Watchkeeper: An eye on future regulations

Time:2013-06-20 Browse:58 Author:RISINGSUN
There was an unusual event at the IMO last week, where, ahead of the Maritime Safety Committee meeting, a two day symposium on the “Future of Ship Safety” was held before a large number of invited guests. Many of these were, of course regulators but who, instead of listening to other regulators, were able to hear the views of a large number of well-informed speakers from industry and academia, many of whom would have found themselves having to deal with the regulations developed as the IMO goes about its normal business. The boot, as it were, was on the other foot!

 
It is not easy to sum up 25 speakers in six separate sessions (an account of the meeting attempting to do just this will appear in BIMCO Bulletin 4-13) but there were some compelling issues raised, which regulators surely need to keep in mind as they undertake their work in the future.


Firstly, although there was a separate session on “The Human Element”, this matter was raised in every session throughout the two days, sometimes almost dominating the discussions. For a start, while the technology is advancing at breakneck speed, the systems of educating and training the people who will have to operate ships is struggling to remain relevant and keep up with progress. Regulations, it was said, are not being properly and thoroughly tested before they are mandated, and insufficient attention is paid to the burden these will place on seafarers. If equipment was specified, the concept of it being “fit for purpose” was properly recognised, because nobody would buy the equipment if it was unfit! But was the same principle applied to regulations?


It was also suggested, with some of the top industry practitioners spelling out their policies, that many companies effectively self-regulate, with their own “best practice” exceeding anything required by the regulations. Should not these practices be encouraged and rewarded? It was also pointed out that there was a real risk that, despite the best of intentions, regulations aimed at environmental improvement might actually menace safety. A worrying example might be the explosions which have already taken place in ballast tanks in ships fitted with ballast water treatment systems.


There is, the audience was told firmly, a shortage of data and statistics, with insufficient sharing of important information and administrations even being reluctant to part with their casualty information. Issues of legal constraints and confidentiality problems that act as a barrier to data exchange really do need attention at a high level.


There was also an implied criticism in the amount of attention that is paid to new and future ships in the framing of regulations, with insufficient attention given to the situation of the “existing” fleet, which will clearly be around a long time! At the same time, industry would not take kindly to any attempts to remove the long held principle of “grandfathering” and any attempt to automatically apply new rules to existing ships would not find industry favour.