PMA seeks revisions to ISM Code

According to an exclusive report by Fairplay, the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) is to make recommendations to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) that revisions be made to the ISM Code in particular with respect to the incorporation of drills that recreate real, practical scenarios.

These recommendations come as the AMP presents its preliminary report to the IMO on the sinking of the Egyptian ferry ?Al Salam Boccaccio 98? last February with the loss of over 1,000 passengers and crew. The report also maintains that greater attention must be focused on ro-ro ferries to ensure that scuppers never become blocked and that alternative means of water evacuation are always provided.

Furthermore, according to the AMP, the type and performance of fixed fire extinguishing systems should also be examined particularly the deluge sprinklers on car decks of ro-ros, to avoid secondary effects of flooding. The report also recommends that ports must strictly enforce security checks of luggage to avoid loading of hazardous material on ro-ro ferries.

The IMO and other international bodies have also been urged to implement further training in rescue operations for seafarers and authorities on routes involving large numbers of people or pilgrims. What was very evident from the outset of this ferry disaster was that the human factor played a very significant role, particularly since this vessel was an elderly ro-ro vessel. It was also predicted that if deficiencies in the onboard SMS were found to be relevant in this accident, any enquiry would probably uncover uncomfortable truths about implementation and compliance of the ISM Code both onboard the ship and within the company ashore, bearing in mind that the Middle East is a region where the policing of such compliance might not be so stringent as within the EU.

Furthermore, this notion would also apply to the policing of onboard safety standards by Port State Control (PSC) and is likely to reiterate the view that in certain Middle East countries enforcement by PSC amounted to a “joke”.