IMarEST World Maritime Technology Conference IMarEST World Maritime Technology Conference Key issues in global shipping Speech by Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, London, 6 March 2006 Your Royal Highness, IMarEST President and Chief Executive, distinguished fellow panellists, ladies and gentlemen, It is indeed a pleasure for me to be here this afternoon and to have the opportunity to make the first contribution to what, I am certain, promises to be a most stimulating and lively debate. The organizers have asked me to speak on the topic of "Key issues in Global Shipping", and they have given me just 15 minutes, so, as I am sure you can imagine, the principal considerations I have been grappling with are first, where to start, and, second, what to leave out. In many ways, the major issues in global shipping are the same as those that global society as a whole is currently facing. It goes without saying, of course, that the commercial pressures on shipping to provide quality services at minimal cost continue to grow. Everybody, it seems, wants more for less, although I personally would question whether the ultimate consequences of such an approach have really been thought through. Putting commercial questions to one side, like any industry, but particularly the heavy industries, shipping's environmental credentials are, nowadays, under sharper scrutiny than ever before as global society comes to terms with the understanding that this planet and its resources are not ours to do whatever we choose with. Shipping has to ensure that its activities are sustainable and, in this, I include everything from ship design, construction and equipment, through ship operation, to the final disposal of ships once their economic lives are over. This means that, whatever negative impact shipping may have on the environment, it must be reduced to the point where it is clearly outweighed by the positive benefits that the activity brings. Safety and security continue to be high among the most immediate concerns, both for society as a whole and for shipping, as the tragic loss of the ferry al-Salam Boccaccio 98 in the Red Sea last month and the continued criminal activity by pirates in the waters off Somalia and elsewhere, highlight all too graphically. Let me, in this context, dwell a little longer on the tragic loss of more than 900 lives in the Red Sea accident that I just mentioned. It is most regrettable that it occurred during what was supposed to be a routine voyage between two ports of neighbouring countries and a cause for great concern that accidents of this kind still happen, in spite of the extensive work on the safety of ro-ro passenger ships that IMO has done over many years and, in particular, in the wake of the accidents involving the Herald of Free Enterprise, the Scandinavian Star and the Estonia. I hope that the investigation into the accident, to which IMO has provided independent technical support and advice through our technical co-operation programme, will be able to identify the causes of the disaster and I am determined to ensure that, should it bring to light any areas where remedial action in the international regulatory regime might be required, IMO will move fast to act as necessary. The ship's voyage data recorder (made compulsory by IMO together with associated performance standards a few years ago in the wake of bulk carrier losses disappearing without trace) has been retrieved, by means of a robotic submersible, from a depth of water exceeding 900 metres and the information downloaded from it will, I am confident, assist in determining what happened on the ill-fated ship during the critical hours before her sinking. Whatever the outcome of the investigation, if we turn to consider how some of the global issues, such as safety, security and protection of the environment, manifest themselves within the specific maritime context, perhaps the most urgent concern we may be able to identify lies with the human element in shipping. I remain firmly convinced that the human element holds the key to unlocking solutions to many, if not all, of the problems the industry needs to address today. Take the issue of safety, for example. It is not for nothing that IMO's Maritime Safety Committee has asked all its subsidiary bodies to keep uppermost in their minds, in any regulatory work they undertake, the role of the human element in safe operations; general analyses of marine accidents and incidents have revealed that, given the involvement of the human element in all aspects of marine endeavours (including design, manufacture, management, operation and maintenance), almost all marine casualties and incidents involve human factors. That is why I am convinced that adhering to e-navigation by means of integrated navigational decision-support systems is bound, when utilized effectively, to reduce the burden on the officer of the watch and thus contribute to enhanced safety of navigation and environmental protection. The challenge for the industry should, therefore, be to introduce the technology in ways that benefit navigational safety whilst simultaneously reducing the burden on the navigator. I look forward to Minister Ladyman's speech on Thursday. If shipping can attract and retain an educated, qualified and motivated workforce of high calibre people at all levels, it will be well on the way towards addressing questions such as those I raised before. The pity is that, in recent years, little has been done to make seafaring an attractive career choice to the sort of people it needs - in fact, sometimes it seems that just the opposite is happening. We have seen, for example, the way seafarers have been treated and have also seen moves to impose sanctions on them after accidents and incidents in which they were unwillingly caught up; we have seen both professional and social pressures on seafarers increasing as crew sizes are pared to a minimum, despite workloads that could scarcely be described as diminishing; and we have seen much-needed shore leave restricted and curtailed in the name of tighter security. None of this is desirable. Not all, however, is gloomy in this context, and it was with great pleasure that, last month, I was able to address the 94th Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference as it adopted the new Consolidated Maritime Labour Convention, dealing with seafarers' working conditions. Here is an instrument that is already being hailed as the "fourth pillar" of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping, complementing the three key IMO Conventions, namely SOLAS, MARPOL and STCW, by adding the all-important social dimension. This is undoubtedly a most welcome development which will certainly boost the attractiveness of seafaring as a profession in what today has become a very competitive and international employment market. And this is particularly important when seen against the background of the reported shortage of seafarers that continues to cause concern. The recently released BIMCO/ISF manpower update has provided a more encouraging picture than that projected in the 2000 study, with the global shortage of officers being estimated at around two per cent, reportedly due to increased levels of training in the Asian region. While