Passenger Ship Safety Consultation Launched by EU

A 12-week public consultation to review passenger ship safety has been launched by the European Commission.

The proposals are based on more than two years of intensive work and outline the Commission’s priority actions to safeguard passenger safety on domestic and international crossings.

The three pronged approach targets promoting industry voluntary measures, enforcing existing rules and adopting new legislation where necessary. Such as updating rules for roll-on-roll-off ferries to improve stability if they incur damage.

Speaking at a conference in Brussels, Vice-President Kallas said: “Tragic accidents, from the Titanic to the Costa Concordia, put ship safety in the spotlight. There are always lessons to learn from such disasters, but we are not just waiting for the next accident to happen. It would be foolhardy merely to respond after the event. The EU has the toughest ship safety rules in the world and this is the result of a process of continuous improvements, proactive and preventative measures to raise maritime safety standards.”

Following the Costa Concordia cruise ship accident in January of this year, some issues have been raised specifically addressing larger passenger ships. Therefore the Commission is seeking feedback from the maritime field in particular on the current arrangements.