9.1 International Maritime Organization (IMO)
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) was established by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (the SOLAS Convention) in 1914 (in response to the sinking of the Titanic), and has been updated many times since.
The following Annexes to the SOLAS Convention are of particular interest to Cospas-Sarsat:
· Chapter IV: Radiocommunications
Among other things, this Annex mandates the carriage and use of the 406 MHz Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) that are detected and located by the Cospas-Sarsat System.
· Chapter V: Safety of Navigation
This Annex describes the obligations of various parties to provide assistance to any ship in distress.
In 1992, the SOLAS Convention was amended to establish the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). The GMDSS includes the mandate that all ships subject to the SOLAS Convention (that is, all ships with a gross tonnage above a certain threshold that operate internationally) must carry an EPIRB, and describes the use of and response to the EPIRB.