WHO MAKES THE RULES?

Source: WatchKeeper

Extract from Maritime Press Clippings – 10.01.2010

Regulation keeps ships and those aboard them safe and secure and the sea clean. But who makes the regulation and is it always “fit for purpose”? Just as one often hears complaints that laws are made by politicians and lawyers without much practical knowledge of their likely effect, how often are maritime regulations impractical because there has been insufficient input into them?

The ultimate test of any regulation is how much it takes notice of the human element – the people who, at the “coal face”, will have the job of implementing what the regulation demands. And indeed, how much input did those people who will be the ultimate “users” of the regulation manage to insert into what was eventually decided by the lawmakers?

This important issue forms the focus of the latest Nautical Institute Alert! Bulletin, which suggests that regulators need to be super-sensitive to the human element and the effect their rules will have on the practical operation of ships.

There are some 160 flag states represented at the International Maritime Organization, but exactly how many of the distinguished delegates reflect the views of practical shipping people, mariners and the like, as they devise regulation and see into the various conventions?

Some member nations are notably effective in this respect, with mariners and operators on their delegations. But others may receive practical input only indirectly, and have little relevant expertise to hand.

It is one reason why the attendance of BIMCO at the IMO, International Labour Organisation and other fora is so important. BIMCO brings with its observers a great deal of practical, up to date, operating experience, and is able to transmit this through its interventions. It is helping to keep regulators on the right path.

Three years ago, as there seemed some concern about whether human element matters were being properly considered in regulation, there was an important development at IMO, when the organisation introduced its “Checklist for considering Human Element issues by IMO bodies”. It is a useful and significant breakthrough, although it is only a recommendation, and the test must surely be whether it is making any difference in the various IMO committees, sub-committees and working parties.

Alert! suggests that it should be “the benchmark for addressing the human element in the development and implementation of all international, regional and national maritime conventions and instruments, and for the development of company rules and regulations”. It is difficult, surely, to argue with this assertion.

But if those making regulations are to make the right decisions, they themselves need to have the right knowledge and skills, or at least easy access to somebody with the practical experience. Several years ago at one of the IMO Navigation sub-committee meetings, important work was being done on electronic charts. On this particular occasion, the delegates’ deliberations were greatly assisted by a group of practising shipmasters, who were on hand with various displays in the delegate’s lounge, and were able to explain their views as practising navigators. That was direct input from the human element, and very useful it was too.

It may not be possible to have such expertise readily available on all occasions, but it is important that an effort is made to reconcile upcoming legislation with the human element checklist. The result will be so much better! 

Gedeeltelijke Verkiezing van de Raad van Bestuur - Election partielle du Conseil d'Administration

PROFIEL DER KANDIDAAT-BESTUURSLEDEN 

PROFIL DES CANDIDATS MEMBRES DU CONSEIL

STEMFORMULIER 

BULLETIN DE VOTE

(pdf)

STEMFORMULIER 

BULLETIN DE VOTE

(Word)

JAARLIJKSE ALGEMENE VERGADERING 02.03.2010

REUNION GENERALE ANNUELLE 02.03.2010

see details on the CRMB-KBZ AGENDA



_____________

Gedeeltelijke Verkiezing van de Raad van Bestuur

Election partielle du Conseil d'Administration

Het mandaat van volgende raadsleden komt te vervallen:	Le mandat des membres du Conseil suivants s'expire:
J. Cuyt, I. De Cauwer*, J-P. Gobillon, C. Maerten, M. Nuytemans, J. S’Jegers*, D. Van Belle, D. Vanderplasschen, N. Vanlaer
Stellen hun mandaat ter beschikking:	Mettent leur mandat à disposition:
M. Nuytemans, D. Van Belle, N. Vanlaer
Stellen zich opnieuw kandidaat voor een nieuw bestuursmandaat :	Se portent à nouveau candidat pour un nouveau mandat:
J. Cuyt, I. De Cauwer*, J-P. Gobillon, C. Maerten, J. S’Jegers*, D. Vanderplasschen
Stellen zich kandidaat als nieuw lid van de Raad van Bestuur:	Se portent candidat comme nouveau membre du Conseil :
J-L. André*, T. Coornaert*, M-E. De Cocker
Het mandaat van volgende raadsleden loopt door tot 2011:	Le mandat des membres suivants continue jusque 2011:
A. Annaert, P. Blondé, W. De Schepper, C. Dewilde, A. Dubetz,  C. Lefevere, W. Mazijn, H. Van Herendael, Y. Verniers
Ieder effectief lid heeft het recht zijn stem uit te brengen. De leden die niet aanwezig kunnen zijn op de JAV van 2 maart e.k. kunnen hun stem uitbrengen via huidig Stemformulier. (versturen per brief, fax of e-mail) Stemmen per volmacht is eveneens mogelijk. Gelieve de kandidaat of kandidaten met uw voorkeur aan te duiden (geen limiet).		Chaque membre effectif  a le droit de voter. Les membres qui ne sauront être présents à la RGA du 2 mars prochain peuvent voter en utilisant le présent Bulletin de Vote. (à envoyer par courrier, fax ou e-mail) Vous pouvez également voter par procuration. Veuillez marquer le ou les candidats de votre préférence (sans limite).

