IMO GUIDELINES FOR SHIPS OPERATING IN POLAR WATERS

International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Resolution A.1024(26); Guidelines for Ships Operating in Polar Water

Revised Guidelines for the Identification and Designation of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas

The document provides the guidance for designating Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas. The Resolution was adopted by International Maritime Organization in December 2005 in order to improve world´s maritime safety, prevention and control over the pollution from ships as well as the other matters with regards to world´s marine shipping

International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, currently in force, was adopted on 1 November 1974 by the International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea, which was convened by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and entered into force on 25 May 1980. The Convention brings out the provisions to ensure that flag ships comply with minimum international safety standards in construction, equipment and operation. It includes articles setting out general obligations, etcetera, followed by an annex divided into twelve chapters

International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL)

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. The MARPOL Convention was adopted on 2 November 1973 at IMO. The Protocol of 1978 was adopted in response to a spate of tanker accidents in 1976-1977. As the 1973 MARPOL Convention had not yet entered into force, the 1978 MARPOL Protocol absorbed the parent Convention. The combined instrument entered into force on 2 October 1983. In 1997, a Protocol was adopted to amend the Convention and a new Annex VI was added which entered into force on 19 May 2005. MARPOL has been updated by amendments through the years

Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea (PAL)

The Convention was adopted at a Conference, convened in Athens in 1974 and was designed to consolidate and harmonize two earlier Brussels conventions dealing with passengers and luggage and adopted in 1961 and 1967 respectively. The Convention establishes a regime of liability for damage suffered by passengers carried on a seagoing vessel. It declares a carrier liable for damage or loss suffered by a passenger if the incident causing the damage occurred in the course of the carriage and was due to the fault or neglect of the carrier

A conceptual model of community dynamics during the transport stage of the invasion process: a case study of ships’ ballast

Aim: After J. L. Lockwood, P. Cassey and T. Blackburn (2009, Diversity and Distributions, 15, 904–910) first described a theoretical relationship between propagule pressure and colonization pressure, two empirical studies demonstrated that the transport stage of the invasion process can profoundly influence the strength of the relationship among multiple events, as well as predictions of introduction risk. However, studies exploring dynamics of transported communities are rare, as repeated-measures sampling during transportation by any vector is logistically difficult. We constructed a conceptual model of community dynamics during transportation and supported it by empirical data for propagule pressure and colonization pressure of plankton. Location: Global. Methods: A conceptual model of community dynamics was developed based on lognormal species abundance distribution and the simulation model of J. L. Lockwood, P. Cassey and T. Blackburn (2009, Diversity and Distributions, 15, 904–910). We considered four cases: case ‘A’ – no reduction in propagule nor colonization pressure; case ‘B’ – strong reduction in propagule and mild reduction in colonization pressure; case ‘C’ – mild reduction in propagule and strong reduction in colonization pressure; and case ‘D’ – strong reduction in both propagule and colonization pressures. Results: The cases ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ were supported by empirical data for invertebrates, dinoflagellates and diatoms from ships’ ballast tanks, respectively. Propagule pressure of invertebrates, dinoflagellates and diatoms decreased 99.95%, 80% and 94% in 25 days, respectively, while colonization pressure decreased 34%, 57% and 64%. Main conclusions: Transport affects both propagule pressure and colonization pressure of taxa, with the magnitude of change dependent on length of transport and taxon-specific survival and reproduction. Our model demonstrates that introduction risk varies substantially across and within taxa depending on the occurrence and severity of selection pressures during transportation which serve to change species abundance distributions

Temporal changes in phytoplankton biomass and cellular properties; implications for the IMO Ballast Water Convention

In the Wadden Sea, the Netherlands, and at L4 in the English Channel, UK, the size class distribution of phytoplankton was investigated with respect to the size range >10–≤50 µm identified by the IMO Ballast Water Convention. Size fractionation using 10 µm mesh filtration showed considerable size bias; 23.1% of >10 µm cells were still present in the 10–≤50 µm size, these were on average 3.6% and 2% in the Wadden Sea and at L4, respectively. In terms of chlorophyll biomass, they represented 28.7% and 12%, respectively. The filtration method resulted in much higher chlorophyll values for 10–50  µm size range: 53.7% in the Wadden Sea and 38% at L4. This overestimation appears to be caused by cells in 6–10  µm size range being retained on the mesh. These findings are relevant in the context of the size class distribution based on flowcytometry and semi-quantification using chlorophyll as proxy for cell density

Who is dominant? Occupational Health and Safety management in Chinese shipping

This paper investigates the implementation of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code in the Chinese chemical shipping industry. In particular, it examines the tension between management focus on speedy production and seafarers’ participation in safety related decision making and analyses how this tension is managed. It shows that while on paper companies have policies stating safety commitment in compliance with the ISM Code, in practice shore management tends to prioritise efficient production. When Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and ship’s sailing schedules are in conflict, managers implicitly request shipmasters to prioritise the ‘core interest’ of the company. Although the ISM Code endows shipmasters with overriding authorities in relation to shipboard safety management, they tend to read between the lines and tacitly follow managers’ intentions. The study suggests that if the ISM implementation makes a difference, it is the practice that managers become more subtle in giving orders to exert their dominance. The study further reveals that the management’s practice is not only irresponsive to seafarers’ safety concerns but also makes rather limited contributions to promote OHS Management