Health & Safety

The Container Ship Safety Forum (CSSF) has released a statement to call for a reinvention of the lifeboat onboard cargo vessels so safety can be improved. According to CSSF, over the years, many seafarers have been injured – some of them fatally – while launching the lifeboat during evacuations or evacuation drills. This has nothing to do with the lifeboats not being compliant with safety standards, but simply because the launch of a lifeboat is a dangerous task to perform.

“For way too long, we have seen able seafarers being injured when launching lifeboats even though crews have been trained and the lifeboat is modern and fully compliant,” said Aslak Ross, Chairman of the CSSF. Continue reading “Cargo ship lifeboats need to be reinvented”

On Sunday 19 September 2021, fire broke out in the auxiliary engine room on board the Finland registered roll-on/roll-off cargo ship Finnmaster while departing Hull, UK. The fuel source for the fire was identified as coming from a small-bore flexible hose that failed due to being overheated by an exhaust gas leak from the outboard turbocharger of auxiliary engine 2.

The flexible hose assembly was part of a modification made to the auxiliary engine alarm system more than 15 years prior to the fire. It was contrary to requirements and relevant guidance, as it was too long and had been routed close to hot surfaces. The hose had not been approved or surveyed by the classification society when it was installed. Continue reading “MAIB Safety Bulletin: Potential safety hazards from flexible hose installations”

The Salvage Committee of the International Group (IGP&I) has drafted new guidelines in collaboration with the Joint Marine Claims Committee (JMCC) to help improve cooperation in the handling of shipping casualties.

The protocol document aims to promote more effective communication among the parties involved, ensuring the prompt deployment of emergency response services to ships in distress. The ‘Guidelines for casualty Continue reading “Guidelines released to improve cooperation in the handling of shipping casualties”

The coming together of five organisations with shared visions for the safety and security of global trade will take advantage of unified information and data sources to bring greater awareness and understanding of issues with the goal of producing preventative output.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on 16 March 2023 by representatives of the following five organisations:
Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme Continue reading “Industry groups agree common action on crucial safety issues”

The IMO Ship Systems and Equipment Sub-Committee (SSE) Session 9 took place from 27 February to 3 March 2023. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the technical and operational requirements for systems and safety equipment on ships.

Lloyd’s Register has issued a helpful summary report that includes an executive summary for those requiring a general overview, but also more technical information for those who would like more detail on the discussions that took place.

Key highlights and outcomes from SSE 9:
– Finalisation of the draft International Code of Safety for Diving Operations (Diving Code). Continue reading “IMO Ship Systems and Equipment 9: Key highlights”