August 2014
The August 2014 report by the Secretary General, includes news on IMO meetings NCSR1 and III1, progress with the Office Refurbishment, a reports on the NGO Group, the Martha Project and information on the 41st AGA in Chile.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to all members and associations of the IFSMA family. This is the first of a new format for Newsletters to be circulated to the membership every 2 months to keep them up to date of what IFSMA is doing and for members to make comment.
The annual cycle for the editions will be August; Oc- tober; December; February; April; June. It is hoped that each edition will be released during the first week of the month quoted. But this will depend on other commitments.
Future editions of the Newsletter will also contain ar- ticles submitted by the membership on topical issues. Depending on the volume of articles received will make it necessary to choose which articles that will appear.
Captain Paul Owen the Assistant Secretary General is controlling the formatting and editing of the materials to ensure that whenever possible this Newsletter will remain within a 4 page spread.
Captain John Dickie the Secretary General will contribute the majority of the core materials for the Newsletter based on the work that IFSMA is doing at the time.
At the IMO
The following shows the committees or sub-committees attended. The format will show who attended and the interventions made. A full list of the documents used for the each of these meetings can be found by going to www.imo.org and then go to IMODOCS following the instructions given to see all of the documents for each meeting. This can vary from about 65 to 200 depending on the agenda and interest in any given topic.
NCSR 1 – 30 June – 4 July
Attended by
Secretariat x 1
Nautilus International x 2
NMOA x 3 (note: 1 as an intern)
Interventions
1 Agenda Item 1/24/2
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA representing shipmasters thanks IACS for their detailed submission and
IMPA for their thoughtful Paper. This is a safety criti- cal issue for which the Master has responsibility. It is not acceptable to push the safety envelope further. IFSMA therefore
unreservedly supports the position of IMPA. Thank you Chair.”
III 1 – 14 July – 18 July
Attended by:
Secretariat
Nautilus International
SRI x 2 (This was requested by SRI under ITF)
Interventions
(1) Agenda Item 5 – Casualty Analysis & Statistics
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA, representing ship masters thanks the UK for submitting Paper 1/5 on behalf of the Correspondence Group. IFSMA notes that atten- tion is drawn in Section 15 to the ‘Danny FII’ where the Master, an IFSMA Member, went down with his ship. In particular, the analysis noted the lack of in- ternationally accepted Rules, Standards and Guide- lines that address design issues specific to the safety of livestock carrier operations. Since it is not within the gift of an NGO to progress this issue, IFSMA asks what action Flag States intend to take to correct this serious situation?
The Annex to the Paper contains information on lessons learnt for ‘Presentation to Seafarers’ but is absent in lessons learnt for ‘Presentations to other Parties’. The focus of attention on ‘proximate cause’ while necessary, fails to address deep seated issues beyond the control of the Master. IFSMA requests that this intervention be recorded in the Report of this Sub-Committee.
Thank you Chair.”
(2) Agenda Item 5 – Casualty Analysis and Statis- tics
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA, representing ship masters thanks the Secretariat for submitting Paper 1/5/2. IFSMA wish to express grave concern over access to documents posted on the Global Integrated Shipping
x 1 x 2

Information System (GISIS) where Flag States posting such Reports prevent access by Flag States and NGOs so potentially endangering the safety of all seafarers. IFSMA requests that this intervention be recorded in the Report of this Sub-Committee.
Thank you Chair.”
(3) Agenda Item 6 – Harmonization of port State control activities
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA, representing ship masters thanks those who submitted these Papers. Referring to Paper 1/INF9 the Preliminary Results of the 2013 Paris MOU Harmonised Verification Programme (HAVEP) on passenger ships; this indicates the great- est number of deficiencies relates to abandon ship and fire drills. This is a disturbing human factors finding. Masters have to make the best of crews and equipment supplied by owners and approved by Flag States. IF- SMA believes that these issues need to be addressed.
Thank you Chair.”
(4) Agenda Item 8 – Development of guidelines on port State control under the 2004 BWM Convention
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA, representing ship masters thanks those who submitted these Papers. Despite this Convention being adopted in 2004, it would appear the industry and Flag States are not ready. IFSMA believes it is essential that that there are appropri- ate guidelines in place for ‘sampling’ so as to ensure there is no unwarranted criminalisation of Masters and Officers.
Thank you Chair.”
