Shipbuilders Need Closer Global Ties

2014-09-14

CESS, Committee for Expertise of Shipbuilding Specifics (CESS) held its annual meeting in Nantes, France on 28 August, 2014 where the member associations from Japan, Europe, China, Korea and U.S.A. gathered and discussed key issues surrounding the global shipbuilding industry, in particular, the reduction of GHG emissions from ships, where the maritime industry continues to focus on improvements for existing vessels.

Furthermore the implementation of the Ballast Water Convention, as well as the protection of intellectual property rights (striking a balance between safety and environmental regulatory requirements), were also discussed by the delegates.

One of the most important issues where a common conclusion was drawn by the CESS members is that careful impact assessment is needed involving relevant industry stakeholders when drafting new regulation.

This would result in the proactive adoption of new technologies and allow the industry to demonstrate their effectiveness for meeting the objectives of new regulation. As a result there could be smoother adoption and acceptance for new rules by the whole maritime community.

A report on Port State Control activities as part of the Paris and Tokyo MOU’s during 2013 was made. It was noted that both regions were steadily carrying out their port state control activities as in previous years.

The report showed that the shipbuilding quality related deficiencies were kept at low levels, and that ship detentions have been improved in relation to previous years.

The ship types which characterises aged ships, such as reefer fleet and general cargo fleet have shown above average detention rates. An improvement of these detentions may be possible as the older ships will be replaced in the future by new ships or, other ship types.

Age related observations need to be closely monitored because some ship types consistently showed detention rates rise after reaching certain age.

CESS member associations noted that closer ties among its members are becoming more and more important for the future prosperity of the industry. In the year ahead, further activities and the effective promotion of joint solutions for the aforementioned issues is essential to continue the work of CESS.

CESS will report on its activities at the forthcoming meeting of the JECKU (Shipbuilding) Top Executive Meeting scheduled to take place in Paris, from November 5-7, 2014.

Source from : worldmaritimenews

HEADLINES