THECHAMBEROFSHIPPINGANNUALREVIEW2011–2012
Oil recovery rules The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is responding helpfully to our calls for oil recovery rules, which will allow the safe engagement of our domestic OSV fleet in work for spills in UK or nearby waters. Until now, much of the UK flag fleet has been ‘locked out’ of such work by outdated regulatory requirements. A catastrophic offshore
Harbour Towage
A new maritime qualification has been developed with specialist towing modules to ensure better training is delivered to the towage sector.
The year 2012 marks the first complete calendar year of the Chamber’s Harbour Towage Panel, and of the associate membership of the British Tugowners’ Association (BTA) – together working to deliver better regulation, training and to raise the industry’s profile among regulators and wider maritime industry stakeholders.
Education, training and certification Following the demise of the National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications, a flexible, modular new framework has been established. Assisted by the Maritime Skills Alliance, Maritime Studies Qualifications (MSQ) units have been placed on the qualifications and credit framework of the awarding body. Following discussions with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), mandatory MSQs with specialist towing components were agreed upon. New Training Record Books, in partnership with the Merchant Navy Training Board, will also feature in the scheme that is to be launched in the spring of 2012.
Maritime Labour Convention A broad agreement between the MCA and the BTA exempting UK flag tugs under 500 GT operating in sheltered waters has been reached. Other regulations with which such tugs are to comply, covering most Maritime Labour Convention (MLC)
SHARED LESSONS
FROM INCIDENTS, INCLUDING NEAR MISSES – BOTH IN THE UK AND ABROAD – ARE BEING REFRESHED THROUGH OPEN REPORTING ACROSS THE TOWAGE SECTOR
provisions, will be realigned to the 2006 convention. Now that the MCA has a better understanding of safety and industry specific issues, especially those affecting tug design, exemptions from the UK regulations may be allowable that would not otherwise be under the MLC.
Accident investigation, salvage and towage The BTA has continued to be proactively engaged in assisting the Marine Accident Investigation Branch reach conclusions and recommendations following incidents involving tugs and workboats. It has been involved in the broader issues of
ETVs and the Coastguard that have faced the industry over the last year, and also in the subgroup drafting new protocol intended to further refine emergency responses under the Coastguard Agreement on Salvage & Towage (CAST).
Statistical analysis Shared lessons from incidents, including near misses – both in the UK and abroad – are being refreshed through open reporting across the towage sector. These and the sharing of statistics will be the subject of BTA safety seminars over the coming months, at its annual conference in April, to create a better understanding of the root causes of ship- handling incidents.
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incident of the sort seen in the Gulf of Mexico remains extremely unlikely within the UK or North Sea sectors, where safety regimes are globally recognised as leading the way. We are supporting the oil and gas industry in making this case to Europe in order to maintain those standards without compromise – in any new legislative framework.
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