Kiri

Circular Letter 2026/01

7 January 2026

Subject: Key Outcomes of the 3rd IALA Council Meeting and Call for Hosts for Committee Meetings in Early 2027 To: Members and Sister Organizations Dear IALA members, The 3rd session of the IALA Council was held from 8 to 12 December 2025, at the Sofitel Hotel in Mumbai, India, with hybrid participation. The meeting opened with a traditional lamp-lighting ceremony and formal welcome addresses by senior representatives of the Government of India and IALA. The Council heard opening remarks from the IALA President and the Secretary-General, followed by keynote interventions highlighting major developments in the maritime and lighthouse sectors. A notable highlight was the launch of the Digital Ticketing Portal for Lighthouse Tourism by Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Honourable Union Minister, Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Following the Secretary-General’s report, the Council noted continued progress in the ratification process and reviewed the status of the new IALA Headquarters (HQ). The Council approved a resolution empowering the Secretary-General to take necessary decisions regarding the acquisition of the new HQ. Committee Meetings – First Half of 2027 (Hosting by Members) The Council noted that, due to the new IALA HQ building project, no meeting space will be available at HQ during the first half of 2027. Accordingly, committee meetings scheduled for this period will need to be hosted by IALA Members. Members interested in hosting any of the following meetings are kindly invited to inform the Secretariat at [email protected] as soon as possible and before 31 March 2026: • VTS 61 • DTEC 08 • ENG 24 • ARM 24 Governance, policy and finance The Council:

• Approved the revised Staff Rules.

• Approved the Draft Policy on Submission and Co-sponsoring of Documents.

• Endorsed continued work on the concept of IALA Centres of Excellence (ICOE) as a strategic initiative and requested the Secretariat to develop a formal framework covering designation criteria, governance, timeline, and integration into the work programme.

• Considered the Treasurer’s report on the financial situation.

• Noted the information provided and approved the Committee Work Programme 2025–2027.

Events, Workshops and Appointments The Council:

• Approved the proposal for the 3rd IHO/IALA joint workshop on S-100/S-200 validation and implementation.

• Approved the Seminar proposal on Digital@Sea International on 17-19 March 2026 in the HQ.

• Appointed Thomas Arculus (United Kingdom) as Chair of the LAP and Tiago da Silva Benavente (Portugal) as Vice-Chair of the LAP.

• Following a voting session, appointed Trond Ski (Norway) as Vice-Chair of the VTS Committee.

• Approved the proposal to organise the 15th IALA Symposium in January 2029 and agreed to consider hosting arrangements.

Standards, Recommendations, Guidelines and Liaison notes The Council approved the following documents:

• Policy on Advertising and Sponsoring • New Recommendation on Digitalisation of Marine AtoN and services for vessels of varying levels of

autonomy • Revised G1087 – IALA Domain under the IHO GI Registry, Ed. 4.0 • New Guideline on Drone Operations for Marine AtoN and VTS Infrastructure Management • Revised R0144 – Harmonised Implementation of ASM, Ed. 2.0 • Revised G1191 – MSR Technical Specification, Ed. 1.1 • Revised R0146 – Strategy for Maintaining Racon Service Capability, Ed. 2.0 • Revised R0101 – Marine Racon, Ed. 3.0 • Revised G1074 – Branding and Marketing of Heritage Lighthouses, Ed. 1.2 • Revised R1012 – VTS Communications, Ed. 1.3 • Revised G1156 – Recruitment, Training and Certification of VTS Personnel, Ed. 2.0 • New Guideline on VTS English Communication Competency Testing • Revised C0103-5 – Revalidation for VTS Personnel, Ed. 2.0

The Council also approved:

• A liaison note to IEC TC80 WG15 on AIS Authentication.

• An information paper on a harmonised connectivity architecture for S-100 ECDIS implementation using SECOM and MCP for submission to IMO NCSR.

• An information paper on the results of the IALA Workshop on IMT for Marine AtoN for submission to IMO NCSR.

World Marine Aids to Navigation Day and Heritage Lighthouse The Council:

• Approved the first proposal to host the main event of World Marine Aids to Navigation Day 2026 in Korea. • Approved the second proposal to host World Marine Aids to Navigation Day 2027 in Georgia. • Approved the ENG proposal to revise the selection process for Heritage Lighthouses. • Decided that Evangelistas Lighthouse, Chile, will receive the Heritage Lighthouse of the Year 2026 accolade.

