1.

Introduction to shipping industry

1.1 IMO, ILO, Flag State Administration, Port State Control

1.1.1 International Maritime Organization (IMO)

IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations dealing with maritime affairs. Its
membership consists of (162) signatory and three Associate Members. The chief
purposes can be summarized as:
 to facilitate inter-governmental co-operation on State regulation and
practices relating to maritime technical matters; and
 to encourage and facilitate the adoption of the highest practicable
standards of maritime safety, efficiency of navigation and prevention and
control of marine pollution from ships.

1.1.1.2 IMO organs

IMO’s main organs are its Assembly, Council, Maritime Safety Committee(MSC),
Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), Legal Committee, and Technical
Co-operation Committee.
There is also a Facilitation Committee and a number of sub-committees of the main
technical committees. IMO’s work is mostly technical, and is carried out by the
committees and sub-committees on which sit representatives of the governments of
Member States.

1.1.2 International Labour Organization (ILO)

Like IMO, ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its membership consists of
signatory States, of which there are 175.
ILO’s main purpose is to raise world labour standards by building up a code of
international law and practice. It forms policies and programmes to help improve working
and living conditions, enhance employment opportunities and promote basic human
rights. ILO’s labour standards, when adopted, serve as guidelines for individual countries
to put these policies into action.

1
 1.1.3 FLAG STATE ADMINISTRATIONS
Most flag States regulate their merchant shipping and enforce international maritime
treaty obligations and national laws through the agency of a marine Administration.
This is usually a national governmental organization. e.g. Department of Marine
Administration (DMA) in Myanmar, US Coast Guard (USCG) in the case of the USA.

1.1.3.4 The functions of a flag State Administration are chiefly:

 to set, monitor and enforce standards of safety and pollution prevention on vessels
flying the State’s flag;
 to enforce international standards of safety and pollution prevention on foreign ships
visiting the State’s ports;
 to draw up, set and enforce statutory merchant shipping regulations for the flag
State;
 to survey and inspect vessels in accordance with domestic and international
regulations;
 to set and enforce standards of competency amongst seafarers;
 to investigate accidents involving ships flying the State’s flag and ships of other flags
when in the State’s waters;
 to approve equipment types for vessels under international regulations;
 to advise on matters such as the loading of hazardous cargoes and many other
safety matters;
 to maintain a register of ships flying the State’s flag.

Many flag State Administrations will, in addition, take on a responsibility to work for the
raising of standards internationally and will lead the national delegation at international
committees on which the flag State is represented, e.g. IMO’s Maritime Safety
Committee (MSC) and Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC).

1.2 SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW, LOADLINE

1.2.1 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974
The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of
all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships. The first version was adopted

2
in 1914, in the wake of the Titanic disaster of 1912, the second in 1929, the third in 1948 and
the fourth in 1960 – the first under the auspices of IMO.
The main objective of the SOLAS Convention is to specify minimum standards for the
construction, equipment and operation of ships, compatible with their safety. Flag States are
responsible for ensuring that ships under their flag comply with its requirements, and ships are
required to carry certificates as proof that this has been done. The 1960 Convention required
positive acceptance of amendments – which proved to be very slow. Therefore, the 1974
convention incorporated the tacit acceptance procedure. Instead of requiring that an
amendment shall enter into force after being accepted by, for example, two thirds of the
Parties, the tacit acceptance procedure provides that an amendment shall enter into force on a
specified date unless, before that date, objections to the amendment are received from an
agreed number of Parties. As a result the 1974 Convention has been updated and amended
on numerous occasions. The Convention in force today is sometimes referred to as SOLAS
1974, as amended.
Control provisions allow Contracting Governments to inspect ships of other Contracting States
if there are clear grounds for believing that the ship and its equipment do not substantially
comply with the requirements of the Convention - this procedure is known as port State
control. The SOLAS Convention includes Articles setting out general obligations, amendment
procedure and so on, followed by an Annex divided into 12 Chapters.

