Ship safety laws squeeze shipowners further

'Black box' will add more than US$100 000 Alan Peat THE SAGA of safety at sea continues into its first year of implementation, and starts adding extra cost-pressures for ship owners and operators, according to Rob Young, marine director of Unicorn Lines. The early stages focus on such things as all diesel engines having to be fitted with a double-wall fuel injection pipe, and new performance criteria demanding the fitment of specified navigation equipment Ð "And not just anything," said Young. "It must fit mandatory criteria." Among the more significant demands of the new International Maritime Organisation (IMO) legislation, he added, is next July when the voyage data recorder (a seagoing version of "black box") becomes mandatory for most ship sizes and types. "That's over US$100 000 for the VDR alone, plus a network of wiring and sensors," said Young. A year later, the automatic identification equipment (of the transponder type) is a must-fit, he added. "This can be read by shoreside installations, and other ships so fitted," said Young. "It is connected to both the ship's radio system and its global positioning system (GPS), so it gives a position for every message issued." Although aware of the bottom line, he doesn't criticise the intentions behind the new safety rules. Young is from a maritime family, and is highly conscious of the value of anything that should help to reduce loss of ships and life at sea. But the best of intentions cost money, is the way he sees it, and will have to be taken into account in future freight rate calculations. And, with a final look in his crystal ball, Young forecasts that bulk carriers (currently sinking around the world's oceans with monotonous frequency) will follow the current tanker ruling for double-hulls. "It's already there for the tankers," he said, "and single-skin ships are on their way out in a phasing-out scheme."