ICS is advising shipping companies to ensure they comply with the Manila amendments to STCW, particularly in relation to seafarers’ rest hours and the more stringent requirements for preventing drug and alcohol abuse that will apply worldwide from January 1st 2012.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Shipping Federation (ISF) led employer representation at the IMO Diplomatic Conference which adopted the Manila amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW 2010). The Manila amendments begin a phased entry into force from January 1, 2012.

ICS is reminding shipowners that the new STCW minimum rest hour requirements are likely to be vigorously enforced by Port State Control Officers who will have the authority to check that ships maintain accurate records for individual seafarers which demonstrate they have been provided with the required minimum rest. For example, seafarers must now always have at least 10 hours rest in any 24 hour period. To help further reduce the possibility of fatigue, much of the flexibility that previously applied under STCW has now been removed.

The new STCW rest hour requirements were developed to ensure that they were compatible with those stipulated in the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) which is expected to enter into force in 2013.

Peter Hinchliffe, ICS Secretary General, explained: “It is particularly important that companies comply with the new IMO rest hour requirements and record and monitor seafarers’ rest periods. Apart from the importance of preventing fatigue, Port State Control can be expected to begin checking the authenticity and accuracy of any records by comparing them with other vessel documentation. Seafarers must also confirm that their hours are accurately recorded.”

ICS advises that, because the STCW Convention already has widespread ratification, the 2010 amendments will be enforced on a global basis earlier than the ILO MLC standards. In practice, from January 2012 it is therefore expected that STCW 2010 will become the principal regime for rest hours that will be checked by Port State Control.

For the first time under STCW, mandatory limits for alcohol consumption are also being introduced (a limit of not greater than 0.05% blood alcohol level (BAC) or 0.25 mg/l alcohol in the breath), although individual flag states may choose to apply stricter limits.

Other new STCW requirements governing competence standards and certification will be phased in from January 2012. To avoid misunderstandings, ICS recommends that vessels keep on board copies of two circulars developed by the IMO Maritime Safety Committee in May 2011 which clarify the implementation dates of the STCW 2010 amendments for Flag States and Port States.

Useful advice and reference information is available in the updated ISF Guidelines to the IMO STCW Convention. In addition, the ISF Watchkeeper 3 software will assist compliance with the new STCW seafarers’ rest hour requirements, particularly with recording, monitoring, checking and planning.
—ends—

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) – the principal international trade association for ship operators representing all sectors and trades and over 80% of the world merchant fleet – has called on delegates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 17) in Durban, to give the International Maritime Organization (IMO) a clear mandate to continue its work on regulating shipping’s CO2 emissions, including the development of Market Based Measures.

ICS explained that shipping is committed to improving efficiency per tonne-km by 20% by 2020 with further significant improvements thereafter, and that the achievement of this goal would be greatly assisted by the recent IMO agreement on technical regulations to reduce shipping’s emissions.

Speaking alongside IMO officials on 29 November at a special UNFCCC event on international transport, ICS Director of External Relations, Simon Bennett, said that it was “no secret that Market Based Measures are controversial. However the shipping industry recognises that the need to prevent climate change is a political challenge as much as a technical one, and that shipping needs to play a constructive part in the discussion about MBMs.”

As demonstrated by the recent IMO agreement on technical measures, ICS believes that IMO is eminently capable of continuing its discussions on Market Based Measures which, if governments so decided, could also involve a linkage to any ‘Green Fund’ that is established by UNFCCC.

However, ICS suggested that the high cost of fuel means that shipowners already have every incentive to improve their efficiency. Governments must also avoid the possibility of modal shift since if excessive costs are added to shipping there could be greater use of less carbon efficient shore-based transport modes which would generate additional CO2.

ICS is also concerned that some governments appeared more interested in how much money could be raised from shipping rather than the emissions reductions that this might deliver. ICS argues that shipping should not be treated as a ‘cash cow’, and that any financial contribution that it might be required to make should be proportionate to its share of the world’s total emissions.

ICS also repeated that the clear preference of the majority of the shipping industry – if governments decided to implement a shipping MBM – is for an IMO compensation fund linked to fuel consumption, rather than a system based on emissions trading. Most shipping companies, perhaps 90%, are small to medium sized enterprises that have a sound dislike of unnecessary complication. An IMO compensation fund linked to fuel consumption is therefore the option with which most shipping companies could probably accept and support, if agreed by governments at IMO.
more . . . /2

/2 ICS PUTS SHIPOWNERS CASE AT UN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

Above all, ICS argues that it is vital for all governments to understand that in the absence of a global framework to address shipping’s CO2 there is a serious risk of regional unilateral measures for shipping. This would be far less effective in delivering meaningful efficiency improvements by the global shipping sector as a whole.
—ends—

Notes To Editors:
• The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is the principal international trade association for shipowners, with member national associations from 36 countries representing all sectors and trades and over 80% of the world merchant fleet.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) – which represents all sectors and trades of the global shipping industry and more than 80% of the world merchant fleet – has produced a briefing document for government climate change negotiators, in advance of the next United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 17), which commences in Durban at the end of November.