(5) Agenda Item 6 – Harmonization of port State control activities
Thank you Chair,
We entirely agree with your summation of the situ- ation we are in. We do not disagree with any of the interventions made and in particular commend the interventions made by the Netherlands and China.
As far as we see it, we have two options here. Option A – we discuss in the working group, Option B we dis- cuss in plenary. To do nothing is not an option at all.
IFSMA are particularly interested in the subject infor- mation regarding abandon ship and fire drills which are hidden away in these papers.
Thank you Chair
(6) III 1/WP.3 Casualty Analysis and Statistics - Report of Working Group:
“IFSMA agrees with the intervention by the distin- guished delegate of Australia (acknowledge 54.6 note the group’s opinion and comments on the analysis of
the marine safety investigation report of the Danny FII (paragraphs 16 and 18 to 20); and to consider the suggestion that the issues identified be brought to the attention of the MSC; paragraphs 16 and 18 to 21)that this should go to the MSC for consideration.”
While the interventions signify the recorded position of IFSMA to these matters there are also other matters raised such as the attacks on the crew of ships who have rescued boat people in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The assaults are by the people rescued.
These and other matters raised will be included in the Newsletter in future editions.
Office Refurbishment
Many of you will have heard of the HQ refurbishment and the costs involved. This was required due to a new lease agreement by the landlord (Marine Society) which doubled the rental of the office space. A deci- sion was reached where the only viable option was to share the office with another NGO. But to do this it was necessary to refurbish the office space. This was successful and Comite International Radio-Maritime (CIRM) have now joined the office. Apart from paying half the lease they also paid over 50% of the refurbish- ment costs which saved IFSMA a lot of money.
NGO Group Meeting
The meeting was well attended by the following mem- ber organizations: IFSMA; IMAREST; ILAMA; Mis- sion to Seafarers; IALA; IMPA; IHMA; SRI; ISWAN; IMRF; HCMM
Items discussed:
Ports (Places) of Refuge
Problems and current discussions at IMO.
Refugees (Boat People)
Means of recovery from water.
Large numbers on board ISWAN
Expansion of services.
Use of Facebook as a contact and dissemina- tion media.
Mission to Seafarers
Seaman Guard Ohio Incident – crew still in prison in terrible conditions.
SRI Criminalization
Increasing number of cases.
This group was set up by IFSMA to bring together a number of NGO and other organizations to discuss matters in respect of Human Element issues affecting persons working in the maritime industry. There are no set office bearers or agenda. IFSMA acts in the role of coordinating the group and hosting the two meetings per year.
Ports/Places of Refuge
This is moving ahead with Intertanko and IFSMA leading. At this time there are discussions with the following NGOs who are willing to give support to this matter. The NGOs in question are: IMPA; OCIMF; BIMCO; ICS; Intercargo; IUMI; Intermanager; IPTA; IMCA.
Although there is little support from the Flag States, it may well be that the UK will support this due the work being carried out by the UK SOSREP who is working hard on this matter.
It also shows support for the resolution raised at the 40th AGA at Norway this year.
MARTHA Project
This is progressing well and information is being received from ships and being analysed. In the near future statistics should be available to review. IFSMA has been invite to continue its position as a stakeholder to this work. The MARTHA Project is the follow on work from the Project Horizon and is the toll used to identify fatigue in seafarers. It is hoped that funding will be found in the near future for phase II of the Project Horizon. IFSMA will be invited to be a stake- holder in this work if it comes to fruition.
AGA 41 – Chile 2015
Nautilus Chile is hosting AGA 41 and have been pre- senting the concept of a 5 day cruise to Cape Horn during which the AGA will take place. Unless they can fill the cruise ship 100% capacity this cannot take place and the alternative will be for the AGA to be held in a hotel at Vina del Mar. As time is becoming short, it requested that any members who would be interested in the cruise contact Head Office so that a final decision can be reached. The cost of the cruise is US$1200 per person, all inclusive. Regrettably, for those travelling alone it is either share a cabin with another erson or pay US$2400. More details can be forwarded to you on request.
UKRAINE
At this time our thoughts should be with our col- leagues in the Ukraine who have had both of their offices which were burnt to the ground during the troubles in this country. It is hoped that when things settle down that they will be able to contact us and resume their active membership of IFSMA.
