Owners face "black box" requirements

Citation

(2000), "Owners face "black box" requirements", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 9 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2000.07309dab.007

Owners face "black box" requirements

Owners face "black box" requirements

Governments are moving closer to making it compulsory for ships to install "black boxes" to help solve riddles of accidents at sea.

The navigation sub-committee of the International Maritime Organisation is expected to recommend in the week ending September 24, 1999 a global phasing in of requirements to include voyage data recorders.

Several leading ship-owners already insist on having such machinery. All ships in the P&O group are equipped with voyage event recorders, developed by Broadgate, part of group subsidiary Three Quays International. But the majority of the world's fleet sails without them.

Obligatory

Calls to make the system obligatory have been growing with each major casualty, most recently last month's collision off Margate, England, between the container ship Ever Decent and the cruise ship Norwegian Dream.

The sub-committee, headed by K. Polderman of The Netherlands, will draw up a report for approval by the powerful maritime safety committee in June 2000.

It will tackle the issue as part of a revision of chapter five of the Safety of Life at Sea convention.

Proposals have been made for a new regulation, number 22, which would make black boxes mandatory for existing and new ro-ro passenger ships by July. Other passengerships would have to be fitted between July 2002 and January 2004.

All cargo ships of 20,000 gt and above built after July 2002 would be brought into the regulation by 2004, and for cargo ships between 3,000 gt and 20,000 gt the deadline would be 2006. Older cargo ships would have to meet the requirement between 2007 and 2009, depending on size.

Expense

Black boxes cost around $60,000 and although a modest sum within total new building or maintenance costs of large ships, it is a significant expense for owners of smaller tonnage.

Despite the cost, leading sectors of the industry, including the International Chamber of Shipping, Intercargo and Bimco are backing the move.

During the meeting, representatives of flag states Panama and the Bahamas are expected to make statements relating to the Channel incident.

William O'Neil, IMO secretary-general, while defending the present investigation system, has urged states to conduct inquiries into casualties as swiftly as feasible.

Lloyd's Casualty Week, Vol. 317, No. 13, September 24, 1999.