the updated study indicates that there is an overall surplus of ratings, it also shows that recruitment levels need to be increased to meet anticipated demands, particularly for officers and, at the same time, that it is imperative to reduce the number of officers leaving the industry after only a few years of service. It is important to remember that high quality within the seafaring profession permeates all sectors of the industry. How many marine superintendents, surveyors, inspectors, vessel traffic service operators, pilots, administrators, lecturers and so on have served their time at sea? The ranks of national delegations to IMO are stronger when supported by seafaring experience and I have no doubt that this helps them immeasurably as they grapple with some of the key issues that they have to face during their deliberations at IMO. In the search for quality in shipping (and if anything qualifies as being a "key issue" it is surely this), the regulatory framework plays a major role. Maintaining its relevance and effectiveness is a constant and crucial challenge for all concerned. While IMO may be the principal steward of the international regulatory regime that governs the shipping industry, other stakeholders, notably the industry itself, also bear a responsibility in this respect and it is crucial that they play their part. Important evolutions in the regulatory environment, such as the drive towards goal-based standards, initially for new ship design and construction, and the Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme must be complemented by the simultaneous development within shipping of a sense of corporate social responsibility. In the business world as a whole, many companies are now embracing the view that good environmental and social stewardship actually makes good business sense - the similar social sense and responsibility displayed by the maritime community as a whole in its response to the damage to property and the environment, aids to navigation and fisheries caused by the tsunami disaster on Boxing Day 2004. IMO, in co-operation with IHO and IALA, is contributing to the restoration of the aids to navigation system in the region and in the establishment of an adequate search and rescue infrastructure on the African coast facing the Indian Ocean. Shipping is no different from any other industry in that, both collectively and individually, shipowners and operators need to protect their brand image. They need to be confident that they can demonstrate, to a whole variety of audiences - such as politicians, banks, investors, charterers, insurers, corporate customers and environmental activists - that their ships and their operations are safe, secure and environmentally sound. Nobody, be they ship operators, shipowners or their customers, wants the embarrassment of seeing their ships or their cargo making headlines for all the wrong reasons - reasons, which might include anything from illegal oil discharges, dumping of garbage into the sea, their ships being used for illicit drug trafficking, through poorly treated or abandoned seafarers to a full-blown shipping casualty. So, shipping, as a whole, needs to be able to show that it has, for example, cultivated a reliable and well-trained labour force, and has good environmental, health and safety policies built into its day-to-day operations. Developing and sustaining a safety culture and environmental conscience will do much to enhance its image worldwide. Beyond these considerations, I think something that will become a very important issue for shipping in the near future is the need for some really innovative, "blue skies" thinking about ships and how they work. For some time now, the prevalent trend in ship design has been simply to make existing concepts bigger: thus we have containerships nudging the 10,000 TEU mark and passenger ships the size of small towns. But, in the race for economies of scale, we may be close to reaching the point where size begins to create difficulties of its own - not to mention the impact that the law of diminishing returns may have here. For example, increasing the size of big ships, further to rendering certain ports and terminals useless or established shipping channels extremely hazardous, creates potentially bigger pollution incidents; it has search and rescue implications, too, which is why IMO has, for some time, been re-evaluating the whole philosophy of passenger ship evacuation. The good news here is that, thanks to IMO's consistent, strenuous efforts over the last 25 years, a global SAR plan has been agreed which ensures that not a single square metre of the seas and oceans of the world exists for which Governments have not assumed responsibility for the co-ordination of search and rescue operations therein. This good news apart, the salvage industry has recently warned of its fears concerning the practicality of managing the modern giants of the shipping world from its point of view and ports are now grappling with the cargo handling and logistical implications of ever bigger vessels. Security on board ships and in port facilities has also become a key issue nowadays and Governments and the industry should work hard in unison to prevent shipping becoming a soft target for international terrorism. Environmental concerns, too, need to be addressed with some "outside the box" thinking. Regulatory developments can often be the catalyst here. Research into ballast water management techniques and into new anti-fouling coatings, the development of cleaner fuels and of the engines to burn them, the prevention of air pollution from ships and greenhouse gas emissions have all been influenced by IMO measures already in place or about to become international law. But I think the time is ripe for the innovators in shipping to be even more radical. What about hull designs that do not require ballast when empty? The use of non-fossil fuels for ship propulsion? Total energy utilization on board? Extreme, low-resistance hull designs? The eradication of toxic materials in ship construction to facilitate their safe end-of -life disposal? Shipping needs to nurture the image of a sophisticated, modern, high-tech industry with responsible social and environmental policies if it is to secure the future manpower resource it will require to continue to serve the global economy in the way that it currently does by accommodating the needs of more than 90 per cent of world trade. I find it heartening that many of these and other equally innovative topics will be up for discussion during the course of the various technical sessions that make up this excellent meeting. IMarEST, the organizers of this Conference, have been enjoying consultative status with IMO since 1995 and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for the valuable contribution they make to the work of the Organization. And also to congratulate them for their foresight in putting together such a thought-provoking programme and to thank them for giving me the opportunity to make my own contribution to it. Thank you. NEWSROOM Speeches by the Secretary-General Speeches 2006 Speeches 2005 Speeches 2004 Speeches 2003 Speeches 2002 Speeches 2001 Speeches 2000 Speeches 1999 Mr Mitropoulos - biography Opening speeches of IMO meetings