IFSMA Monthly Logs

IFSMA attended the final meeting of the Securitas Mare Crowd and Crisis Management study held in Norway from the 3^rd and 4^th of March 2005.

IFSMA also attended at IMO the Flag State Implementation Sub-Committee meeting from 7^th to 11^th March.

On the 11^th March the UK MEP Robert Evans visited the IFSMA offices in London to discuss a number of issues.

But first, the report from last months Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment (DE), 48th session, which was held from 21^st to 25^th  February 2005

Amendments to SOLAS - personal Life Saving Appliances

The Sub-Committee agreed draft amendments to SOLAS chapter III, for submission to the MSC in May 2005, to specify the carriage requirements for personal life-saving appliances suitable for infants and large adults. For passenger ships on voyages of less than 24 hours’ duration, a number of infant lifejackets equal to at least 2.5% of the number of passengers on board shall be provided; and for passenger ships on voyages of 24 hours or greater, infant lifejackets shall be provided for each infant on board. The draft amendments also require suitable accessories to be provided if the adult lifejackets provided are not designed to fit persons with chest girth of up to 1750 mm. Recommendations on testing of Life Saving Appliances regarding performance testing and approval standards for SOLAS personal LSA were also finalized for submission to MSC 80 for approval with a view to adoption. An infant's life jacket symbol was also agreed.

The Sub-Committee continued work on the compatibility of life-saving appliances and agreed that three issues needed further consideration: compatibility of immersion suits and lifejackets; compatibility of immersion suits and lifeboat access and capacity; and compatibility of lifejackets and marine evacuation systems. The aim is to finalize relevant amendments to the LSA Code at DE 49.

Measures to prevent accidents with lifeboats

The Sub-Committee considered measures to prevent accidents with lifeboats, in particular proposed amendments to LSA-related instruments, provisions for on-load release gear and free-fall lifeboats and agreed to hold a working group at DE 49 to discuss all related issues. A correspondence group was established to progress the work intersessionally.

Shipboard mooring and towing equipment.

A draft MSC circular was agreed on Guidance on shipboard mooring and towing equipment, for approval by MSC 80. The circular is intended to provide standards for the design and construction of shipboard fittings and supporting hull structures associated with towing and mooring. The Guidance supports regulation II-1/3-8 of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, which is expected to be adopted in 2005 and requires that new displacement type ships (except high speed craft and offshore units) shall be provided with arrangements, equipment and fittings of sufficient safe working load to enable the safe conduct of all towing and mooring operations associated with the normal operations of the ship.

The Sub-Committee also established a correspondence group to develop a revised proposal for draft SOLAS amendments and related guidelines for the assessment of deck equipment to be used in emergency towing, in relation to mandatory emergency towing systems in ships other than tankers of not less than 20,000 dwt.

Passenger ship safety

Draft standards for essential systems and equipment on passenger ships for safe return to port after a casualty and for three hour time-to-remain-habitable after a casualty were developed, for further consideration at DE 49, subject to input from other relevant technical Sub-Committees. The correspondence will be expected to prepare performance requirements for survival craft used on future passenger ships and to further consider the draft definition for the damage control concept, which states that shipboard damage control includes any measure necessary to control or mitigate the effects of shipboard flooding or fire in order to achieve the established "time to remain habitable" to allow the ship to return to a port or to allow safe and orderly abandonment.

Marpol Annex1

A new draft MARPOL Annex 1 regulation on oil fuel tank protection was agreed by the Sub-Committee with the aim to prevent or reduce spillage of oil carried as fuel for the ship following accidental damage and will be submitted to MEPC in July. It is intended to apply to all new ships (and major conversions) with an aggregate oil fuel capacity of 600 m3 and above. The draft regulation gives requirements for the protective location of the fuel tanks and performance standards for accidental oil fuel outflow. A maximum capacity limitation of 2,500 m3 per oil fuel tank is included in the draft regulation.

