IMO Focuses on Passenger Ship and Crew Safety at MSC Meeting

IMO Focuses on Passenger Ship and Crew Safety at MSC Meeting

At the recently held session of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 92), important decisions were made regarding improved evacuation of passengers and passenger ship safety as a follow-up on the accident with the cruise ship COSTA CONCORDIA.

The Committee considered the Italian marine accident report that was published shortly before the meeting. On the basis of the accident report, a number of initiatives were considered with a view to enhancing passenger ship safety – especially on large cruise ships.

Another issue was the drawing up of guidelines for the construction of ships that cannot be handled within the framework of existing regulation. Denmark has made an active contribution to this work as it is crucial to promoting innovative solutions presenting the same level of safety as prescribed by regulations. An example hereof is the use of new solutions for life-saving appliances where the guidelines can be used to assess the safety of the alternative equipment.

The Committee re-elected Deputy Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority Christian Breinholt as Chairman and Captain Muhammed Segar from Singapore as Vice-Chairman for the year 2014.

Other issues on the agenda were:

• Denmark’s guide to prevent mooring accidents.

• Piracy.

• Effectivization of the work of the IMO.

[mappress]

DMA, June 24, 2013