During June 5-14, the IMO Maritime Safety Committee held its 101st session. Please note the excellent summary report from our friends at DNV GL.
 
From a ferry perspective, I can complement DNV GL's summary by noting that much time was spent on discussing fuel safety issues ahead of the 2020 global sulphur cap and the development of interim guidelines for testing of autonomous ships, none of which have any implications that are specific to the ferry industry.
 
The MSC approved new draft interim guidelines on ro-pax fire safety, which is an area where Interferry has been very engaged over the past few years. Together with industry partners, Interferry raised concerns that some aspects of the guidelines where not well enough discussed and although voluntary in nature, guidelines should avoid recommending construction measures unless properly justified.

For instance, the draft interim guidelines stipulates safety distances for Life Saving Appliances in relation to openings in ro-ro decks, but those very distances were taken from an EU study which clearly caveats that the distances need further research. It would be very unfortunate if a few new ships between now and the next proper SOLAS amendments follow such guidance when they can soon turn out to be inaccurate. Many member states shared the concerns raised by us and it is clear that application of the guidelines must be done in a pragmatic manner.
 
Building on a proposal originating in the UK to review the testing standards of life jackets, the MSC agreed to establish a new output called “The in-water performance of SOLAS lifejackets”. This has caused some concerns as to the perception of the safety levels of existing life jackets, but we must not avoid working with incremental improvement – even if some see a potential phase-out threat for the existing stock of millions of life jackets. The member states usually understand the implications of over-doing things.
 
By far the most exciting outcome of the session was that the MSC agreed to establish a new output on “Measures to improve domestic ferry safety” building on a proposal from China and with explicit support from the IMO Secretary General. Interferry has been working with the IMO for a long time, urging the organization to engage more deeply in domestic ferry safety in developing countries, since this is almost without exception where we see fatalities in the ferry industry.

With this new output and work plan established, we will have a much better defined platform for our continued involvement. I always say that over the past decades, the international community has invested 99% of its passenger ship related safety resources to address only 1% of the problem. Hopefully now we will see a strong turnaround.
 
Finally, many thanks to Serge Buy of the Canadian Ferry Association for standing in as our spokesperson for parts of the deliberations!

Johan Roos – Director of Regulatory Affairs, Interferry