Bridge Procedures Guide News

A guide to maritime pilot transfer safety has been updated amid industry concerns about poorly rigged ladders causing severe injuries or fatalities.The ‘Shipping Industry Guidance on Pilot Transfer Arrangements’, produced by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) in partnership with the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA), features a new section with the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s guidance on combination embarkation platform arrangements. Provisions for a ‘trapdoor arrangement’ in combination ladders…

The role of the pilot in mitigating the potential economic and environmental risk from today's large vessels is one of the most important in maritime safety. In recognition of this, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has embarked upon its first comprehensive survey of pilotage, towing and mooring services provided in ports and terminals around the world. The aim of the ICS Pilotage, Towing and Mooring Survey is to evaluate the extent to which established best practice is being followed, such as that recommended by the latest ICS Bridge Procedures Guide. Masters and Bridge Teams are being encouraged by ICS to highlight examples of good practice which make particularly valuable contributions to safety, environmental protection and the efficiency of ship operations.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has published a new edition of the ICS Bridge Procedures Guide, shipping industry guidance on best practice for safe navigation, which is used by seafarers and training institutes worldwide. The fifth edition has been comprehensively revised by an expert working group nominated by ICS’s member national shipowners’ associations, and replaces the previous edition published in 2007. The new edition has been updated to address the 2010 amendments…

The International Chamber of Shipping has announced that it will be making its publications on best practices for shipping companies available as eBooks. ICS will be using the eReader technology developed by Witherby Seamanship Group (WPG), which is now being widely used by many other bodies producing maritime publications, including the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The ICS publications to be made available as eBooks from April 2013 will continue to be published on behalf of ICS by Marisec Publications and will only be available from maritime booksellers.

Chairman of the European Cruise Council and Member of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Executive Committee, Manfredi Lefebvre, made the announcement in Brussels, outlining how these policies have been agreed by the industry and represent the third such announcement from the cruise industries Operational Safety Review. These three new policies, which go beyond even the strictest of regulatory requirements, address the following issues. 1) Passage Planning – although cruise lines have followed IMO guidance on passage planning for many years our policy now deems this to be a mandatory minimum requirement and enhanced by endorsement of the best practices contained in the International Chamber of Shipping’s Bridge Procedures Guide.