The Document entitled ‘Shipping, World Trade and the Reduction of CO2 Emissions’ is being distributed via ICS member national shipowners’ associations and can be downloaded at
www.ics-shipping.org/CO2lowres.pdf

ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe explained: “The international shipping industry is firmly committed to reducing its CO2 emissions by twenty per cent by 2020, with significant further reductions thereafter. However, the Durban Climate Change Conference needs to give the International Maritime Organization a clear mandate to continue its vital work to help us deliver further emission reductions through the development of Market Based Measures.”

The shipping industry hopes that governments at COP 17 will respond positively to the significant IMO agreement, in July 2011, to adopt a package of technical measures to reduce shipping’s CO2 emissions – which by 2030 should reduce ships’ emissions by 25-30% compared to ‘business as usual’. This is the first ever international agreement containing binding and mandatory measures to reduce CO2 emissions that has so far been agreed for an entire industrial sector.

Most importantly– and without prejudice to what governments might agree at UNFCCC – the shipping industry believes that IMO is now very well placed to continue the real progress it is making on Market Based Measures to help deliver

further emissions reductions. This includes a possible shipping industry environmental compensation fund – with possible linkages to any ‘Green Fund’ agreed by UNFCCC. This could address the Kyoto Protocol principle of ‘Common But Differentiated Responsibility’ (CBDR) by directing the lion’s share of any funds raised from international shipping to environment related projects in developing countries, including climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The shipping industry wishes governments to understand that in the absence of a global framework agreed by IMO there is a serious risk of regional or unilateral measures attempting to regulate CO2 emissions for shipping. This would have a seriously distorting effect on international shipping markets, but would also be much less effective in delivering meaningful reductions in CO2 emissions by the global shipping sector as a whole.

The ICS Document explains why shipping is a global industry requiring global regulation, and contains details of the measures that the industry and its international regulator (IMO) are taking to reduce ship emissions; means by which IMO might take account of the UNFCCC CBDR principle; and the reasons why shipping does not lend itself to inclusion in national CO2 emissions targets.

Navigation safety and environmental protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore could further improve following a detailed investigation into accident reports by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

ICS (as part of a wider initiative being undertaken by the Round Table of international shipping associations) has conducted a survey of incident reports which it is anticipated will result in the development of agreed proposals to enhance the management of traffic in the Straits.

With more than 70,000 vessels each year (over 150 a day) transiting this strategically important international waterway, ICS believes it is imperative that safety continues to be prioritised. While only a very small proportion of these transits result in accidents or near misses, the ICS survey has identified heavy shipping traffic, inappropriate speed and the loss of situational awareness as significant factors that need to be addressed.

The ICS report praises the skill and professionalism of those managing, operating and navigating ships in the Malacca and Singapore Straits. However, ICS suggests that improvements could be made to the location of pilot boarding areas and the timing of pilot departures. There is also concern about the understanding and use of navigation systems such as ECDIS, AIS and radar, both at sea and ashore.

Of the incidents examined, 68% resulted in collisions and all could have potentially caused harm or pollution incidents. The incidents involved a range of vessels from tugs to tankers.

The report recommends the littoral States consider how to address:
• Speed management in the Singapore Straits
• Heavy traffic around pilot boarding areas
• Optimum pilot departure times
• Improved VTS/VTIS interaction with shipping
• Situational awareness
• Pilot, tug, berth availability integration.

ICS met with the littoral States of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, in Kuala Lumpur last week, to present the report’s findings.

ICS Director Marine, John Murray commented: “The littoral States welcomed the report and we were pleased to hear that measures are already being taken to further improve navigational services in the Straits.”

“Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to forward additional accident reports to further enhance the ICS study’s findings, particularly in relation to the Malacca Straits. Singapore will be sending information on measures it has already taken to improve navigational services in relation to the Singapore Straits, which ICS will review by conducting a gap analysis in order to identify remaining safety proposals.”

In conjunction with ICS, it is anticipated that the littoral States will make a joint submission to IMO’s Navigation Sub Committee, in July next year, advising of the accident survey and its current status.
—ends—

Notes to Editors
• ICS is the principal international trade association for shipowners. Its members are national shipowners’ associations from 36 countries, representing all sectors and trades and over 80% of world merchant tonnage.

