At Cruise Shipping Miami 2015, a panel of experts discussed new aspects of safety at sea, security and environmental issues confronting the cruise industry. Alan Lam reports from Miami.
Since the Costa Concordia accident, various safety-related rules and regulations have been tightened up and better implemented. While IMO seemed to be doing a good deal in introducing new rules, it was clear, from the cruise line’s perspective, the organisation was merely catching up with what cruise lines were already doing.
“What IMO is doing is not a novel idea,” said Bud Darr, SVP, Technical and Regulatory Affairs, CLIA. “The Concordia accident merely brought the issue to fore. We are not going to wait for the regulators to tell us how to operate ships safely. The industry is ahead of the regulatory bodies. Safety features are already built into the ships.”
The panel also highlighted the fact that cruise ships and ferries operated under different safety standards. Cruise ship operators have a more uniformed and generally much higher standard of safety, while ferry operators, especially on domestic routes, were often only subject to national safety requirements, which could be varied in standards.
With the Far East now representing 6% of the global cruise market and continues to grow rapidly, the passenger shipping safety issue in that part of the world was brought under focus. The panel agreed that the industry ought to ensure the safety standard in the Far East matched those of Europe and North America. Andrew Winbow, Assistant Secretary-General & Director, Maritime Safety Division, IMO, suggested that the developed countries should help the underdeveloped ones improving their safety practices, especially in terms of ferry operations,
As the expeditions segment of cruise business expands, cruise ship operational safety and environmental issues in Polar Regions become more pressing. Andrew Winbow confirmed that the Polar Code would enter into force in January 2017, as an extension of the existing SOLAS and MARPOL. The Code will contain both mandatory items and guidelines. “Concern for the environment underlines the Polar Code,” he said. “Global warming is opening up more of the Polar Regions for cruising. Polar Code will become more relevant.”
Cyber threat is another major new safety and security issue of cruise ship operations. Andrew Winbow told the audiance that two documents relating to this subject had been submitted by governments to his organisation and the IMO was already looking at the issue, assessing what could happen in the event of a breach and how to respond to it.
“Equipment on board has a lot of embedded software,” said Philippe Donche-Gay, Chairman, IACS & EVP, Marine & Offshore Division, Bureau Veritas. “We are looking at the safety aspects. You have to be very careful in segregating the networks. It is a very serious issue.”
Cruise ships usually use hardware that is more than five years old. It is therefore important to have the software regularly serviced. And this process itself requires security controls, as access to the ship’s system by an outside technician represents a security risk.
Passenger ship operational safety and security development is an ongoing process that also encompasses shore-side security measures.