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| Sanmar Shipping Limited |
| From crow’s nest to ISPS Code |
| Sanmar Shipping gears up for new IMO legislation |
| C V Subba Rao |
| The Titanic sank in calm and clear weather
conditions—albeit at night in the Atlantic Ocean. Motorists
used to city driving in India, will find it difficult
to fathom why the ship could not see the iceberg in such
clear visibility. The iceberg was seen almost at the last
minute by the two lookouts seated in the “crow’s nest”.
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| The accident resulted in one of the
first regulations in respect of Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS). The naval architect who designed the ship and
claimed it was unsinkable also perished with the vessel.
His claim was evidently taken quite seriously: the vessel
was not provided with enough lifeboats. Ships built since
then are provided with lifeboats whose seating capacity
must match the ships’ complement carrying capacity. |
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| The sinking of the single hull tanker Erika
in late 1999 brought forth a series of measures in the shipping
business, especially the oil trade. Issues such as the phasing
out of older tankers, single hull vessels in particular, over
a specified time schedule gained ground and owners with strong
interests in shipping worked steadily to replace their fleet.
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| Following the 11 September 2001 attacks in
New York, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) set
in place new security-related procedures for the industry and
the ISPS Code (International Ship & Port Facility Security Code)
will come into force on 1 July 2004. It calls for ships and
ports to incorporate certain safety procedures, train designated
officers ashore and on board ships as Company Security Officers
(CSO) and Ship Security Officers (SSO) with verification of
the systems by Recognized Security Organizations (RSO) nominated
by the member governments, at pre-determined intervals. |
| Sanmar Shipping achieves a first |
| Even as issues like the Condition Assessment
Program (CAP), the Ballast Water Management Plans, and the Ship
Emergency Response Service were brought to the fore by industry
majors, Sanmar Shipping marched ahead and implemented the plans
under approval by Lloyd’s Register by 2001. Sanmar Shipping
is the first shipping company in India to gain Lloyd’s Register
Ballast Water Management Plan Certification. |
| Efforts are vigorously underway to implement
the ISPS Code. The company has now arranged with Det Norske
Veritas (DNV) to train in-house Company Security Officers, and
take the first step forward in implementing the code. |
| In a related development, Sanmar Shipping’s
representatives, P Viswanathan and C V Subba Rao met the vetting
departments of oil companies BP and Shell in London in May 2003.
Both BP and Shell have acknowledged that Sanmar vessels have
not given any room for complaint. Sanmar’s officers and crew
on board the vessels have also come in for high praise in this
regard. |
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| Sanmar believes in quality in every
sphere of its activity. The effort to restructure the
fleet portfolio is one such initiative. While a significant
amount of work has been completed, involving sale of older
bulk tonnage, Sanmar is actively pursuing a strong restructuring
strategy, which over the next few months will involve
reducing the age profile of the tanker fleet. Sanmar Shipping
believes it is on track to rejuvenate this volatile and
transnational business of the Group. |
| The author is Assistant Vice President,
Sanmar Shipping. |
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