Volume 3, issue #11 - 03-04-1998

Feb. 24, 1998 AT least 90 % of the world's tankers are expected to comply with tough new maritime safety regulations by the July 1 deadline, according to the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko).
But Intertanko, which has 264 company members operating 1,900 tankers world-wide, has restated its intention to get tough with members who fail to meet the deadline, and expel them from the organisation.
"There could be a catastrophic impact on some members," chairman Richard DuMoulin said. He noted that vessel charterers would be reluctant to do business with companies that do not meet the International Safety Management Code.
Mr DuMoulin said 68 % of Intertanko members had received ISM documentation and others were well advanced in the safety inspection process by the end of last year.
"We are pretty confident it will be over 90 %, but beyond that I cannot tell you," Mr DuMoulin said. "We have given fair warning to our members. We are the tanker industry association.It would look very bad for anyone to be kicked out".
He said Intertanko is working closely with the US Coast Guard and the European Commission "to show that we are sincere in what we are doing".
He added: "We back the Coast Guard's implementation plan. We are calling for tough enforcement. We want this to work and we are beginning to get very tough with each other."
Mr DuMoulin is chairman and CEO of New Jersey-based Marine Transport Lines, which operates 22 tankers, all of which have received ISM certification. He said that although the cost was high - about $750,000 - his company would save money in the long run because of lower insurance premiums.
He said tanker safety had improved dramatically over the last 20 years because of pressure from the public, horrified at the effects of oil spills around the world. "Clearly, from the public point of view, the image of the tanker industry has been awful, because the public for the most part only sees tankers that are terrible. They don't see tankers that deliver oil safely," he said. "The public is much more aware of oil pollution than loss of life on other (bulk commodity) ships. The industry has made huge improvements in safety, but it has done a terrible job communicating this to the public. In order to successfully improve our image, we had to improve our operation."
Intertanko managing director Dagfinn Lunde said Vancouver was chosen for the last executive committee meeting because it is becoming a centre for international shipmanagement, attracting firms such as Norwegian-owned Teekay Shipping, which operates a fleet of 50 vessels, the world's largest fleet of mid-sized tankers.
He said other well known companies, such as Valles Steamship Co of Hong Kong, had moved their head offices to Vancouver to take advantage of a change in Canadian tax laws that made them exempt from tax in Canada on their world-wide shipping enterprises.