SEWOL Incident
At the time of writing the trial of the Master, officers and crew who survived is taking place. This ter- rible tragedy has taken and affected so many lives. But will the prosecution of the ship’s staff resolve the issues involved and are these people criminals? The case will be monitored and updates will be fed
Welcome to all members and associations of the IFSMA family. This is the first of a new format for Newsletters to be circulated to the membership every 2 months to keep them up to date of what IFSMA is doing and for members to make comment.
The annual cycle for the editions will be August; Oc- tober; December; February; April; June. It is hoped that each edition will be released during the first week of the month quoted. But this will depend on other commitments.
Future editions of the Newsletter will also contain ar- ticles submitted by the membership on topical issues. Depending on the volume of articles received will make it necessary to choose which articles that will appear.
Captain Paul Owen the Assistant Secretary General is controlling the formatting and editing of the materials to ensure that whenever possible this Newsletter will remain within a 4 page spread.
Captain John Dickie the Secretary General will contribute the majority of the core materials for the Newsletter based on the work that IFSMA is doing at the time.
At the IMO
The following shows the committees or sub-committees attended. The format will show who attended and the interventions made. A full list of the documents used for the each of these meetings can be found by going to www.imo.org and then go to IMODOCS following the instructions given to see all of the documents for each meeting. This can vary from about 65 to 200 depending on the agenda and interest in any given topic.
NCSR 1 – 30 June – 4 July
Attended by
Secretariat x 1
Nautilus International x 2
NMOA x 3 (note: 1 as an intern)
Interventions
1 Agenda Item 1/24/2
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA representing shipmasters thanks IACS for their detailed submission and
IMPA for their thoughtful Paper. This is a safety criti- cal issue for which the Master has responsibility. It is not acceptable to push the safety envelope further. IFSMA therefore
unreservedly supports the position of IMPA. Thank you Chair.”
III 1 – 14 July – 18 July
Attended by:
Secretariat
Nautilus International
SRI x 2 (This was requested by SRI under ITF)
Interventions
(1) Agenda Item 5 – Casualty Analysis & Statistics
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA, representing ship masters thanks the UK for submitting Paper 1/5 on behalf of the Correspondence Group. IFSMA notes that atten- tion is drawn in Section 15 to the ‘Danny FII’ where the Master, an IFSMA Member, went down with his ship. In particular, the analysis noted the lack of in- ternationally accepted Rules, Standards and Guide- lines that address design issues specific to the safety of livestock carrier operations. Since it is not within the gift of an NGO to progress this issue, IFSMA asks what action Flag States intend to take to correct this serious situation?
The Annex to the Paper contains information on lessons learnt for ‘Presentation to Seafarers’ but is absent in lessons learnt for ‘Presentations to other Parties’. The focus of attention on ‘proximate cause’ while necessary, fails to address deep seated issues beyond the control of the Master. IFSMA requests that this intervention be recorded in the Report of this Sub-Committee.
Thank you Chair.”
(2) Agenda Item 5 – Casualty Analysis and Statis- tics
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA, representing ship masters thanks the Secretariat for submitting Paper 1/5/2. IFSMA wish to express grave concern over access to documents posted on the Global Integrated Shipping
x 1 x 2

Information System (GISIS) where Flag States posting such Reports prevent access by Flag States and NGOs so potentially endangering the safety of all seafarers. IFSMA requests that this intervention be recorded in the Report of this Sub-Committee.
Thank you Chair.”
(3) Agenda Item 6 – Harmonization of port State control activities
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA, representing ship masters thanks those who submitted these Papers. Referring to Paper 1/INF9 the Preliminary Results of the 2013 Paris MOU Harmonised Verification Programme (HAVEP) on passenger ships; this indicates the great- est number of deficiencies relates to abandon ship and fire drills. This is a disturbing human factors finding. Masters have to make the best of crews and equipment supplied by owners and approved by Flag States. IF- SMA believes that these issues need to be addressed.
Thank you Chair.”
(4) Agenda Item 8 – Development of guidelines on port State control under the 2004 BWM Convention
“Thank you Chair. IFSMA, representing ship masters thanks those who submitted these Papers. Despite this Convention being adopted in 2004, it would appear the industry and Flag States are not ready. IFSMA believes it is essential that that there are appropri- ate guidelines in place for ‘sampling’ so as to ensure there is no unwarranted criminalisation of Masters and Officers.
Thank you Chair.”
(5) Agenda Item 6 – Harmonization of port State control activities
Thank you Chair,
We entirely agree with your summation of the situ- ation we are in. We do not disagree with any of the interventions made and in particular commend the interventions made by the Netherlands and China.
