Ship & Boat International: eNews April 2018
The Lloyd’s Register Foundation (the Foundation) plans to publish two insight reports later this year, focusing on safety within the fishing vessel and passenger ferry sectors.
The reports, one for each sector, are largely based on input gathered during a Foundation workshop hosted in March this year. During this event, experts from countries including Canada, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand shared their thoughts and recommendations on how to forge and maintain stronger and viable safety cultures within the fishing and ferry segments – described by Foundation chief executive Richard Clegg (pictured, right) as being “two of the most hazardous occupations globally”. The Foundation points to an annual death toll of 24,000 across the fishing industry and 3,000 in the ferry sector, with the majority of fatalities by far occurring in developing countries within Asia and Africa.
The reports will thus advocate “the most impactful actions to maximise lives saved in each industry”, the Foundation says. Attention has been paid to vessel design, construction and maintenance, as well as regulatory issues, human factors, safety training and certification, weather factors and safety equipment. Clegg adds: “The workshop and insight reports have brought together some of the best minds in the world to help us understand the problem and arrive at evidence-based recommendations.”
Tom Boardley, LR group director of external affairs, adds: “There is much work to be done…to ensure the best practices in the fishing and ferry sectors are applied more consistently globally. Only then will safety standards in these industries be more comparable with other parts of industry, where global regulation has resulted in much better performance and consistent improvement.”
