International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko), Oslo, has published a review of legal implications of the forthcoming International Safety Marine (ISM) code for all shipping.
The code will be introduced July 1, 1998, for tankers and gas carriers and other bulk transport ships and July 1, 2002, for a number of other vessel types, including mobile offshore units.
After the deadlines, ships not certified under the ISM code will not be allowed into ports in International Maritime Organization (IMO) member countries.
What it does
The ISM code will set out general principles and objectives for a safety management system that must be established in every shipping company.
Simon Tatham, partner at international law firm Stephenson Harwood, London, is the report's main author.
He told OGJ that while ISM is a code-and not legislation-it is of great significance for the petroleum industry.
"The top end of the tanker market will already have safety management systems in place," said Tatham, "and these will require at best tweaking to bring them in line with ISM.
"Other shipowners, which have been operating on a shoestring, will have to put a lot of work in to do a safety management system properly, and this will be both time-consuming and expensive for them."
Tatham explained that checking ISM compliance is the duty of flag states, but they have delegated assessment to vessel classification societies.
Inspectors will visit vessel operators' offices to see that internal safety management systems meet requirements before they check that the code is being applied to a particular ship.
If these conditions are met, the inspectors will write a certificate of compliance for the ship.
IMO recommends this be renewed every 5 years, with an interim check roughly halfway through the license period.
Certificate critical
"An ISM certificate could be fundamental for the tanker industry," said Tatham, "because of the way it will impact owners' legal rights, liabilities, and insurance, for example."
Legally, said Tatham, the ISM code will impose a new standard of care across the shipping industry, which courts will look at objectively in the case of an accident or oil spill.
"In the past," said Tatham, "it has been difficult for courts to say what safety standard shipowners should live up to.
"Now the ISM code will be treated as the minimum acceptable level a company must achieve."
Tatham said the code requires a documented safety management system, and this will be the first thing authorities will look for after an accident or oil spill.
"Those who fall short of the code's standard," said Tatham, "will find themselves more exposed to legal liability in the courts. Those who comply will find it easier to defend themselves."
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