As far as we see it, we have two options here. Option A – we discuss in the working group, Option B we dis- cuss in plenary. To do nothing is not an option at all.
IFSMA are particularly interested in the subject infor- mation regarding abandon ship and fire drills which are hidden away in these papers.
Thank you Chair
(6) III 1/WP.3 Casualty Analysis and Statistics - Report of Working Group:
“IFSMA agrees with the intervention by the distin- guished delegate of Australia (acknowledge 54.6 note the group’s opinion and comments on the analysis of
the marine safety investigation report of the Danny FII (paragraphs 16 and 18 to 20); and to consider the suggestion that the issues identified be brought to the attention of the MSC; paragraphs 16 and 18 to 21)that this should go to the MSC for consideration.”
While the interventions signify the recorded position of IFSMA to these matters there are also other matters raised such as the attacks on the crew of ships who have rescued boat people in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The assaults are by the people rescued.
These and other matters raised will be included in the Newsletter in future editions.
Office Refurbishment
Many of you will have heard of the HQ refurbishment and the costs involved. This was required due to a new lease agreement by the landlord (Marine Society) which doubled the rental of the office space. A deci- sion was reached where the only viable option was to share the office with another NGO. But to do this it was necessary to refurbish the office space. This was successful and Comite International Radio-Maritime (CIRM) have now joined the office. Apart from paying half the lease they also paid over 50% of the refurbish- ment costs which saved IFSMA a lot of money.
NGO Group Meeting
The meeting was well attended by the following mem- ber organizations: IFSMA; IMAREST; ILAMA; Mis- sion to Seafarers; IALA; IMPA; IHMA; SRI; ISWAN; IMRF; HCMM
Items discussed:
Ports (Places) of Refuge
Problems and current discussions at IMO.
Refugees (Boat People)
Means of recovery from water.
Large numbers on board ISWAN
Expansion of services.
Use of Facebook as a contact and dissemina- tion media.
Mission to Seafarers
Seaman Guard Ohio Incident – crew still in prison in terrible conditions.
SRI Criminalization
Increasing number of cases.
This group was set up by IFSMA to bring together a number of NGO and other organizations to discuss matters in respect of Human Element issues affecting persons working in the maritime industry. There are no set office bearers or agenda. IFSMA acts in the role of coordinating the group and hosting the two meetings per year.
Ports/Places of Refuge
This is moving ahead with Intertanko and IFSMA leading. At this time there are discussions with the following NGOs who are willing to give support to this matter. The NGOs in question are: IMPA; OCIMF; BIMCO; ICS; Intercargo; IUMI; Intermanager; IPTA; IMCA.
Although there is little support from the Flag States, it may well be that the UK will support this due the work being carried out by the UK SOSREP who is working hard on this matter.
It also shows support for the resolution raised at the 40th AGA at Norway this year.
MARTHA Project
This is progressing well and information is being received from ships and being analysed. In the near future statistics should be available to review. IFSMA has been invite to continue its position as a stakeholder to this work. The MARTHA Project is the follow on work from the Project Horizon and is the toll used to identify fatigue in seafarers. It is hoped that funding will be found in the near future for phase II of the Project Horizon. IFSMA will be invited to be a stake- holder in this work if it comes to fruition.
AGA 41 – Chile 2015
Nautilus Chile is hosting AGA 41 and have been pre- senting the concept of a 5 day cruise to Cape Horn during which the AGA will take place. Unless they can fill the cruise ship 100% capacity this cannot take place and the alternative will be for the AGA to be held in a hotel at Vina del Mar. As time is becoming short, it requested that any members who would be interested in the cruise contact Head Office so that a final decision can be reached. The cost of the cruise is US$1200 per person, all inclusive. Regrettably, for those travelling alone it is either share a cabin with another erson or pay US$2400. More details can be forwarded to you on request.
UKRAINE
At this time our thoughts should be with our col- leagues in the Ukraine who have had both of their offices which were burnt to the ground during the troubles in this country. It is hoped that when things settle down that they will be able to contact us and resume their active membership of IFSMA.
SEWOL Incident
At the time of writing the trial of the Master, officers and crew who survived is taking place. This ter- rible tragedy has taken and affected so many lives. But will the prosecution of the ship’s staff resolve the issues involved and are these people criminals? The case will be monitored and updates will be fed