2009 Worldwide piracy figures surpass 400

IMB report : 2009 Worldwide piracy figures surpass 400

IMB Live Piracy Map 2010

Other links:

The Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa)

EU NAVFOR SOMALIA

NATO Counter Piracy Operation Ocean Shield

EU Security and Defence on YouTube

ReCAAP : Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2009 Worldwide piracy figures surpass 400

International Maritime Bureau Thursday, 14 January 2010

Graph showing increase in piratical attacks over the past four years A total of 406 incidents of piracy and armed robbery have been reported in the 2009 annual piracy report issued by the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC). The last time piracy figures crossed 400 incidents was in 2003. 2009 is also the third successive year that the number of reported incidents have increased with 239, 263 and 293 incidents reported in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. The report states that worldwide in 2009, 153 vessels were boarded, 49 vessels were hijacked, 84 attempted attacks and 120 vessels fired upon – compared to 46 ships fired upon in 2008. A total of 1052 crew were taken hostage. Sixty eight crew were injured in the various incidents and eight crew killed.  The level of violence towards the crew has increased along with the number of crew injuries. The total number of incidents attributed to the Somali pirates stands at 217 with 47 vessels hijacked and 867 crewmembers taken hostage. Somalia accounts for more than half of the 2009 figures, with the attacks continuing to remain opportunistic in nature. In 2008, 111 vessels were targeted by Somali pirates resulting in 42 hijackings. Whilst the number of 2009 incidents has almost doubled, the number of successful hijackings is proportionately less. This can be directly attributed to the increased presence and coordination of the international navies along with heightened awareness and robust action by the Masters in transiting these waters. IMB Director, Captain Pottengal Mukundan stated that, “The international navies play a critical role in the prevention of piracy in Somalia and it is vital that they remain.” 2009 has however seen a significant shift in the area of attacks off Somalia. While the 2008 attacks were predominantly focused in the Gulf of Aden, 2009 has witnessed more vessels also being targeted along the east coast of Somalia. Since October increased activity has been observed in the Indian Ocean with 33 incidents reported, including 13 hijackings. Thirteen of these last quarter incidents occurred east of the recommended east of 60° east – including four hijacked vessels. Many of these attacks have occurred at distances of approximately 1000 nautical miles off Mogadishu. Captain Mukundan continued, “Motherships have traditionally posed as fishing vessels or dhows to avoid detection. Reports of such crafts so far from the coast should be questioned and investigated.” Twenty eight incidents were reported for Nigeria in 2009. Of these 21 vessels were boarded, three vessels were fired upon, one vessel was hijacked and three Masters reported an attempted attack on their vessel. One crew was reported killed as the robbers tried to escape after looting the vessel. Vessels attacked include, general cargo, bulk carriers, reefers, and all types of tankers. The majority of incidents related to the oil industry and fishing vessels go unreported. Information from external sources would suggest at least a further 30 unreported attacks occurred in Nigeria in 2009. Captain Mukundan added, “The Nigerian attacks are however much more violent in nature than Somalia, localised but with the capacity to attack vessels and installations further from the coast. The incidence of violent attacks against ships has also spilled over into neighbouring states.” Indonesia is again applauded for their tireless efforts in curbing piracy and armed robbery in its waters. There continues to be a year on year decline in the number of incidents, with 15 incidents for 2009, the majority opportunistic in nature. Only two incidents were reported in the Malacca Straits – the same as in 2008. This is the second year in a row where incidents in the Singapore Straits have increased. Nine incidents were reported in 2009 as compared to six in 2008. Of these six vessels were boarded and three reported attempted attacks. Thirteen incidents were reported by ships steaming in the South China Seas. This is the highest number of incidents in the previous five years. Of these eleven were boarded, one vessel was hijacked and one reported an attempted attack. In some attacks the bridge crew was physically removed from the bridge for a short period of time – leaving the vessel effectively “Not Under Command.” Even though there has been significant improvement in the safety and security of the SE Asian and Far East waters there still remains an underlying potential for incidents to increase without any prior warning. The pressure on the pirates and the robbers has to be maintained by the littoral states and the constant physical presence in the waters. Bangladesh (Chittagong) has shown a slight increase in the number of attacks as compared to 2008. Most of these have been opportunistic. Of the 17 vessels attacked, 14 were boarded and ship stores stolen. Most of the incidents have taken place within the Chittagong anchorage. Thirty seven incidents have been reported from countries in the South American continent as compared to 14 in 2008. Twelve incidents have occurred in the anchorage of Callao in Peru in 2009 compared to five the previous year. Other countries affected are Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Haiti and Venezuela. Most of these attacks were successful and were carried out while the vessels were berthed in port or while at anchor. This is a similar trend as in 2008. The IMB strongly urges all Shipmasters and Owners, to report all incidents of actual and attempted piracy and armed robbery to the IMB PRC.  This is the first step in the response chain and vital in ensuring that adequate resources are allocated by governments to deal with the problem. A set of transparent statistics from an independent, non-political, international organisation such as the IMB PRC acts as an effective catalyst to achieve this goal. IMB offers quarterly piracy reports free of charge. To request a PDF version of the report by email, please click here. Latest attacks may also be viewed on the IMB Live Piracy Map. For further information please contact: Captain Pottengal Mukundan Director, IMB

