Unit 1 - Safety and the shipping industry

Question 1

What can be a problem for meeting business objectives safely and what allowed this?

Answer 1

Certain shipowners and ship operators may not have a long-term view of the business, may operate at a lower safety standard, be competitive on price and may take a significant share of available market.

Historically, this has been possible because some flag Administrations and recognised organisations have not enforced international safety conventions effectively

Question 2

What is Time charter equivalent or TCE?

Answer 2

A meaningful measure of comparison
of earnings in the tramp market;
Ship owners can see daily earnings in
relation to operating costs (It is a meaningful indication of profitability for a particular vessel conducting a particular voyage)

Question 3

Describe how to meet business objectives safely in the maritime industry.

Question 4

Who are the actors in shipping that influence safety? (9)

Answer 4

1. Ship builder
2. Ship owner
3. Cargo owner
4. Insurer
5. Management company
6. Flag State
7. Classification Society
8. Port State Control
9. Suppliers of marine equipment and systems

Question 5

What is the role of the ship builder?

Answer 5

1. Technical standard of vessel
   which often meet minimum
   standards of technical
   requirements.
2. Safety design

Question 6

What is the role of ship owner?

Answer 6

§ Technical standards (above or
below minimum)

§ If not operating ships, selects
management company

§ Selects crew

§ Makes decisions regarding
operations and organisational
safety policies

§ Decides whether technical
standards will be above minimum
requirements

Question 7

What is the role of cargo owner/shipper/charterer?

Answer 7

§ Pays for transport service and
quality and safety of vessel

§ May undertake quality checks of
shipper or ship and operation
(OCIMF SIRE and TMSA for
tankers and DryBMS for bulk
carriers, for example)

Question 8

What is the role of insurer?

Answer 8

§ Takes the main part of the financial
risk on behalf of ship owner
(vessel, cargo, third party)
§ May undertake quality checks (P&I
condition survey)
§ Provides loss control bulletins to
assist members to minimise claims
(P&I Associations)

Question 9

What is the role of the management company?

Answer 9

§ Technical management: upkeep of
ship, maintenance and safe
operation
§ Selects appropriately qualified and
experienced crew and arranges
training

Question 10

What is the role of the flag state?

Answer 10

§ Enforces regulations under
statutory international safety
conventions which have
been incorporated into the
state’s legal system

§ Sets standards qualification
and training of seafarers
sailing on ships under their
flag

§ Conducts periodical surveys
to check compliance with
safety conventions

§ Conducts periodical
inspection to confirm
compliance with flag State
requirements

Question 11

What is the role of the classification society?

Answer 11

§ Set rules for technical standards
for construction, propulsion and
steering, mooring and anchoring
and cargo related systems on
behalf of insurer

§ Undertake surveys and audits to
confirm ships comply with
conventions on behalf of flag State
(Recognised Organisations)

§ Conduct surveys to assess
structural damage after accidents

§ Industry authorities on technical
aspects of shipping

Question 12

What is the role of the Port State Control?

Answer 12

§ Oversees safety in a state’s ports
and harbours

§ Inspects foreign ships visiting ports
to ensure compliance with
international safety conventions
(Port state control)

§ Detains substandard ships or
denies them access to ports

§ Categorises flag States and
Recognised organisations
(including classification societies)
as to performance (white, grey and
black lists)

Question 13

What is the role of Port and terminal administrations ?

Answer 13

§ Determine standards for navigation
within port administrations.
§ Monitor safe navigation of vessels.
§ Provide trained pilots and tug
masters to assist manoeuvring
vessel to and from berths.
§ Require standards of safety and
environmental protection while
vessel moored at their facility.

Question 14

(Advancement in Safety) The development of safer shipping over the years is a result of which
main factors?

Answer 14

Technical advances
Compliance culture
Human factors

Question 15

(Advancement in Safety) Explain the advancement in safety starting from the 1800s to today

Answer 15

see paper

Question 16

(Perceptions of safety within the shipping industry) Why is safety improvement generally slow?

Answer 16

§ Focus on consequences
§ Short memory
§ Complexity
§ Unwillingness to change
§ Selected focus

Question 17

(Perceptions of safety within the shipping industry) Focus on consequences

Answer 17

There is a natural tendency to focus on the consequences of accidents rather than their root cause

§ Often those in organisations are quick to blame individuals or sections of the organisation
§ The cost of dealing with consequences is aften more expensive than dealing with root cause.
§ Dealing with consequences is generally more straightforward and
requires an “engineering solution”

Example: Major oil pollution incidents in the 1970-1990s were mainly as
a result of human error yet the industry required tankers to be double hulled and invest in large amounts of clean-up equipment to deal with oil spills

Question 18

(Perceptions of safety within the shipping industry) Short memory

Answer 18

When operating safely – fewer accidents happen
§ The organisation can become complacent
§ When no accidents occur, people tend not to consider changes
related to safe operation
§ Safety is degraded if there is no wake-up call

Question 19

(Perceptions of safety within the shipping industry) Complexity

Answer 19

Managing operations safely involves the following:
§ Technological issues
§ Human factors
§ Organisational factors

Organisations tend to focus on technical issues as these are easiest to address when considering safety improvements.

§ Organisational issues and human factors are much more difficult to address

Question 20

(Perceptions of safety within the shipping industry) Unwillingness to change

Answer 20

§ Humans are reluctant to change their behaviour, even when they need to address safety critical tasks.
§ Often the need to change is addressed by just changing procedures without really looking at the wider implications.
§ Rather than change procedures or practices, cutting corners is often
seen as a natural way to deal with some operation or maintenance
issue involving safety.

Question 21

(Perceptions of safety within the shipping industry) Selective focus

Answer 21

§ Risk assessment and control is often carried out simplistically due to
the complexity of an issue.
§ It is easier to focus on areas we have experienced or can easily
understand.
§ Identifying operator errors are often not considered (what if an
engineer forgets to operate a valve during a procedure?).
§ Combinations of failures/errors are not considered (what if a tug line parts during a critical manoever and the subsequent reaction results in operating the main engine the wrong way)