Maritime Transportation And Shipping Talk

International Maritime Organization also IMO for short is a regulative body that is governing the Marine Industry, especially ships. A major part of their influence is in the sector of Safety. The have control over most Safety Approvals for Equipment used onboard the vessels. Many of the procedures used during Emergencies are a direct result of their vigilant enforcement of rules that have been developed as a result of testing and reporting systems that is in place onboard ships today. New regulations are coming into effect all the time and procedures are in place for verification of compliance. Since so many sailors today are from countries of the third world there is also unscrupulous ship owners that use that as a way out of expenses for equipment that they would have to have if the vessel was manned by modern western world sailors. Many sailors today are complaining that all these procedures are creating too much bureaucracy and there are too many rules. Well, imagine the other way and what could happen if we didn’t have these rules. As said above, some owners would use it as an escape route for not having to spend the money keeping the vessel up to standard. Western world countries does not allow these sub-standard vessels entry into our ports and also the safety on those vessels would have been of such that they would cause a risk to the sailor manning them. In many cases the sailor would not be in any position to do anything as they are in general at the mercy of the owner/operator. Another regulative body that has had a hand in procedures is SOLAS as they have created the main body of regulations for Safety Onboard Vessels At Sea. SOLAS have direct guidelines for procedures and equipment standard that are to be used onboard. They do not give direct approval to equipment manufacturers but they will give guidelines for the use and requirements of the equipment. It is then up to the manufacturer to give proof of compliance. You will see equipment onboard vessels that are marked with a label that says it *MEET* the SOLAS requirements. Anything else is incorrect use of SOLAS labels. Having other approvals marked on labels is ok and you will se approvals according to United States Coast Guard (USCG) and Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). Almost all life jackets have these approvals stamped on them.

First posted in 2005-2006

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