A balance has to be struck between the commercial advantages of shipowners’ selecting a particular flag state and the need to discourage the use of flags that do not meet their international obligations, warns the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

Speaking at the 14th Russian Register Seminar on Quality Shipping in St Petersburg, Simon Bennett, ICS Director of External Relations, said: “Shipping is one of the safest and most environmentally friendly modes of transport, yet several high profile casualties have prompted questions from politicians and the media about the performance of flag states. There is understandable concern about shipping companies’ use of flags that may not comply fully with international regulations.”

However, he stressed that distinctions between open registers and so-called national or traditional maritime flags are unhelpful. “The industry’s Flag State Performance Table suggests that open registers such as the Bahamas, Liberia and the Marshal Islands enjoy the same very high standards of performance and responsibility as flags such as Denmark or the United Kingdom,” he said.

ICS has previously developed Shipping Industry Guidelines on Flag State Performance, to accompany its annual Flag State Performance Table. The Guidelines outline what a responsible shipowner should expect from a responsible flag state, including ratification and implementation of core maritime conventions. The Guidelines are intended to encourage shipowners to examine whether a flag state has sufficient substance before using it and to encourage ship owners and operators to put pressure on their flag administrations to effect any necessary improvements.

Mr Bennett told delegates in Russia: “The industry makes no apology for subjecting flag states to scrutiny, in the same way that ships and company procedures are rightly subjected to inspection by governments. Our over-riding interest in promoting high performing flag states is that they are less likely to tolerate sub-standard operators. This small minority of shipping companies enjoys an unfair commercial advantage over the vast majority of fully compliant operators and damages the overall reputation of the industry.

“While it is shipping companies that have primary responsibility for the safe operation of their ships and the welfare of their crews, it is the flag state that must enforce the rules,” Mr Bennett said.
—ends—
Notes To Editors:
• The Shipping Industry Guidelines on Flag State Performance and its accompanying Flag State Performance Table can be downloaded free from www.ics-shipping.org

“The world community cannot tolerate the abuse and the killing of seafarers,” ICS Chairman Spyros M Polemis told seafarers and maritime industry professionals in India today (Oct 11th), adding that “India and its seafarers have truly been in the
firing line”.

“This has to stop now. The pirates must get the message that we have reached the end of our tether and that any act of piracy will be severely dealt with,” he told delegates at the India Shipping Summit in Mumbai.

Warning that the piracy season was about to begin again with renewed vigour as the monsoon season ends, Mr Polemis acknowledged the high price India is paying, with some of its seafarers held hostage for more than 18 months. “India is a nation which is committed to maritime trade in a major way, while its geographical location means that it has been at the forefront of efforts to tackle piracy head on,” he said.

“India is a major maritime labour supply country, providing thousands of Indian nationals, both officers and ratings, to crew the world fleet. Indian seafarers are widely dispersed amongst the international fleet, as well as serving on board Indian Flag tonnage. Sadly this means that Indian nationals have been especially exposed to the risk of attack and capture for ransom by violent Somali pirates,” he added.

Praising the actions of the Indian Government and Navy, Mr Polemis said: “We have been particularly impressed by the seriousness that the Indian Government has afforded this problem and the willingness of the Indian Navy to act robustly against
the pirates.”

Urging the Indian Navy to greater efforts, he called on it to focus on inhibiting the activities of motherships, adding: “In particular, it will be most helpful if the Indian Navy can continue to ensure that within some 300 nautical miles of the Indian coast they continue to prevent the pirates from operating, since this provides a relatively safe route for ships to and from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and beyond.”

He advised shipowners and operators to adhere to Best Management Practices (BMP4) and called on the international community to do more to eradicate piracy.
In particular:
• Navies to act robustly against the pirates
• All motherships, big and small, to be immobilised
• All suspected pirates to be delivered to a court of law and if found guilty to be subject to the full weight of the law
• Pirate bases ashore to be targeted for action
• All hostages and their ships currently in Somalia to be freed
• United Nations to arrange to provide armed military guards, either as part of a Blue Beret force or as a VPDs (Vessel Protection Detached Units)
• All vulnerable merchant ships transiting the Additional War Risk Premium (AWRP) area to receive armed military guards
• All nations in the region to agree and to assist in the embarkation and disembarkation of private armed guards.

“This is not the time to beat around the bush,” Mr Polemis concluded. “I believe the time for talking has passed – we need action not words.”

—ends—

Notes To Editors:
• The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is the principal international trade association for shipowners, with member national associations from 36 countries representing all sectors and trades and over 80% of the world merchant fleet.
• The Indian National Shipowners’ Association (INSA) is among its larger associations, representing the shipping interests of one of the world’s most important emerging economies.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), whose member national shipowners’ associations represent more than 80% of the world merchant fleet, has participated at a special UNCTAD (United Nations Committee on Trade and Development) meeting in Geneva (29/30 September) to explore how the world’s sea ports should prepare for adaptation to the threat of dangerous climate change.

