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As the world sees fewer maritime accidents and accidental oil spills, the role of Class is about to change, according to Tor E. Svensen, the recently appointed chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS).
Svenson was addressing a lunch talk in Singapore last Friday that had been arranged by the Singapore Shipping Association. The subject of his address was 'Regulatory Developments now and in the Future - A Class Perspective' and Fairplay goes on to quote him, "While safety and quality will remain top priorities, class will focus on other issues around safety at sea and the global environment. Class will have to tackle issues such as controlling air emissions from ships, which will see attention shifting from local to global CO2."
Svensen also warned, "It [class] will also have to brace itself for faster regulatory developments triggered by public awareness of negative aspects of shipping.
Most significantly, the IACS chief expressed concern over what he called the EU's attempts to regulate the role and responsibility of class, and asserted that IACS must be more active and efficient in dealing with EU decision-makers.
Pressure
The thrust of Svensen's speech is to be welcomed, particularly at a time when regulatory pressure from government agencies, ostensibly the EU and the US, is tending to overwhelm the day-to-day business and is impacting directly on to individual operators. Moreover, while such regulatory pressure can be viewed as good in one sense (namely the maintenance and policing of standards) too much 'one-sided' pressure can upset the equilibrium of the situation, particularly if that pressure is being driven by political agendas and by bureaucracy.
As a well-respected 'benchmarker' of marine technical standards IACS is well suited to represent the interests of the marine industry and to, perhaps, enhance the role of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) that by virtue of its constitution is somewhat 'toothless' with respect to enforcement of its Codes and Conventions and that also is not truly representative of the maritime industry. The members of IACS, on the other hand, do have daily, face-to-face, working relationships with ship operators and the organisation is an excellent forum for monitoring the pulse of the industry. Furthermore, the leading members are also 'household names' across industry 'as a whole' which adds to the credibility factor so necessary to deal effectively with government agencies. Svensen's assertion is, thus, very relevant.
However, representation with such government agencies of the type Svensen is alluding to could certainly be reduced if the maritime industry could get its 'act together' once and for all. Indeed, his assertion that the role of class needing to change should, indeed apply to the whole maritime industry.
With a significant degree of polarisation of standards within the industry that is certainly geographical and that is also directly attributable to rogue Flag States, more active industry-based action is vital if pressure from even more legislation is to be avoided.
Sovereignty
In all such discussions, the issue always returns to that of sovereignty of the individual Flag State and this 'chestnut' is always (rightly) cited as the root of the problem. The IMO has made some progress in its passive way by collating the 'white list' and where the mechanism of Port State Control is operating correctly the enforcement of regulation, the process of detention and the rejection of bad Flags can be effectively enforced, but more is needed across Flag level.
Apart from voicing concern through the forum of the IMO, individual (good) Flags seem to be doing little else. Competent Flag States need to join together with one voice - perhaps in the same way as IACS, so that common rules and standards my be formalised. If an international association of open registers were to be formed it could become an influential voice within the industry.
This would bolster the cause of good standards and further isolate those Flags that drag the industry down. Such an association in partnership with IACS could give the industry considerable advantage in its war against erosion of maritime safety standards.
Notwithstanding the above, regardless of the Flag States and regardless of IACS, there are sufficient bodies of competence within this industry to be able to stand together as this world changes and as the role of shipping is becoming ever more important. The secret of success will be to be able to speak with one voice.
- The writer is a Dubai-based marine consultant specialising in safety management, security and training.
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