Session I

• those operating on the Baltic Sea ,
Thanks to Mr Guinier we have heard the roles and functions of shipowners associations, the sharing of expertise and practical solutions and their cooperation with regulators. 

• those defining standards,

• enforcing compliance
• those that disseminate information on performance, and
• others.
Richard Clayton pointed out that the general media is not the relevant  party to enhance maritime safety as the general media audience is interested in seeing, reading and hearing more about who is to blame and what went wrong but less interested in deliberating measures necessary to avoid recourse of the same disaster. Only the trade media are qualified to undertake more complex issues.

Session 2 Is the risk concept a fashion or a necessity

This approach to assuring safety at sea created the “regulatory compliance culture” based on a multiple sets of regulations inspection bodies
Instead of the culture of regulations we have to build the culture of safety. It can be done if we apply the deductive approach to the development safety regulations, which means the reasoning from general to the specific. A new more generic safety regime should be developed based on goal based standards safety level approach

To do this we need to apply risk models in which the reasoning from general to specific is applied. Like for example in the form of GBS-SLA presented by Ms. Jost.

The adopted EU strategy for the Baltic Sea region indicated among its numerous priorities  maritime safety as Mr Zachariae mentioned today. The overall ambition of the strategy is for the Baltic sea to become a leading region in maritime safety and security.

The Danish Maritime authority in close cooperation with the Finnish Transport Safety Agency serve as coordinators for the  topic facilitating a policy dialogue among the countries in the region, monitoring and developing projects. A joint regional scenario for the development of maritime safety and security in the Baltic Sea Region is to lead to joint discussions how to plan and prioritise investment in accordance with the future needs of the region.

An example of a tool for assessing risk collision and grounding risk is  IWRAP. Other programmes are in place like the automated detection of abnormal ship behaviour under development.

LNG is said to be the fuel of the future for shipping. Projects are already progressing as Mr Ołdakowski said in his presentation We know LNG advantages in terms of low NOx  and CO2 emissions compared to traditional marine fuel oils and a much lower price - at least today. On the other hand on board a ship we need two times more storage space for a ton of LNG than for a ton of diesel oil, special cryogenic tanks, sophisticated supply systems of LNG to engines. Bearing in mind all the advantages and disadvantages of LNG the question arises whether LNG can be an alternative fuel  in case of big ocean going ships, which cannot refuel that often and whether investment in expensive LNG infrastructure in ports, in our case in the Baltic Sea region, to provide fuel for some small vessels operating in domestic voyages are feasible and rational, taking into account the exclution of SOLAS vessels due to LNG low ignition temperature would like to know you opinion on two topics:

Session 3  industry image

 

Work at sea is generally seen as the work of seafarers and fisherman – professions loosing popularity and considered to be risk related jobs.

In the last two years, two Polish fishing vessels capsized and there was, as always, a sequence of events leading to the capsizing. The reasons are mainly attributed to human related errors. But not only. It happens on small vessels that:

- alterations to hull and equipment are made without appropriate supervision

- that the technical documentation of the vessel is outdated or incomplete

- that some are in poor technical condition due to insufficient financial resources;

- that the small vessels are operated by insufficiently skilled crew.

The safety of a small vessel depends to large extent on its stability. Therefore, it is very important to have a possibility to measure the stability of a small vessel directly on board, without studying its technical documentation.

This was achieved by prof. Pawłowski , who has developed:

- method of direct stability measurement, basing on simple inclining test, and

- stability criterion, enabling assessment of the stability

We have to remember that the technically safe vessel is a necessary condition of safety, whereas safe vessel operation is a sufficient safety condition.

It means that the technical safety of vessel, so often taken for granted, must be assured, as it is a necessity. Nevertheless we can never  underestimate the need for adequate training of the crews
Environmental protection of the Baltic Sea  is today as highlighted issue. The Finnish Association of Shipowners monitor and evaluate the rationality of new environmental regulations from the shipowners point of view helping its members to be frontrunners in putting the mentioned regulations and requirements into practice as Mr Widen said today. We have heard of ongoing environmental aid procedures in Finland and related concerns and hopefully expect authorities of other Baltic countries to introduce measures supporting shipowenrs. State aid for environmental protection is a very valuable instrument and should be continued also in the future. Shipping industry is forced to make huge investments with oncoming more stringent environmental regulations. There is an urgent need for aid mechanisms that are realistic and clear.

Mrs.Anna Stajewska
Polish Register of Shipping S.A.