Just prior to the 111th session of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee, a group of IUMI members and IACS representatives met for our annual Technical Meeting. For the first time the exchange was scheduled for an entire day rather than a few hours since in the past the discussions had to be cut short due to time constraints. The agenda was once again packed: Issues ranging from improved fire safety on container ships, vehicle carriers in relation to low-pressure fuel pipes, measures to avoid containers being lost overboard, the prevention of blackouts, cyber security and safe digitalisation, alternative fuels and safe decarbonisation, to name but a few.
The bilateral meetings with numerous experts from various IACS Panels are extremely insightful and often enable avenues for cooperation such as the ongoing collaboration on the prevention of fires caused by low-pressure fuel pipes. Cefor, the Nordic Association of Marine Insurers, has been central in providing information on root causes of such fires which in turn facilitated the drafting of a successful proposal for a new work item on this topic at the IMO.
IUMI’s delegation also learnt about a new scoring methodology for Recognised Organisations (ROs) used by the Paris and Tokyo MOUs. This will have implications for ROs and potentially marine insurers as well. An aspect which IACS is concerned about are inconsistencies of Port State Control Officers’ assessments. There are differences between deficiency types that are largely objective such as documentary absence and those requiring a greater degree of professional judgement (e.g. interpretation of equivalencies or the assessment of “serious deterioration”). For the latter, PSCO training and qualification requirements should be extended because where PSCO qualification or arrangements are uneven, similar technical or operational situations may be handled differently from port to port or officer to officer. This can create uncertainty for masters, companies, ROs, administrations and ultimately also marine insurers because it may be unclear whether a matter reflects a ship-specific deficiency or a difference in inspection practice. IUMI will engage with IACS to consider ways on how best to address this issue.
IUMI would like to thank the entire team at IACS who have made the bilateral exchange so valuable. A special thanks to Robert Ashdown, Ajay Kumar, Andy Gibbins and Puxing Liu who made the meeting possible and generously hosted us at the IACS office in London.
Many thanks also to all IUMI members involved in the discussions and delivering presentations:
- Helle Hammer, Cefor – The Nordic Association of Marine Insurers
- Mikkel Gardner Andersen, Gard AS
- Neil Roberts, Lloyd’s Market Association
- Rahul Khanna, Allianz Commercial
- Sebastian Kempka, KA Köln.Assekuranz Agentur GmbH
- Svenn Andersen, Norwegian Hull Club
- Steinar Sivertsen, Norwegian Hull Club
We look forward to the continuation of our successful cooperation on the many crucial issues that were discussed in our meeting.
