Articles on S-VDR

Data Ownership and Recovery

An abstract of conclusions reached by IMO FSI Sub-Committee 9.

Recovery of VDR

In the case of non-catastrophic accident recovery of the memory should be straightforward. This action will have to be taken soon after the accident to best preserve the relevant evidence for use by both the investigator and the ship owner. As the investigator is very unlikely to be in a position to instigate this action soon enough after the accident, the owner must be responsible, through its on-board standing orders, for ensuring the timely preservation of this evidence in this circumstance.

In the case of abandonment of a vessel during an emergency, masters should be instructed, where time and other responsibilities permit, to recover the memory and remove it to a place of safety and to preserve it until it can be passed to the investigator.

In the case of a catastrophic accident, where a vessel has sunk and the data has not been retrieved prior to abandonment, a decision will need to be taken by the Flag State in consultation with any other substantially interested states on the viability of recovering the protective capsule against the potential use of the information. If it is decided to recover the capsule the investigator should be responsible for its recovery. The possibility of the capsule having sustained damage must be considered and specialist expertise will be required to ensure the best chance of recovering and preserving the evidence. In addition the assistance and co-operation of the owners, insurers and the manufacturers of the VDR and those of the protective capsule may be required.

Custody of VDR/data

In all circumstances, during the course of an investigation, the investigator should have custody of the original VDR data, perhaps in the form of the whole or part(s) of the VDR itself, in the same way as he has custody of other records or evidence under the Code for the Investigation of Marine Casualties and Incidents.

Ownership of VDR/data

The ship owner will, in all circumstances and at all times, own the VDR and its data.

Read-out of VDR/data

In all circumstances the responsibility to arrange down loading and read-out of the data from the recovered memory in whatever form should, in the first instance, be undertaken by the investigator who should keep the ship owner fully informed. Additionally, especially in the case of a catastrophic accident where the memory may have sustained damage, the assistance of specialist expertise may be required to ensure the best chance of success.

Access to the data

Although the investigator will have custody of the original VDR memory in whatever form for the duration of the investigation, a copy of the data must be provided to the ship owner in all circumstances.

Further access to the data will be governed by the applicable domestic legislation of the flat state, coastal state and the lead investigating state as appropriate and the guidelines given in the Code for the Investigation of Marine Casualties and Incidents.