Robin Bradley News

Excessive inspections and a growing number of regulations are doing little to improve safety at sea, according to Robin Bradley of IACS. Speaking on the first day of the Lloyd's List Events Tanker Safety conference in London on 21 September, Bradley said that although politicians and the public are looking to class to eliminate sub-standard ships, this expectation can far exceed the actual role and reach of classification societies. According to Bradley, the solution lies in a more efficient implementation of rules and better co-ordination of inspections. "The way to go is for class and IACS to convince the industry of the quality and reliability of their work…

Similarities were emerging between this week's loss of the tanker Kristal off Spain and a number of other recent tanker disasters, leading to warnings of an industry-wide crisis. The products tanker Kristal broke in two in heavy seas northeast of Coruna, Spain, on Tuesday with the loss of four lives and seven crew still missing. The remaining 24 crew were taken safely to shore and the 28,000 ton cargo of molasses is not considered a pollution risk. Nicola Squassafichi, CEO of RINA, the Italian classification responsible for the Kristal's annual surveys, warned of an emerging pattern of damage to tankers. "Following the recent incidents…

Richard Leslie has been appointed as permanent secretary of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). Hi will succeed Robin Bradley, who is retiring. Leslie, a former Chief Executive of British Marine Mutual, will join the IACS Secretariat in London and will take over the post of Permanent Secretary towards the end of the year. Richard Leslie headed British Marine Mutual Insurers of c.8000 ships worldwide from 1992 to 2001. Previously, he was managing director of the offshore electronics and survey group Oceonics. Prior to his move to Oceonics, he spent some years with Christian Salvesen’s specialist shipping companies.