1.2.2 The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as
modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78).
The MARPOL Convention is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution
of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. It is a combination of
two treaties adopted in 1973 and 1978 respectively and updated by amendments. The
Convention includes regulations aimed at preventing and minimizing pollution from ships - both
accidental pollution and that from routine operations - and currently includes six technical
Annexes.

1.2.3 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-

keeping for Seafarers, 1978
The 1978 STCW Convention was the first to establish basic requirements on training,
certification and watchkeeping for seafarers on an international level.
The 1995 amendments completely revised the Convention.

3
One of the major features of the revision was the division of the technical annex into
regulations, divided into Chapters as before, and a new STCW Code, to which many
technical regulations have been transferred. Part A of the Code is mandatory while Part B is
recommended.

1.2.4 LOADLINES
Loadlines are marks punched into and painted on the sides of British merchant vessels .
These Plimsoll marks take their name from the politician Samuel Plimsoll (1824–98), who
persevered for many years before seeing a bill through Parliament, in 1876, which resulted
in the Merchant Shipping Act to ensure that a vessel should not be overloaded beyond her
Plimsoll mark or line. The first International Convention on Load Lines, adopted in 1930, was
based on the principle of reserve buoyancy, although it was recognized then that the
freeboard should also ensure adequate stability and avoid excessive stress on the ship's
hull as a result of overloading.

In the 1966 Load Lines convention, adopted by IMO, provisions are made determining the
freeboard of tankers by subdivision and damage stability calculations.

4
 1.3 I SM, SMS, ISPS

1.3.1 International Safety Management (ISM)

International Safety Management (ISM) Code means the International Management Code
for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention adopted by the Organization as
may be amended by the Organization.

Objectives

The objectives of the Code are to ensure safety at sea, prevention of human injury or loss of
life, and avoidance of damage to the environment, in particular, to the marine environment,
and to property.

Safety management objectives of the Company should, inter alia:

 provide for safe practices in ship operation and a safe working environment;

 establish safeguards against all identified risks; and

 continuously improve safety management skills of personnel ashore and aboard

ships, including preparing for emergencies related both to safety and
environmental protection.

 The safety and management system should ensure: compliance with mandatory
rules and regulations; and that applicable codes, guidelines and standards
recommended by the Organization, Administrations, classification societies and
maritime industry organizations are taken into account.

1.3.2 Safety Management System (SMS)

Safety Management System means a structured and documented system enabling Company
personnel to implement effectively the Company safety and environmental protection policy

1.3.2.1 Functional requirements for a Safety Management System (SMS)

 Every company should develop, implement and maintain a Safety Management System
(SMS) which includes the following functional requirements:

 a safety and environmental protection policy;

5
  instructions and procedures to ensure safe operation of ships and protection of the
environment in compliance with relevant international and flag State legislation;

 defined levels of authority and lines of communication between, and amongst, shore and
shipboard personnel;

 procedures for reporting accidents and non-conformities with the provisions of this Code;

 procedures to prepare for and respond to emergency situations; and

 procedures for internal audits and management reviews.

1.3.3 International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code

International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code means the International Code for the
Security of Ships and of Port Facilities consisting of the provisions of which shall be treated as
mandatory and the provisions of which shall be treated as recommendatory as adopted, on 12
December 2002, to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 as may be
amended by the Organization.

1.3.3.1 The objectives of ISPS Code are:

 to establish an international framework involving co-operation between Contracting

Governments, Government agencies, local administrations and the shipping and port
industries

 to detect security threats and take preventive measures against security incidents
affecting ships or port facilities used in international trade;

 to establish the respective roles and responsibilities of the Contracting Governments,

Government agencies, local administrations and the shipping and port industries, at the
national and international level for ensuring maritime security;

 to ensure the early and efficient collection and exchange of security-related information;

 to provide a methodology for security assessments so as to have in place plans and

procedures to react to changing security levels; and

 to ensure confidence that adequate and proportionate maritime security measures are in
place.

6
7