last word

TERMINAL TALES

groundhog day?

It will be interesting to see exactly who makes the grade in Glasgow at COP26 and how much industry players can project how they plan to move forward over the next few years in order to meet decarbonisation targets.

As the industry seeks to meet the new deadlines, one concern is that those regulations already in place may have been put on the sidelines in favour of racing to meet new deadlines. Ballast water treatment systems provide one example as, after a rush to try and meet industry deadlines, there remains a good deal of uncertainty about how systems are performing in practice.

As Craig Eason points out in his online Fathom World newsletter, as the deadline for non-compliance with ballast water treatment rules comes to an end, some are saying that the pandemic has made testing systems for compliance impossible.

There has also been a lot of interest in systems that can be used to improve the performance of those put in place to meet legislative requirements. Let us hope will we are not seeing another regulatory Groundhog Day for the industry.

factoring in the human element

The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) has released a new paper providing a framework to integrate human factors into management systems. Human Factors: Management and Self Assessment is intended to help companies and leadership teams address the conditions and systems that influence human actions and decisions, and so promote safety and excellence across all operations.

OCIMF managing director Rob Drysdale says: “Human factors is an integral part of the OCIMF strategy. It is a key enabler to further reduce safety, environment, security and health impacts within our industry. That means that it has to be part of any management system. However, a human factors element cannot be implemented overnight – it takes time for companies to become familiar with the concepts and understand how to apply them practically. Publishing this information paper will provide companies with an opportunity to trial the ideas and provide feedback to OCIMF on potential improvements.

“The intention is to eventually integrate a human factors element into our suite of Management Self Assessments and we very much encourage feedback from users.”.

unique notations

Singapore is launching a new accreditation system. The first of its kind, the SRS notation initiative aims to recognise shipowners and operators who voluntarily incorporate solutions to drive digital transformation, strengthen cyber security, enhance well-being of seafarers and pursue sustainable shipping.

The new system was announced by Chee Hong Tat, senior minister of state for transport, at the 2021 SRS Forum. Chee says that the Singapore registry has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1966 and had since grown into one of the largest, youngest and highest-quality fleets in the world.

“Looking ahead, we aspire for the SRS Notation to be universally recognised as an assurance of a vessel's quality and futurereadiness,” he says.

The SRS is the first ship registry in the world to introduce “smart”, “cyber”, “welfare” and “green” notations for vessels, and the new notations are due to be rolled out on 1 November 2021.

Singapore-flagged vessels that fulfil the requirements for each of the categories will be issued a certificate of recognition and their details will be published on the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore website to enhance their commercial attractiveness. Qualifying vessels will receive additional benefits from 2022, such as a reduction in initial registration fees and rebates on annual tonnage taxes during the qualifying duration.