CALLS have been made today for safety checks on shipping movements at ports to be doubled.
The Transport Committee is concerned about safety in harbours after hearing evidence that marine pilots, who guide ships in and out of ports, do not feel the Department for Transport understands their concerns and the requirements of their work.
Committee chairman, MP Louise Ellman said: “Overall, UK ports have a good safety record but where problems occur there can be terrible consequences in terms of loss of life, pollution and damage to property.
“We cannot tell to what extent ports follow Government guidance on port safety because most fail to confirm to Government that they comply with the guidance.
“There are also few publicly available statistics about accidents and near-misses in ports. This has to change.”
Harwich Haven Authority, the pilotage authority for Harwich harbour, including the routes in and out of the Port of Felixstowe, Britain’s busiest container port, handles around 7,400 vessels a year.
The authority is hugely proud of its safety record and always publishes statistics. In 2011 – the latest year for which data is available – there were no serious incidents involving ships and just three minor accidents where there was little or no risk to personnel or the environment.
In 2010, there were no major incidents and nine minor ones.
The Transport Committee is calling for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to double its safety inspections to eight a year, and ports to be required to publish statistics on accidents and near-misses.
Stephen Bracewell, chief executive of Harwich Haven Authority, said safety was very much at the top of the agenda for harbours and ports, adhering closely to the marine safety code, and pilotage was as important as other activities when it came to ensuring vessels and personnel were operating in a safe environment.
He felt it could take a decade to put in place statutory rules which suited all the different types and sizes of harbours around the country and the government already had the option of removing a harbour’s operating licence if there were problems or major breaches of safety.
He said: “I think such work is totally unnecessary as we have an excellent code of practice. We are very proud that we were part of the working group which developed the code, which has high standards and has been embraced as a world leading document.”
UK – Any reduction of standards concerning movement of freight, whether by road, air or water needs deep reflection before being instituted and the union Nautilus International (formally NUMAST) which represents the interests of the professional seafarers from the masters of vessels through to harbour masters and all other classes of senior personnel connected with the maritime industry backed a report by the Transport Committee which calls on the Government to drop a clause in the Marine Pilotage Bill relaxing the requirements for Pilotage. General Secretary, Mark Dickinson, said:
“Nautilus International presented a strong case for the continuation of certificates to be granted to “bona fide” masters and first mates, and we are glad the committee has accepted these arguments. However, we are concerned that the committee has left the door open to the government by stipulating what measures should be put in place should the government decide to go ahead with the changes. We believe the requirements should be tightened, not relaxed, as the existing regime means that some certificates are already issued inappropriately.”
The Union told the Committee that if the regulations were relaxed there would be questions over whether a junior officer would have sufficient experience and authority to go onboard and immediately take command of a vessel in difficult and busy waters.
The Union has also questioned whether the removal of the requirements would leave the UK in contravention of IMO resolution A960 on maritime pilots which requires standards to be maintained, developed and enforced. "These restrictions are in place for a good reason," Mr Dickinson added:
‘We do not want see a rise in accidents.’
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