Intertanko, the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, is cracking down on safety.
At its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., the group noted that as of last Jan. 1, all member companies' tankers must meet construction and safety standards set by an approved international classification society. Intertanko's 300 members own 80% of the world's tankers.
Much of the meeting focused on the status and effects of U.S. insurance and operating regulations issued under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act (OPA).
OPA CRITICIZED
Westye Hoegh, chairman of Lief Hoegh & Co. AS, of Norway, complained OPA's broad brush threatens "to wipe out the responsible as well as the irresponsible ship owner.
He said the U.S. could make many operational reforms to mitigate the risk of accidents, such as dealing with draft and mooring problems at major tanker terminals and updating navigational charts.
The U.S. Coast Guard's program to control shipping traffic at 12 ports by 2000 "has so far all boiled down to paperwork and planning at very high costs, without taking real action," Hoegh said.
Rear Adm. Eugene Henn of the Coast Guard was impatient with OPA criticism. "I get tired, as a regulator, listening to the whiney snivelings of some of the owners. Quit looking at the costs of OPA and start looking at them as an investment" against costly losses, he said. Henn lauded the law as the "best thing since sliced bread," prompting an Australian delegate to reply he could no longer enjoy sliced bread.
PUBLIC EDUCATION NEEDED
William O'Neil, International Maritime Organization (IMO) secretary general, urged the tanker owners to do more to educate the public, the media, and politicians on the benefits of tanker shipping.
"When an accident happens it is somehow assumed the tanker was transporting oil because of some whim of the owner, not because the cargo was needed by people on land. Whenever a pollution incident occurs it is almost taken for granted the ship involved is substandard, the crew is incompetent, the owner is a rogue, and the flag country has no safety standards whatsoever. "
O'Neil said the public is suspicious of the often secretive shipping industry. For instance, he said insurance firms and classification societies never reveal the names of substandard ships, letting them continue getting cargoes.
He said later this month IMO's maritime safety committee will consider establishing a database on ships that could have a positive influence on safe operations.
O'Neil warned that governments are increasingly impatient with the shipping industry. He noted the U.S. Coast Guard plans to increase boardings of ships flagged by 15 countries to check for safety and pollution violations.
"Many governments and sections of the industry-the classification societies, the insurance interests, ship managers, and othersare showing a welcome determination to raise standards and weed out the bad apples that are threatening the whole shipping basket."
Copyright 1994 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
