Loss Prevention Advice
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Failure to comply with company procedures regarding entry into enclosed spaces can be fatal. This key shipboard operation sadly continues to cause injury and take lives every year, and in the following, we briefly deal with the hazards, regulations and procedures involved in entering enclosed spaces.
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Cargo liquefaction and dynamic separation have been the cause of a significant number of vessel losses, with many crew deaths. There have also been many near misses, with vessels developing significant stability issues due to these phenomena.
Although shippers are obligated to provide safe cargo, the Club continues to see incidents where this is not the case. Section 8.4 of the IMSBC Code details a test procedure that the Master and crew may use for determining the possibility of liquefaction – the Can Test. It is strongly recommended that dry bulk cargoes declared as Group A or which have a large proportion of fine material are subjected to regular can testing before and during loading.
Unfortunately, we have seen that this testing procedure is often carried out incorrectly, which can give false reassurance regarding the suitability of the material for shipment.
Watch relevant video at the following link.
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The IMO Legal Committee, 110th session, that took place 21-26 March, 2023, welcomed the adoption of the Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships, on 7 December 2022, by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
The UN General Assembly authorized a signing ceremony for the Convention to be held during September 2023 in Beijing and recommended the Convention to be known as the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”. The General Assembly calls on Governments and regional economic integration organizations to consider joining the convention to strengthen the international legal framework for shipping and navigation.
UN explain that in most States, courts have the authority to order the sale of a ship to satisfy a claim that is brought against the ship or shipowner. Such a claim is typically brought to foreclose a ship mortgage (in the event of default in repayment) or to enforce a maritime lien against the ship.
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During IMO Legal Committee, 110th session, that took place 21-26 March, 2023, the IMO adopted resolution (LEG.6(110)) to provide Guidelines for port State and flag State authorities on how to deal with seafarer abandonment cases.
The Guidelines on how to deal with seafarer abandonment were adopted by the first meeting of a joint International Labour Organization (ILO)–International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tripartite Working Group, which met in December 2022, following development by an intersessional correspondence group reporting to the Legal Committee.
According to the IMO/ILO joint database of abandonment of seafarers, from 1 January 2022 to 23 December 2022 a total number of 109 new cases have been reported. Of these 109 new cases, only 41 had been resolved.
Overall, IMO noted that there is an alarming spike in cases of crew abandonment. In 2020, the total number of reported cases was 85 and of these, 50 cases had so far been resolved. In 2021, the total number of reported cases was 95, and of these, only 47 have been resolved. Approximately 21 of the cases that were reported since 1 January 2020 were related to the COVID-19 pandemic, further exacerbating the crew change situation of seafarers at the time.