Project "Corporate Communication for Maritime Purposes" - Part 2

The survey document in pdf format is available here:
Corporate Communication Survey Part 2


 Dear Sir or Madam,

Last November, we asked you to participate in our research project investigating how linguistic and cultural elements impede and/or facilitate communication in the merchant marine. As explained in our
first mail, our research centres on three short questionnaires and your assistance in completing these is crucial. The response to the first questionnaire has been very positive and we would like to thank you for taking the time to participate.

Although the deadline for the first questionnaire was January 10th we are sending the second one now, hoping at the same time to remind any late respondents that they may still complete the first questionnaire and return it to us with the second. We will send the third and last questionnaire at a later date. Hopefully, by that time, we will also be able to report some of our initial findings.

We would greatly appreciate if you could complete and return the second questionnaire to us by the 5th February 2010. In line with the first questionnaire, the questions have been strictly formulated and we estimate that answering the second one should take approximately 15 minutes of your time. The second questionnaire also contains a short additional section, designed for student research purposes. The latter should take no more than a few minutes of your time. Please be assured that all data of a personal nature will be treated with the utmost confidence.

If you have access to the Internet, please complete the questionnaire online. The online questionnaire can be found at the following address
http://magelhaes.hzs.be/.CCMAR
Access the link either by clicking on it here or by cutting and pasting the address to your web browser.

Alternatively, if circumstances prevent you from accessing the Internet, you may complete the questionnaire by opening the Word document in attachment. Once you have completed the form please mail it to us at
ccmar@hzs.be

A third option is to print the PDF document in attachment, complete the questionnaire and then post it to us at University of Antwerp (Lieve Vangehuchten, Prinsstraat 13, B-2000 Antwerpen).

If you require a more detailed explanation (of any kind) about the content of this mail please do not hesitate to contact us. 
Our contact details are given below.

May we take this opportunity to thank you in advance for assisting us with our research.

Kind regards,
           


Willy Van Parys                   Hogere Zeevaartschool   
willy.vanparys@hzs.beTel.: 03 205 64 62
 
Lieve Vangehuchten           Universiteit Antwerpen  
 lieve.vangehuchten@ua.ac.be
 Tel.: 03 265 41 41                                                                            



Details for  Part 1 can be found here:

Project "Corporate Communication for Maritime Purposes" - Part 1



 

JAARLIJKSE ALGEMENE VERGADERING 2010 REUNION GENERALE ANNUELLE

VERKIEZING RAAD VAN BESTUUR 2010 - ELECTION CONSEIL D’ ADMINISTRATION 2010

_________

De Jaarlijkse Algemene Vergadering 2010 van het Koninklijk Belgisch Zeemanscollege zal plaats vinden op

dinsdag, 2 maart 2010 om 19u00

in Salons De Boeck, Jacob Jacobsstraat 39-41 te 2018 Antwerpen.

Op de Jaarlijkse Algemene Vergadering zal een deel van de Raad van Bestuur worden vernieuwd. De uittredende raadsleden die zich herkiesbaar wensen te stellen, en leden die zich kandidaat wensen te stellen als nieuw Bestuurslid, dienen hun kandidatuur schriftelijk (brief, fax of e-mail) in te dienen op het secretariaat vóór 20 januari 2010. De aanvraag moet ondermeer vermelden: plaats en datum van geboorte, het rijksregisternummer, datum van aansluiting bij het KBZ, hoogste brevet of diploma, de huidige functie.

La Réunion Générale Annuelle 2010 du Collège Royal Maritime Belge aura lieu le

mardi, 2 mars 2010 à 19h00

aux Salons De Boeck, Rue Jacob Jacobs 39-41 à 2018 Anvers.

