Maritime Reporter recently was
afforded the opportunity to tap
the minds of leading executives at
five top Classification Societies
to discuss emerging trends in the
maritime industry.
What do you consider to be the most signif-
icant changes in the marine industry over
the past 20 years?
ABS: As a classification society, our
focus is on the overall safety perform-
ance of the maritime industry and of the
role that technology can play in improv-
ing that performance. From this perspec-
tive, there is no doubt that the single
most important difference between the
international shipping industry of today
and that of 20 years ago is the astonish-
ing improvement in the overall safety
record. By every available statistical
measure - whether it is the loss ratio of
vessels by number or by tonnage or
whether it is an analysis of the amount
of ship sourced oil that enters the marine
environment - the safety performance of
the industry has improved and continues
to improve year on year. For example, in
1984 there were around 225 vessels over
500 gross tons were reported as total
losses by underwriters. These aggregat-
ed some 1.5 m gt. Twenty years later, in
2004, the number had dropped to just
over 80 vessels barely aggregating
500,000 gt. In the period 1970-79 the
marine industry averaged 25.2 oil spills
of more than 700 tonnes each year. In
the 1980's the average dropped to 9.3
spills per year. In the period 2000-03
this had been further reduced to just 3.5
spills. This provides clear evidence that
the international maritime safety regime,
of which classification is a part, is doing
an outstanding job in raising standards
and driving the sub-standard operator
off the world's oceans.
BV: The significant changes which have
affected shipping are:
• The speed of globalization of ship-
ping, which is the world's most open and
global market at every level.
The technical advances in scale we
have made. Twenty years ago ships were
small and specialized, at every level we
have improved efficiency enormously.
The focus on the environment
which has led to major technical and
operational changes
Finally, and topically, the move to
common rules.
GL: The introduction of containerships
is a success story unparalleled in the his-
tory of shipping. Containerization has
been, and continues to be, one of the
most dynamic maritime developments
in recent times, as evidenced by the fact
that the number of containers worldwide
has increased from 100 million to 300
million over the past 12 years.
Shipping has changed due to a number
of international conventions which regu-
late more and more issues that used to be
covered by classification rules only.
During the past 10 years European legis-
lation has been dealing with maritime
issues, especially technical safety
requirements. These safety demands are
often reaching further than those of the
IMO.
LR: I believe that the dramatic improve-
ment to the safety of life at sea, the
introduction of the ISM Code, the
increasing legislation of tankers and the
intensified political pressure that this
represents and the emergence of Korea
and now China as a major shipbuilding
nation are the most significant develop-
ments.
Briefly discuss these changes, the impetus
for them, and their impact on the marine
industry.
BV: When most people in developed
countries knew someone who worked in
shipping or who had been to sea, and
when most people could see ships if
they went to a port town, shipping
seemed real and relevant. Today it is out
of sight, and so out of mind unless there
is an accident. Couple that with the
effect of globalization, which has made
shipping much more efficient but which
has broken the links between owners,
flags, and communities, and an
increased awareness of the environment,
and the recipe is there for massive reac-
tions to accidents. So ships have got big-
ger, and more efficient, and run by
cheaper crews, while the public has got-
ten more suspicious of shipping. This
leads to greater regulation, and some-
times overreaction by politicians.
GL: Hardly any other ship type is so
directly connected with the world econ-
omy and with world trade than the con-
tainership. The international division of
labor will lead to doubling of containers
within the next 10 years. The demand
for more transport capacity will stimu-
late the demand for larger and faster
ships as well as an increase in feeder
ships.
LR: Safety of life at sea: The marine
industry has seen a steady decline in the
total losses of ships over the last 20
years from four per 1,000 ships at risk to
about one per 1,000 at risk, while the
average age of the world fleet has
increased from 13 years to just over 21
years and ship numbers from 73,500 to
90,120 ships. In this period, classifica-
tion societies have introduced enhance-
ments to the survey inspection regimes
for the higher risk ships - tankers, bulk
carriers and general cargo ships - by
increasing the scope and intensity of the
surveys as the ships age. Singly and
within IACS, classification societies
have worked with IMO, the EU and flag
states to define and improve legislation.
ISM Code: The impetus for the ISM
Code was the Herald of Free Enterprise
disaster, in which nearly 200 people
died. The enquiry into the disaster found
that the lapse which led to the ship tak-
ing on water and capsizing was due to a
series of management failures running
through the organization from top to
bottom. In response to the disaster, IMO
adopted Resolution A.647(16),
Class Society Q&A
From the Head of Class
18 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
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