New Course to Reduce Accidents & Costs
With newly released statistics showing marine accidents up on last year and a recent court case, which investigated the deaths of three mariners, resulting in a $461,700 company fine, safety has never been higher on the marine agenda. In response to this, a new training course is being launched to help reduce the number of marine deaths and incidents and save shipping companies millions of pounds in hefty fines and insurance costs. The Designated Persons Ashore (DPA) course is being developed by Maersk Training Centre…
P&I Club Warns of Shipping Claims Increase
Ship owners, operators and their P&I clubs face ever-increasing claims over the next few years, according to the 45 million GT North of England P&I club. Growth in the freight market, a raft of new and revised liability conventions and weakness of the dollar are exposing the industry to greater financial risk and continuing hikes in P&I insurance. According to joint managing director Rodney Eccleston, “Both the value and number of cargo claims have soared in recent months due to unprecedented freight rates, sometimes exceeding cargo values, and because ships and crews are working flat out. The A-rated club says P&I claims values are also increasing due to weakness of the US dollar, which has fallen substantially against most major currencies recently.
P&I Club Publishes ISM Guide
The 'A' rated 54 million GT North of England P&I club has published a second edition of its popular guide for the shipping industry on the International Safety Management (ISM) Code. The first edition of A Seafarer's Guide to ISM, which was published to coincide with the code's phase II implementation in July 2002, has proved an essential shipboard reference and several thousand copies are now in use worldwide. North of England's risk-management manager Tony Baker says: 'Though many companies and seafarers have embraced the ISM as it was intended, we are aware there are others who still have misconceptions about the fundamental ideas behind the code and the way in which a safety management system should be structured and operated.
