: ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Please provide a narrative description of not more than three pages of the exceptional act of bravery: ..................................................................................................................................... ___________ I:\C_L\CL No.3781.docx