Membership Matters The Council approved Affiliate Industrial membership for:

• Gatehouse Maritime A/S, Denmark

• AAC Clyde Space, Sweden

• Shandong Province Lenrine Technology Development Co., Ltd. People’s Rep. of China

• Cosco Shipping Technology Co; Ltd. People’s Rep. of China

• Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the United Kingdom The Council approved Affiliate membership for:

• Tanger Med Port Authority, Morocco

The Council noted the following changes: Change of category from Associate membership to Member State for:

• Argentina

• Iceland

• Italy. The Council noted that IALA used to have two Associate members in Italy. They will now jointly represent the Member State. This results in the loss of one member in accounting terms.

Merger and transfer of Membership:

• Vietnam Maritime Safety North and South, Vietnam (Associate member) merged into one organization renamed Vietnam Maritime Safety Corporation.

• Dubai Maritime City Authority, The United Arab Emirates. Their Associate membership has been transferred to the Federal Maritime Authority of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.

• State Hydrographic Service, Georgia. Their associate membership has been transferred to the Maritime Transport Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

The Council noted the resignations from Affiliate Industrial membership for:

• India navigations aids, India

• Maxseas naval SL Timezero, Spain The Council noted the resignation from Affiliate membership for:

• Antwerp Maritime Academy, Belgium The Council noted the membership relocation of Wärtsilä Voyage from Ireland to Canada and the change in name to Wärtsilä Voyage Canada. The Council decided to terminate Affiliate Industrial membership for:

• Chittagong Dry Dock Limited, Bangladesh

• Dockyard and Engineering Works Limited, Bangladesh

• Salvage Certificação, Projetos e Serviços Offshore, Brazil

• Marine Navaids & Solar Auto Pv Ltd , India

• Malsa Equipos Industriales S.A de CV, Mexico

• Oceans Works Pacific Limited, Papua New Guinea The Council decided to terminate Affiliate membership for:

• Albatroz Apoio Maritímo Portuário Ltda, Brazil

• Dongnan University, People’s Rep. of China

• Abu Dhabi Marine Operations and Services Company LLC, United Arab Emirates Future Council Sessions The Council approved the tentative dates and venues for the following sessions:

• Session 04: 8 to 12 June 2026, HQ, France.

• Session 05: 7 to 11 December 2026, Guangzhou, China.

• Session 06: 7 to 11 June 2027, Madrid, Spain.

Circular Letter 2026/01

7 January 2026

Subject: Key Outcomes of the 3rd IALA Council Meeting and Call for Hosts for Committee Meetings in Early 2027 To: Members and Sister Organizations Dear IALA members, The 3rd session of the IALA Council was held from 8 to 12 December 2025, at the Sofitel Hotel in Mumbai, India, with hybrid participation. The meeting opened with a traditional lamp-lighting ceremony and formal welcome addresses by senior representatives of the Government of India and IALA. The Council heard opening remarks from the IALA President and the Secretary-General, followed by keynote interventions highlighting major developments in the maritime and lighthouse sectors. A notable highlight was the launch of the Digital Ticketing Portal for Lighthouse Tourism by Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Honourable Union Minister, Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Following the Secretary-General’s report, the Council noted continued progress in the ratification process and reviewed the status of the new IALA Headquarters (HQ). The Council approved a resolution empowering the Secretary-General to take necessary decisions regarding the acquisition of the new HQ. Committee Meetings – First Half of 2027 (Hosting by Members) The Council noted that, due to the new IALA HQ building project, no meeting space will be available at HQ during the first half of 2027. Accordingly, committee meetings scheduled for this period will need to be hosted by IALA Members. Members interested in hosting any of the following meetings are kindly invited to inform the Secretariat at [email protected] as soon as possible and before 31 March 2026: • VTS 61 • DTEC 08 • ENG 24 • ARM 24 Governance, policy and finance The Council:

• Approved the revised Staff Rules.

• Approved the Draft Policy on Submission and Co-sponsoring of Documents.

• Endorsed continued work on the concept of IALA Centres of Excellence (ICOE) as a strategic initiative and requested the Secretariat to develop a formal framework covering designation criteria, governance, timeline, and integration into the work programme.

• Considered the Treasurer’s report on the financial situation.

• Noted the information provided and approved the Committee Work Programme 2025–2027.

Events, Workshops and Appointments The Council:

• Approved the proposal for the 3rd IHO/IALA joint workshop on S-100/S-200 validation and implementation.

• Approved the Seminar proposal on Digital@Sea International on 17-19 March 2026 in the HQ.

• Appointed Thomas Arculus (United Kingdom) as Chair of the LAP and Tiago da Silva Benavente (Portugal) as Vice-Chair of the LAP.

