ICS issues brochure to highlight the importance or ratifying IMO Conventions
To mark the occasion of IMO World Maritime Day on 25 September, and its theme this year of IMO Conventions: Effective Implementation, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has produced a special brochure, which is being circulated throughout the industry by its member national shipowners associations.
The ICS brochure highlights the vital importance of global rules for a global industry, and the need for governments to ratify and implement IMO Conventions and regulations, which have contributed so much to the significant improvement of the shippings safety record and environmental performance.
| IMO Conventions Highlighted by ICS/CMI Ratification Campaign |
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The alternative of having a patchwork of differing national or regional maritime rules would mean chaos and market distortion, says ICS.
The ICS brochure also comments on flag state enforcement and Port State Control, and welcomes the decision by the IMO Assembly in 2013 to make the IMO Member State Audit Scheme mandatory, accompanied by the adoption of a new IMO Instrument Implementation Code.
ICS also highlights the continuing publication of its own Flag State Performance Table and makes no apology for continuing to subject flag states to scrutiny in the same way that ships and company procedures are rightly subject to inspection by governments.
| ICS Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table |
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In the interests of promoting the effective implementation of IMO Conventions, and as a complement to the IMO Member State Audit Scheme, ICS publishes an annual Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table. The purpose of the ICS Table is two-fold: to encourage shipowners to examine whether a flag state has substance before using it and to encourage them to pressure their flag administrations to effect any improvements that might be necessary. ICS makes no apology for continuing to subject flag states to scrutiny, in the same way that ships and company procedures are rightly subjected to inspection by governments. The feedback that ICS receives suggests that the Table is now treated very seriously by maritime administrations. In response to comments from governments, ICS has made further adjustments to the presentation, including data relating to the inspection record of flags whose ships have only made a small number of port calls in some of the main PSC regions. Whether or not a country has ratified the ILO MLC has also been added to the criteria used in the Table, following its entry into force in August 2013. |
The Flag State Performance Table can both be downloaded from the ICS website.
Source and Image Credit: ICS
For more information please read the brochure from ICS by clicking on the image below:
