Tag: safety measures

Actions to be taken around the second anniversary of the disaster The seven-member commission selected by President Barack Obama to investigate the Gulf oil spill is getting back together. This time, it will press for action to improve drilling safety.The re-formed group plans to issue a report card on actions taken by Congress, the administration and the industry next month, around the second anniversary of the disaster.William K. Reilly, a Republican and co-chair of the panel, said the group had become "increasingly concerned" that efforts to implement its safety recommendations are waning.Last January, the panel called for a series of steps from boosting budgets and training to increasing the liability cap for companies drilling offshore.With high gasoline prices, the focus of Republicans and the White House has turned to boosting domestic oil and gas production.Source: Huffington Post

Danish Parliament adopted act re cruise ships safety measures On 13 March 2012, the Danish Parliament unanimously adopted an act ensuring improved conditions for all passengers injured at sea. The purpose of the act is partly to ensure improved protection of passengers injured at sea, partly to ensure easier access to transferring ships to the Danish flag from abroad, which will contribute to increased growth in the maritime sector in Denmark.The act is to form the basis of the Danish ratification of the 2002 Athens Convention relating to the carriage of passengers and their luggage by sea. At the same time, it is ensured that the Danish legislation is in accordance with the associated EU Regulation.This means, among other things, that in connection with all commercial passenger transportation a mandatory liability insurance is required, just as the liability limit for injuries is increased, which will improve the possibilities of receiving compensation.Today, liability insurance is not required in connection with passenger transportation by small ships, but this will be the case in the future. Such rather small ships will not be required to hold a certificate from the State.In addition, the act will make it possible to have a ship registered ...

Ships' officers must be familiar with the particular equipment There is a great deal for operators to take on board with the arrival of the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) which is such an integral part of the "e-navigation" world of the future. There is, of course, the requirement for people to be trained to use the equipment, and not just in generic terms. Ships' officers must be familiar with the particular equipment that is fitted to the ship they are serving aboard.This itself introduces complications when appointing people to serve on ships in a fleet where different types of navigation equipment are fitted, even after they have received their generic training in ECDIS. Once flexible people who could serve in their rank in any unit of the fleet at a moment's notice, officers will now have to be appointed on the basis of their familiarity with the equipment fitted to their prospective ship. It is a complication that personnel people could probably do without. If officers do not have this "type-training" behind them, they will have to serve in an "auxiliary" role until they have completed it - another complexity, before they are permitted to use the ...

Discharge ports have a minimum acceptable cargo temperature Export of products, i.e. gas condensate, from ports exposed to low temperatures is increasing. For some ports, i.e. Vitino on the White Sea, the cargo is transported to the terminal by rail and stored in tanks exposed to the ambient air temperature.Due to the transport and storage time it can be anticipated that the cargo will be close to the ambient air temperature. The terminal has no means for heating the cargo. When the cargo is delivered to the ship the terminal can inform the vessel of the cargo temperature, but it is the vessels responsibility to decide how to handle it, for example by low filling rates and/or use of ballast water to partially warm the cargo.There can also be challenges at discharge ports. Based on information received from operators some discharge ports have a minimum acceptable cargo temperature. One operator indicated a minimum acceptable temperature for discharge of -4o C, but this will certainly vary from terminal to terminal. Another indicated that after a voyage from Vitino the cargo was still at a temperature of approximately -15o C upon arrival at Rotterdam and he was not allowed to discharge resulting ...

IMO's on-going project on domestic ferry safety IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu has offered his condolences and sympathies to the families of all those who lost their life aboard the passenger ferry Shariatpur-1, which sank yesterday (13 March 2011) after being hit by a small cargo ship in the Meghna River, south-west of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.Speaking to the Organization's Sub-Committee on Radiocommunications and Search and Rescue (COMSAR), in session today, the Secretary-General also expressed the solidarity of IMO, at these difficult times, with the Government of Bangladesh. He reiterated IMO's readiness to respond to any request from Bangladesh for assistance for technical co-operation.This latest incident comes in the wake of the Costa Concordia incident earlier this year, in the aftermath of which the Secretary-General included an item on "Passenger ship safety" on the agenda of the Maritime Safety Committee. He also urged the Italian Maritime Administration to carry out its investigation into the casualty and to report its findings to IMO as soon as possible. Furthermore, following the sinking in February of the MV Rabaul Queen and upon request of the Government of Papua New Guinea, a team of two IMO officers have carried out a needs assessment mission to ...

