. Safety of navigation It is now several years since IMO embarked on a general updating of its navigational rules by revising SOLAS Chapter V, and the work is set for completion in the year 2000. While much progress has been made, many important issues remain to be resolved if the planned implementation date of July 2002 is to be achieved. A performance standard for automatic identification systems (AIS) has been adopted and the work of developing the type approval standards for both voyage data recorders (VDRs) and AIS, the two new items of navigational equipment, continues in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). While ICS has joined the broad support for the proposed expansion of the carriage requirements for navigational equipment, some questions are being asked about the costs and the impact on the workload of the officer of the watch. The potentially divisive 'user pays' principle came up for IMO debate during the year in the context of the future funding of the North Atlantic Ice Patrol service. While the principle attracted general support if restricted to the supply of direct services to individual ships, concerns were quite properly voiced that a precedent could be set for charging ships navigating in international waters for services provided by coastal states. 1998 also saw the introduction of two new concepts in routeing measures. A ship reporting scheme applicable to vessels navigating off the eastern seaboard of the United States to protect an endangered species, the Right Whale, and the principle of establishing archipelagic sea lanes in the waters of Indonesia, were both accepted. While it is difficult to object to efforts to protect the marine environment, ICS shares the concerns of a number of governments that these decisions could lead to more demands for similar schemes, the practical implication of which could be to restrict the freedom of navigation. The IMO decision to terminate the practice of authorising one-man bridge operation trials by night ended a long-running debate. For many, this unsatisfactory conclusion ignores reality and brushes under the carpet a number of anomalies that have been exposed in the present regulations. There are major differences of opinion about this complex and sensitive issue, but one consequence is that the master's authority in deciding on the watchkeeping arrangements needed to ensure safe navigation at all times has again been eroded. .