Speaking at the UNCTAD meeting, ICS Director of External Relations, Simon Bennett, advised governments that monies for the adaption of ports to the effects of rising sea levels – and the increased likelihood of storms, flooding and extreme weather events – could be provided by a proposed International Maritime Organization (IMO) environmental compensation fund, with contributions from the shipping industry linked to fuel compensation. An environmental compensation fund is the Market Based Mechanism preferred by the majority of the global shipping industry, rather than the alternative of emissions trading schemes which has also been proposed by some governments in discussions at the IMO.

“The advantage of a compensation fund linked to ships’ fuel consumption is that some of the monies raised could be readily directed by IMO to environmental projects in developing countries, such as the adaptation of ports to climate change.” said Simon Bennett. However, he suggested that developing nations should play close attention to discussions at IMO, and to the parallel discussions at UNFCCC with respect to possible contributions by the shipping industry to a UN ‘Green Fund’, “to ensure that developed nations did not end up keeping the lions’ share of any money raised from shipping for themselves”.

ICS believes that any money raised from shipping through Market Based Measures for CO2 reduction should primarily be directed to projects which improve the environment in developing nations or which allow the shipping industry and developing nations to prepare for the effects of climate change, for example protecting ports. “Shipping fully accepts the need to play its part and— if governments so decide – participate in Market Based Measures” said Simon Bennett. “But measures to reduce CO2 emissions should not be used to treat the shipping industry as a ‘cash cow’, simply to boost the balance sheets of richer countries that are currently in economic difficulties.”
—ends—
Notes To Editors:
ICS has moved office. Our new contact details are:
International Chamber of Shipping, 38 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 8BH
Tel: +44 20 7090 1460 Email: info@ics-shipping.org Web: www.ics-shipping.com

Governments have ceded control of the Indian Ocean to pirates and the small deployment of naval forces to the region is like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound – so says ICS Chairman Spyros M Polemis.

And in a damning indictment of western governments, Mr Polemis will controversially suggest they would be acting differently if the many seafarers held hostage off the coast of Somalia were “Americans or Europeans”.

Speaking at next week’s Maritime Cyprus conference in Limassol on Monday (October 3rd) Mr Polemis will tell shipping professionals: “The fundamental problem is the lack of navy ships that are committed to protecting shipping – a band aid on a gaping wound, although the navies do an excellent job under the circumstances and we commend them for this.”

In a straight-talking speech Mr Polemis is set to tell delegates that “by their own admission, the military advise that no ship is completely safe”. He will say: “Sadly, one can only conclude from the current response of many governments that those thousands of seafarers that have so far been captured have simply had the wrong nationality. If they were all Americans or Europeans, the governments’ attitude might have been somewhat different. It is really unacceptable that so many governments seem to feel that the current situation can somehow be tolerated, and that a box has been ticked by making a relatively small number of navy ships available to police Somalia’s waters and the entire Indian Ocean.”

Apologising for his “depressing” remarks he is set to conclude: “We appreciate that governments have many competing priorities, but I am afraid that they still seem to be lacking a coherent strategy to tackle the pirates head on.”

While acknowledging that adherence to Best Management Practices and the use of private armed guards can both reduce the risks of capture, Mr Polemis will say that the escalating use of armed guards represents a failure by the international community to find an effective solution to the situation and will call for an increase in military force deployed to the Indian Ocean.

“I do wish to stress that, despite acknowledging their use, private armed guards do not represent a long term solution. Rather, their use actually signifies a failure on the part of the international community – and those governments with significant military forces – to ensure the security of maritime trade on which the whole world depends. Governments don’t like it when we say this, but the reality is that they have ceded control of the Indian Ocean to the pirates.

He will continue: “The use of private guards does not mean that military forces are no longer needed. Far from it – they are needed more than ever and should be greatly increased in number.”

ICS is in close contact with both EUNAVFOR and NATO discussing practical solutions to the problems in the Indian Ocean including a possible blockade of the Somali coast and tackling pirate ‘motherships’. ICS is also in discussion with Flag States to ensure they take a coherent pan-industry approach to producing a proper framework for the use of armed guards.
—ends—

Notes To Editors:
• The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Shipping Federation (ISF) are the principal international trade association and employers’ organisation for shipowners, with member national associations from 36 countries representing all sectors and trades and over 80% of the world merchant fleet.

• Spyros Polemis is speaking on the subject of “Countering Piracy” at Maritime Cyprus, organised by the Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping, at the Evagoras Lanitis Centre, Limassol, from October 2nd to 5th 2011.

• ICS (and ISF) will move office to new premises this coming weekend (1st /2nd October).
Our new contact details will be as follows:
International Chamber of Shipping
38 St Mary Axe
London
EC3A 8BH
Tel: +44 20 7090 1460
Fax: +44 20 7090 1484
Email: info@ics-shipping.org
Web: www.ics-shipping.com