Convention on the Law of the Sea governs all aspects of ocean space The United Nations legal chief has stressed the importance of the global treaty governing the use of oceans and their resources and urged States that have not ratified it to do so this year, which marks the 30th anniversary of the opening for signature of the convention.The Convention on the Law of the Sea that governs all aspects of ocean space, from delimitation of maritime boundaries, environmental regulations, scientific research, commerce and the settlement of international disputes involving marine issues, entered into force on 16 November 1994 after Guyana became the 60th State to ratify it."The Convention is definitely holding out the promise of an orderly and equitable regime or system to govern all uses of the sea," said Patricia O'Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel."But it is a club that one must join in order to fully share in the benefits," she said in an interview. "The Convention - like other treaties - creates only rights for those who become parties to it and thereby accept its obligations, except for the provisions which apply to all States because they either merely confirm existing ...

A European review of ship safety regulations is to incorporate A European review of ship safety regulations is to incorporate input from the passenger shipping industry.The European Commission has invited the industry, represented by the European Cruise Council (ECC) and Interferry, to participate in the review, which is already underway but has been accelerated by the recent Costa Concordia accident.Interferry said that the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) had already completed two studies that analyse shortcomings in the current regulatory frameworks. One of the major issues is the reconciliation between SOLAS 2009 and the Stockholm Agreement.Interferry added that it had been asked to meet with EMSA in mid-March to discuss the findings of the review. Following this, in late April the European Commission vice president for transport will convene a workshop in Brussels, to which Interferry and the ECC have been invited. Johan Roos, Interferry executive director of EU and IMO Affairs, will coordinate these efforts.Source: Cruise and Ferry

Due to the lack of provision for training, education and safety for shipping workers Unions and MPs are putting urgent training and safety issues surrounding the nation's maritime industry back on the agenda "big time" this week.They are worried that the lack of provision for training, education and safety for shipping workers will result in a huge crisis in recruitment.Nautilus International union spokesman Andrew Linington told the Morning Star yesterday: "They are back on the agenda big time because there are so many burning issues."Nautilus and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are holding talks on Wednesday to look at areas for mutual collaboration in the fight. The next day a working group of interested MPs will meet Shipping Minister Mike Penning.One of them, Hull East Labour MP Karl Turner, wrote in the latest RMT News that the group was already backing the union's efforts to apply the national minimum wage to British-flagged vessels in our territorial waters.The group "was set up at the end of the last Labour government and the minister is trying to kick this into the long grass. We won't let him." He added: "We need more jobs from the maritime sector, not just in ...

ClassNK updates these guidelines- proposes appropriate stability and hull strength criteria ClassNK has released a new revised edition of its "Guidelines for the Safe Carriage of Nickel Ore" which was first released in May 2011 in response to major marine casualties caused by a loss of stability as a result of the liquefaction of nickel ore. This first edition summarized operational precautions and recommendations from past findings for the prevention of such liquefaction.However, ClassNK decided to update these guidelines to provide an even greater level of support to the maritime community. Under the provisions of the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code, vessels can carry cargoes subject to liquefaction even if the moisture content is in excess of the transportable moisture limit (TML), as long as the ship is "specially constructed or fitted to carry the cargo, and if evidence of approval by the Administration is stored on board the ship (Ref. 7.3.1.1*1 and 7.3.2.2*2 of IMSBC Code)". And yet, no special international criteria or standards have ever been established to govern this approval.With this in mind, ClassNK has proposed appropriate stability and hull strength criteria, and incorporated them into "Guidelines for the Safe Carriage of Nickel Ore ". ...

Practices for people to stay safe and be prepared while travelling by cruise ships