The draft regulation requires Administrations to also consider general safety aspects, including the need for maintenance and inspection of wing and double bottom tanks or spaces, when approving the design and construction of ships in accordance with the regulation.

Other work carried out by the sub-committee included;

• the performance standards for protective coatings,
• amendments to Enhanced Survey Programme for bulk carriers and oil tankers,
• draft amendments to the 1994 and 2000 High-Speed Craft (HSC) Codes
• the Code of Safety for Dynamically Supported Craft (DSC Code) continued with a view to finalization at DE 49, 
• draft amendments to the Guidelines for the design and construction of offshore supply vessels for submission to the Sub-Committee on Stability and Load Lines and on Fishing Vessels' Safety (SLF).

Securitas Mare - Crowd and Crisis Management study held in Norway from on the 3^rd and 4^th of March 2005

IFSMA was represented by the Secretary General at the meeting held in Norway.

This meeting finalised the arrangements for the report to the EU and will recommend a minimum level (37 hours) of training that is required for the STCW course of Crisis and Crowd management. An information brochure about this course will be published under the title What If?

Report on the Flag State Implementation (FSI) Sub-committee meeting held on 7^th to 11^th March.

There were a number of issues discussed and draft reports made for submission to MSC and MEPC. Those of particular interest to IFSMA are as follows:

Reports on marine casualties

The Sub-Committee approved a draft MSC/MEPC circular on Reports on marine casualties and incidents to update two circulars: MSC/Circ.953 and  MEPC/Circ.372.

The amendments include revised reporting forms and a new reporting format on Incidental spillages of harmful substances of 50 tonnes or more.

The circular also recommends that the Life-saving Appliance casualty record is used for all casualties involving life-saving appliances whether or not there are injuries or loss of life and whether or not used for drills or emergencies.  (IFSMA noted the high level of casualties, including loss of life, caused by lifeboat drills)

The reporting format corresponds to the entries to be made in the casualty module of the IMO Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS). This module should be used by reporting States when submitting casualty-related information to IMO in an electronic format.

The Sub-Committee also approved an amended casualty analysis procedure which is aimed at ensuring a more rapid distribution of information and recommendations from the correspondence group on casualty analysis that may be relevant to other Sub-Committees.

Casualty Investigation Code

There was some debate on whether or not to make the Casualty Investigation Code for marine casualties and incidents mandatory. Overall the Sub-Committee expressed strong support for doing this and a Correspondence Group on the review of the Code for the investigation of marine casualties and incidents was established. This correspondence group will review all issues relating to making the Code mandatory and to prepare a proposed revised draft format for the Code.

While there were various options for making a revised Code mandatory, in full or in part, including the adoption of a new Convention, the general preference was to include a new regulation in SOLAS chapter XI-1.

Carriage of publications on board ships

This publication is of particular help to Shipmasters and senior officers on each vessel as it lists publications explicitly required by IMO instruments to be carried on board ships as well as those recommended to be carried on board in order to improve the crew's knowledge and to enhance the implementation of IMO instruments. A draft MSC/MEPC circular on IMO requirements and recommendations on carriage of publications on board ships was agreed, for submission to the MSC and MEPC for approval.

Reports on inadequacy of reception facilities

The Sub-Committee agreed a draft MEPC circular on the Revised consolidated format for reporting alleged inadequacy of port reception facilities, which is intended to be more user-friendly and take less time to complete. The intention is to encourage reports to be submitted so that appropriate action can be taken. The Sub-Committee also agreed a draft MEPC circular on Waste reception facility reporting requirements.

Guidelines for Port State Control Officers on Condition Assessment Scheme (CAS)

A draft MEPC circular on Guidelines for Port State Control Officers (PSCOs) whilst checking compliance with CAS was agreed, for submission to MEPC 53.

Certain oil tankers will be required to comply with the CAS survey requirements. The first CAS survey should be carried out concurrent with the first intermediate or renewal survey after 5 April 2005, or after the date when the ship reaches 15 years of age, whichever occurs later.