• Following a voting session, appointed Trond Ski (Norway) as Vice-Chair of the VTS Committee.

• Approved the proposal to organise the 15th IALA Symposium in January 2029 and agreed to consider hosting arrangements.

Standards, Recommendations, Guidelines and Liaison notes The Council approved the following documents:

• Policy on Advertising and Sponsoring • New Recommendation on Digitalisation of Marine AtoN and services for vessels of varying levels of

autonomy • Revised G1087 – IALA Domain under the IHO GI Registry, Ed. 4.0 • New Guideline on Drone Operations for Marine AtoN and VTS Infrastructure Management • Revised R0144 – Harmonised Implementation of ASM, Ed. 2.0 • Revised G1191 – MSR Technical Specification, Ed. 1.1 • Revised R0146 – Strategy for Maintaining Racon Service Capability, Ed. 2.0 • Revised R0101 – Marine Racon, Ed. 3.0 • Revised G1074 – Branding and Marketing of Heritage Lighthouses, Ed. 1.2 • Revised R1012 – VTS Communications, Ed. 1.3 • Revised G1156 – Recruitment, Training and Certification of VTS Personnel, Ed. 2.0 • New Guideline on VTS English Communication Competency Testing • Revised C0103-5 – Revalidation for VTS Personnel, Ed. 2.0

The Council also approved:

• A liaison note to IEC TC80 WG15 on AIS Authentication.

• An information paper on a harmonised connectivity architecture for S-100 ECDIS implementation using SECOM and MCP for submission to IMO NCSR.

• An information paper on the results of the IALA Workshop on IMT for Marine AtoN for submission to IMO NCSR.

World Marine Aids to Navigation Day and Heritage Lighthouse The Council:

• Approved the first proposal to host the main event of World Marine Aids to Navigation Day 2026 in Korea. • Approved the second proposal to host World Marine Aids to Navigation Day 2027 in Georgia. • Approved the ENG proposal to revise the selection process for Heritage Lighthouses. • Decided that Evangelistas Lighthouse, Chile, will receive the Heritage Lighthouse of the Year 2026 accolade.

Membership Matters The Council approved Affiliate Industrial membership for:

• Gatehouse Maritime A/S, Denmark

• AAC Clyde Space, Sweden

• Shandong Province Lenrine Technology Development Co., Ltd. People’s Rep. of China

• Cosco Shipping Technology Co; Ltd. People’s Rep. of China

• Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the United Kingdom The Council approved Affiliate membership for:

• Tanger Med Port Authority, Morocco

The Council noted the following changes: Change of category from Associate membership to Member State for:

• Argentina

• Iceland

• Italy. The Council noted that IALA used to have two Associate members in Italy. They will now jointly represent the Member State. This results in the loss of one member in accounting terms.

Merger and transfer of Membership:

• Vietnam Maritime Safety North and South, Vietnam (Associate member) merged into one organization renamed Vietnam Maritime Safety Corporation.

• Dubai Maritime City Authority, The United Arab Emirates. Their Associate membership has been transferred to the Federal Maritime Authority of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.

• State Hydrographic Service, Georgia. Their associate membership has been transferred to the Maritime Transport Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

The Council noted the resignations from Affiliate Industrial membership for:

• India navigations aids, India

• Maxseas naval SL Timezero, Spain The Council noted the resignation from Affiliate membership for:

• Antwerp Maritime Academy, Belgium The Council noted the membership relocation of Wärtsilä Voyage from Ireland to Canada and the change in name to Wärtsilä Voyage Canada. The Council decided to terminate Affiliate Industrial membership for:

• Chittagong Dry Dock Limited, Bangladesh

• Dockyard and Engineering Works Limited, Bangladesh

• Salvage Certificação, Projetos e Serviços Offshore, Brazil

• Marine Navaids & Solar Auto Pv Ltd , India

• Malsa Equipos Industriales S.A de CV, Mexico

• Oceans Works Pacific Limited, Papua New Guinea The Council decided to terminate Affiliate membership for:

• Albatroz Apoio Maritímo Portuário Ltda, Brazil

• Dongnan University, People’s Rep. of China

• Abu Dhabi Marine Operations and Services Company LLC, United Arab Emirates Future Council Sessions The Council approved the tentative dates and venues for the following sessions:

• Session 04: 8 to 12 June 2026, HQ, France.

• Session 05: 7 to 11 December 2026, Guangzhou, China.

• Session 06: 7 to 11 June 2027, Madrid, Spain.