Lors de la Réunion Générale Annuelle le Conseil d’Administration sera partiellement renouvelée. Les membres du Conseil qui désirent renouveler leur mandat, ainsi que les membres qui désirent se porter candidat comme nouveau membre du Conseil d’Administration, doivent présenter leur candidature par écrit (lettre, fax ou e-mail) avant le 20 janvier 2010. Leur candidature devra mentionner e.a : lieu et date de naissance, numéro du registre national, date d’adhésion au CRMB, diplôme ou brevet le plus haut, l’emploi actuel.

Het mandaat van volgende raadsleden verstrijkt op                              Le mandat des membres du Conseil suivants se termine

                        2 maart 2010:                       le 2 mars 2010:

J. Cuyt – I. De Cauwer* –  J-P. Gobillon – C. Maerten –

M. Nuytemans – J. S’Jegers – D. Van Belle – N. Van Laer

*varende leden / membres navigants

JAARLIJKS DINER / DINER ANNUEL

Aansluitend aan de Jaarlijkse Algemene Vergadering op dinsdag 2 maart worden de leden en hun partner uitgenodigd op het jaarlijks KBZ-diner om 20u00 in Salons De Boeck, Jacob Jacobsstraat 39-41 te 2018 Antwerpen.

Après la Réunion Générale Annuelle du mardi, 2 mars, les membres et leur partenaire sont invités

pour le dîner annuel du CRMB à 20h00 aux Salons De Boeck, Rue Jacob Jacobs 39-41 à Anvers .

Details & Reservation see HERE 

INDEX NAUTILUS 2009

The index of all articles published in the Nautilus during 2009 can be found HERE .

SAVE US FROM THE IGNORANT

Sean Moloney

Ship Management International

Issue 22 – Nov/Dec. 2009

By the time you will be reading this, shipping's future may have already been decided at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference (COP15). The extent to which shipping is praised or vilified will be for the negotiators and diplomats to determine and the extent to which the industry, through the work of the International Maritime Organisation, will be allowed to determine its future over greenhouse gases (GHG) will also be seen.

The shipping industry, unsurprisingly, is fully behind the IMO as the only body able to regulate GHG emissions from ships and it fully supports the IMO process to develop real and sustainable GHG emission reduction regulations from ships that will not hinder international commerce. There is also a strong principle that GHG regulations should be ship and flag neutral.

In its recently published policy statement on GHG emissions from shipping, the tanker owning body INTERTANKO said it recognised the importance of working with other stake-holders to ensure the maximum efficiency of both new ships and existing ships. It also believed that short and long-term target levels for GHG emission reductions from ships should be ambitious but realistic, and provide incentives for sustainably achieving them.

As this industry is always telling itself, shipping is the most environmentally-friendly transport mode there is and should be recognised as such. My only concern as we enter the COP15 discussions, is whether shipping has done enough to convince the global community of the worth of its green credentials?

Difficult to say, but what is easy to comment on is the complete drivel that seeped from the uneducated and uniformed pens of the Daily Mail journalists writing just three weeks before COP15 about shipping's bad environmental and economic record. Headlines such as "How 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world" and "Sharks off the British coast: Oil tankers refuse to unload until prices rise... keeping YOUR fuel costs soaring" vied for prominence with such ridiculous in-text commentary as "...the super-ships are rogues on the high seas, operating under pollution standards long since banished on land, warming the planet and killing its inhabitants".

This anti-shipping propaganda is appalling and has to be tackled at source. The shipping industry has no choice but to act to improve its image. If it is to come under the general media spotlight, then action needs to be taken and this has to be industry-wide. It is too late to sit tight and hope the world realises the important role shipping plays. That message has to be thrown strong and hard back at the naysayers who ridicule the effort shipping undertakes to ensure trade continues, in whatever form.

Both InterManager and INTERTANKO have called for greater industry-wide cooperation on issues that affect them both. Indeed, InterManager will be attending its first Round Table (of Shipping Associations) meeting in mid-December (albeit as an invited guest) to discuss issues of common interest and its inclusion is welcomed, there is no doubt about that. But this must be the start.

The shipping industry has to start speaking as one voice on all issues and its voice must cross vessel, industry sector and geographic boundaries. It must educate the regulators, it must further educate the indoctrinated and it must inform the ignorant. If we are proud of our shipping industry then we have to stand up and be counted as an industry.

If the world wants transparency it must get it, warts and all. But with all that honesty and openness, must come an understanding of the pressures facing shipping. And just as a hard-hitting report from the Tokyo-based Ocean Policy Research Foundation think-tank warns about a potential 364,000 shortage in seafarers by 2050, the stakes are clearly getting higher.