Date of completion of survey

The Sub-Committee agreed to a draft MSC/MEPC circular on Interpretations of the date of completion of the survey and verification on which the certificate is based, for submission to MSC 80 and MEPC 53 for approval, to supersede MSC/Circ.1012 - MEPC/Circ.384.

The circular has been prepared following the adoption by the MSC of the addition of the words "Completion date of the survey on which this certificate is based" to certificates issued following surveys in respect of both mandatory and non-mandatory instruments. The aim is to clarify, for control purposes, the date of the last survey.

The Sub-Committee also agreed to a draft MSC/MEPC circular on Recommended conditions for extending the period of validity of a certificate, for submission to MSC 80 and MEPC 53 for approval.

Harmonization and co-ordination of port State control activities

The Sub-Committee reviewed information relating to port State control (PSC) activities, including the outcome of the 3rd IMO Workshop for PSC MoU/Agreement Secretaries and Directors of Information Centres and the 2nd Joint Ministerial Conference of the Paris and Tokyo MoUs on PSC; the in-depth analysis of annual reports of PSC regimes; the world fleet database and the findings of a programme of checks on ship security conducted by the Paris and Tokyo MoUs. The Sub-Committee considered several options for the conduct of its future reviews of PSC-related matters and provisionally agreed to the establishment of a working group on PSC at its next session.

Implementation of mandatory IMO instruments - draft Code finalized by Sub-Committee

The draft Code for the implementation of mandatory IMO instruments was finalized This is a key element of the proposed Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme, will be submitted to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in May and the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in July for approval and then to the IMO Assembly in November for adoption.

The draft Code is aimed at ensuring the proper and effective implementation of standards and it is intended that it will play an important role in achieving complete and uniform application of IMO standards on all ships to which the IMO Conventions apply. It includes transparent criteria for proper implementation of IMO instruments by Flag States, Port States and Coastal States.

In addition to its Secretary General, IFSMA was represented at this sub-committee meeting by Captains Bjorn Haave, Laszlo Kovats and Eddie Agbakoba.

Meeting held on 11^th March 2005 with MEP Robert Evans

Robert Evans is involved in transport matters at the European Parliament, and has written a Paper on Transport.

The role of IFSMA was explained to Robert and in particular our concern on the fair treatment of seafarers. The report on the ‘Prestige’ written by the Bahamas Administration made it clear that the Master was not guilty of the charges brought against him.  Robert pointed out that one has to be very careful regarding the different legal systems in operation throughout the EU.  At present the current draft directive makes it clear that even accidental spillage will be a criminal offence and we expressed that in our opinion even an accidental spillage may be met with a fine but it should never be a criminal offence. Criminalising seafarers may lead to a reluctance for talented you school leavers to pursue a career at sea.

Certificates of Competency were discussed and Robert said such competencies should have exactly the same meaning for all countries. IFSMA asked how the EU could ensure all its member states maintained a high standard of competence. The EUs aim for the criteria for ships to sail through European open waters is that ships and crew have the recognised degree of competence.  The EU has the power to implement this and their positive position on this matter would greatly strengthen that of the IMO.  However Robert emphasised that the EU would not carry out any inspection – that would be up to the Flag States.  Robert said the EU wants to ensure that these standards are met and are up to those proposed by IMO, and this level of competence would apply to all ships sailing through European waters.

The important issue of fatigue and insufficient manning was raised by IFSMA and it was agreed that it is the competitive element of Flag States that keeps the minimum level low.  It was hoped that minimum manning and its relationship with fatigue could be brought to the notice of the EU transport bodies.

IFSMA mentioned its involvement in Securite Mare and talked about Crisis and Crowd Control Management, suggesting that the European Parliament to look into this and set a standard which at the moment is set by individual countries.  Robert explained that training comes under the Committee for ‘Culture, Education, Youth and the Media’.

Overall a useful and informative meeting.