Page 10 - The flag March 2016

BAHAMASCasualty reporting and investigationCASUALTY & INVESTIGATIONS, BMAShip operators put immense effort into prevention but accidents still happen and probably always will.Causes range from human error through to equipment or materials failures but serious casualties must be investigated to determine whether they could have been prevented by regulation. This principle has been incorporated in the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea since at least the 1948 SOLAS Convention.The BMA has been responsible for meeting the obligation to investigate, also found in UNCLOS 1982, since its establishment in 1995 taking account of IMO guidance in the conduct of investigations.The SOLAS amendment of 2008 to bring in Regulation XI- 1/6 together with the mandatory “Code of the International Standards and Recommended Practices for a Safety Investigation into a Marine Casualty or Marine Incident” (known as the Casualty Investigation Code) provided a step- change in marine casualty investigation practices. The Code set out to standardise approaches to investigation practice and reporting with a view to enhancing the safety of life at sea and the protection of the marine environment.The BMA has implemented the Code in full and investigates all “very serious marine casualties” that is, any which involve the total loss of the ship or a death or severe damage to the environment. However investigations are also conducted on other incidents following an initial assessment of the potential to have led to danger to persons on board or to serious pollution.In 2015 BMA’s Casualty and Investigations Department received a number of incident noti cations from Bahamas ship operators. These ranged in severity from minor “cuts and bruises” injuries through signi cant res to, in the worst case, the total loss of a vessel with multiple fatalities. Every report received was carefully reviewed to assess the need for a formal investigation and nine on-site investigations were instigated. The investigation report on the most serious casualty was prioritised and has already led to action at IMO to review regulatory requirements.Reporting requirements are contained in BMA Bulletin 04 and were most recently revised in November 2015 to include reporting of occupational health matters and noti able disease as required by the Maritime Labour Convention. The Department can be contacted by email at [email protected] for assistance on any matter related to any accident or incident.SHIPOWNERSASSOCIATIONBY JOHN ADAMS, CHAIRMAN2015 has been a productive year for the Association. We continue our active participation in the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) – in particular the ICS Board and ICS Marine Committee. We also participated as a member of the ICS MBM Working Group, in preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference – COP21 in Paris.u JOHNADAMS,CHAIRMAN&KENDANIQUEFERGUSON,SECRETARY,BSAOne of the most signi cant pieces of legislation that our industry has been grappling with, is of course the IMO Ballast Water Convention. At the time of writing, the Convention has not yet reached the required conditions for entry into force. Although IMO con rmed that 47 states have rati ed, it stills falls short of the required level of 35% of the world merchant shipping tonnage. It is now anticipated that the Convention will not enter into force until 2017 and the BSA, in close liaison with BMA, will provide guidance and recommendations to members – as well as updates on the USCG position.The BSA has been working with a number of Bahamas maritime stakeholders, including the BMA, LJMMA, BMCC, with the objective of de ning requirements and expectations for the creation of a structured Cadet Program – including the provision of training berths/sea-time, certi cation, sponsorship, and career package. We should applaud the efforts of the BMA in becoming an examination/ certi cation authority – this was considered ‘mission critical’ in achieving a primary aim of the project. The ultimate objective is to move to a more proactive approach regarding cadet sponsorship and sea-time berths going forward.During 2015 the BSA met with Paris MOU in The Hague and the USCG and EPA in Washington DC as a joint-delegation with the BMA. Common to all of these meetings is that discussions were positive and constructive, with a degree of candour which can only be achieved in ‘face to face’ meetings. We also held a Board meeting and hosted a BSA reception during London International Shipping Week; attended the ICS Board meeting; and participated in the ICS Conference. These10events were considered a huge success that helped enhance BSA’s pro le as a proactive association.In 2016, we will continue the tradition of arranging our Board meetings around other meetings with maritime authorities, associations, and events, and I look forward to further progressing BSA strategies and objectives.WWW.BAHAMASMARITIME.COM