Marine Regulations & Guides

The present official publication was prepared and released to serve as a good companion to the industry FAQ document on the subject of verification of the gross mass of the packed containers transported on board ships, and expands the content of the original publication. It was developed on the basis of the joint efforts of the leading industry experts representing different organizations such as the WSC, standing for the World Shipping Council, Global Shippers Forum, TT Club and others.

There are three major sections making the main body of the document. The section A is covering the requirement for the accurate gross mass, application of the enforcement tolerance threshold to the determination of compliance with relevant requirements of SOLAS convention, i.e. the content of the industry FAQs A6, A9, A10 and A12. The section B addresses the industry FAQs nos. B1, B3, B4 including list of the wieghbridges available publically, verified weighers and container handling equipment accuracy.

The section C is devoted to the Method 2 implemented by UK MCA. Three appendices at the end of the document cover testing and examination of the AWI, i.e. automated weighing instruments used for the verification of the gross mass, weighbridges and requirements to the weighing equipment.

This compact leaflet was released by HSE Executive to explain to the readers what they may need to do as the employers to protect their employees while they are working in enclosed, or confined, spaced. Note that the booklet will also be found useful by the self-employed people. The original intention of the authors was to provide industry with the description of the actions that are necessary to be taken in order to meet all applicable requirements of the Control Spaces Regulations.

Unfortunately there are so many people injured and even killer in the enclosed areas each ear. This is sad truth in many industries including shipping industry. And the people who were killed were not only people who were actually working but also ones trying to rescue them. The confined spaces include any enclosed spaces where a serious risk to human life and health is presented due to the presence of various dangerous conditions and/or hazardous substances.

Some of the enclosed spaces are very easy to identify, for example spaces with limited number and size of the openings, however others may be not obvious at all but they are equally dangerous, these would typically include ductwork, vasts, poorly ventilated spaces, combustion chambers etc.

This is the official IMO released publication providing seafarers with the required guidance relating to the recovery techniques. Recovery of the people from water is one of the things that seafarers may encounter while working on board ships. This may be someone overboard from their vessel, such as a crew member or passenger, or their vessel may be responding to the emergency signal received from another ship.

In many regions, particularly when out of range of the SAR, i.e. search and rescue, facilities based ashore, your vessel may actually be the only rescue unit available, or the first one to be there in time. Most of the vessels are required to have plans and procedures covering the recovery of people from water, and the plans shall be ship-specific. You capability will become a matter of highest importance would you be required to participate in any recovery operation.

It means that every person engaged in such activities shall be aware of the above mentioned procedures and plans and be prepared to follow them. The process of recovery is not easy and may actually be even more complicated by the size of the vessel, physical capabilities of people to be recovered, movement between the ships and craft alongside, and other aspects all of which shall be taken into consideration...

The present compact booklet is primarily aimed at the employers and managers as well as others who are assigned the responsibility for the human health and safety in the workplace. However, the content of the leaflet will also be useful to the employees and representatives of safety departments. The risks in the workplaces shall be controlled at all times as the integral part of health and safety management program of any business.

When controlling risks, the assigned people shall think and understand what could cause harm to the workers and make a decision on whether the reasonable measures have been taken to prevent the harm, and this is the risk assessment. In fact, risk assessment if required by law. It should be clearly understood that the risk assessment is not creating tons of papers - it shall rather be treated as the identification of the sensible and correct steps to provide the required control over the risks that may be presented in the workplace.

Of course, all managers and employers always take steps for protecting their employees, but properly carried risk assessment will help them decide if everything has been covered. Have a look in this small booklet to have better information about risk assessment. We also recommend you to take this course on risk assessment and watch this training video about marine risk assessment.

The results obtained during the studies that have been conducted in several countries show that different species of plants, bacteria and marine animals will survive in the ballast water commonly carried in the tanks of marine vessels, and they will be alive even after the marine journeys lasting several months or more.

The discharge of the shipboard ballast water or sediment upon arrival of the vessel at port may eventually result in establishing various pathogenes and aquatic organisms that are actually harmful. This, in turn, may lead to serious threats to the human, plant and animal life - and to the marine environment in general.

The potential negative effects of the discharge of shipboard ballast water have already been recognized by the IMO and WHO paying due attention to how the ballast water may contribute into spread of the epidemic bacteria. The present IMO guidelines shall not be treated as the certain solution of the above mentioned problem.

In fact each part of the document would better be viewed as a instrument which will help to improve the situation and minimize all risks commonly associated with the discharge of ballast water, of course when applied correctly...

The present Code was released by the ILO with the intention to serve as a concise yet complete set of recommendations developed on the basis of the established good practice in the shipping industry. The advise provided in this volume will be useful to all persons and entities directly concerned with the health and safety in marine port works including employers and official authorities, equipment suppliers, manufacturers, workers and others.

It should be noted that some of the provisions of this document may not apply to all regions and all countries. Sometimes they will have to get adapted to the local conditions. The history of the international maritime shipping port industry dates back to the very earliest days of human civilizations. And since then the industry has developed so steadily. But the methods of handling shipboard cargo that used to be quite dangerous and arduous remained same until that time when the containers and ro-ro systems were introduced.

There have been numerous significant technical developments since that time. This volume starts with the general provisions followed by the information on the infrastructures of the ports and associated equipment, lifting appliances and their safe use, operations afloat and on shore, handing of the dangerous goods, PPE, health issues etc.

The main objective of the present manual was to provide all required guidance related to the safety of the crew members on board all ships engaged in supporting and servicing various offshore facilities; another intention of its authors was to facilitate reduction of the risks commonly associated with offshore marine operations. This would particularly be related to the operations of the vessels and offshore facilities.

The best practices that have been summarized in the pages of this publication mainly reflects ones adopted in the NWEA, i.e. North-West European Area, but may actually be applied globally. The opening section of the document is introductory and provides information about its purpose and use, structure and style, hierarchy of the authorities involves, local or regional supplements etc. The next section covers the abbreviations used throughout the document together with the terminology definitions. The third section is dealing with the responsibilities and roles of the parties, and it is followed by the section addressing operational risk management issues.

The remaining sections of the guidebooks have been devoted to the certification and training, competency and manning, operational communications and meetings, collision risk management, cargo handling operations and bulk cargo handling, MOU moving, anchor handling operations and many other important aspects of the marine offshore activities.

The present handbook has been designed and subsequently released by the IOM Ship Registry with the intention to be used by the Masters as well as senior officers of the vessels registered under the flag of the Isle of Man. The main purpose of the document is to provide them with the use-friendly source of information related to the IOM Merchant Shipping regulatory documentation together with the administrative processes that are normally required to properly run the vessel.

Note that the procedures contained in this book may be different from the procedures established for the vessels of other flags; the main idea of the handbook is actually to give some simple guidance on the most important areas. The opening chapters of the handbook are covering the STCW and ship manning requirements, work and rest hours, reporting accidents and provisions of the MLC 2006 convention.

Then the authors have paid due attention to the port state control activities and procedures, issuance of the shipboard certification paperwork, surveys and audits carried out on board, shipboard equipment including the newly introduced LRIT systems, refugees and stowaways, shipboard lifting gear and appliances, log and record books, and many other issues.