Page 4 - The Flag March 2018

uINDUSTRY VIEWS
CRUISE LINE INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION (CLIA)
It has been an action-packed two months since I took the helm as the Senior Vice President, Global Maritime Policy at Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
I come to CLIA with more than 40 years of maritime experience, including 36 years of service in the United States Coast Guard. The oceangoing cruise industry has always impressed me, and I look forward to leading the collaborative efforts between CLIA and its Cruise Line Members as we continue raising the bar on safety and promoting environmental stewardship.
2018 brings an assortment of regulatory and policy improvements that are relevant to the cruise industry. Improvements range from the entry into force of the STCW amendments on passenger ship-specific safety training, the development of the ISO Publicly Available Specification for man overboard detection technology, the publication of the 2018 Vessel Sanitation Program Operations Manual and Construction Guidelines, and development of an initial international strategy for the
reduction of greenhouse gases from shipping. Initiatives we are focusing on this year include improvements to the safety of survival craft and automatic sprinkler systems, advocating for a ban on the carriage of non-compliant fuel unless using an approved alternative compliance method to meet the requirements of the 0.5 percent global sulfur cap in 2020 and a program aimed at promoting environmental sustainability throughout the cruise industry.
This industry never stops trying to improve, especially when it comes to enhancing safety for passengers and crew and promoting environmental sustainability initiatives. Our responsibilities are vast, and we strive to live up to them every single day through safe and responsible operations carried out by the fine professionals on board CLIA Cruise Line Members’ ships.
INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF SHIPPING (ICS)
In the last 15 years, the focus of shipping regulation has shifted toward enhancing its environmental performance. It would be too strong to say that this has been at the expense of ship and crew safety but the environment has certainly been given an unprecedented level of emphasis.
Readers will not need reminding of the current batch of expensive environmental regulation with new carriage requirements and even a change the type of fuel to be burnt. Global shipping regulation is designed to provide a level playing field whereby each ship is treated equally and the associated costs are the same regardless of the operator, the flag State or the nationality of the crew – the principle of ‘no more favourable treatment’ is strongly supported inside the walls of the IMO.
But the principle is being undermined outside the IMO building by States that somehow feel that they can serve their own interests better through parallel and often divergent rules, applied to ships of all flags that serve their national trade and ports. The failure to regulate on the
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basis of an international consensus is not confined just to shipping in a world that seems to have forgotten the strength and safety of acting in concert. But perhaps the impact of this move toward nationalism has its greatest impact on shipping, the most global of industries.
This industry is, rightly, under pressure to optimise the efficiency of its operations but unilateral rules challenge the quest for efficiency by increasing bureaucracy and making yet more demands on crews and on the machinery they operate. The impact of these demands is not confined to efficiency but may very well also threaten the safety of those operations.
It is time to look again at the nature of international shipping in all its facets and to focus on global rules applied consistently across the world.
u PETER HINCHLIFFE, ICS SECRETARY GENERAL WWW.BAHAMASMARITIME.COM
u VICEADMIRALBRIANSALERNO(USCG,RET.), CLIA’S NEW SVP OF GLOBAL MARITIME POLICY