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Ship classification
(May 10, 2004)
Ship classification is regarded as the
development and worldwide implementation of published
rules and regulations governing structural strengths
of all parts of the hull and its appendages, and the
safety and reliability of the main propulsion and steering
systems and auxiliary systems built into a ship in order
to maintain basic conditions on board, enabling the
ship to operate in its intended service from the perspective
of insurers, cargo shippers, administrative authorities
and other parties.
A ship built in accordance with an IACS
member rules and regulations and which fulfills the
applicable stability requirements will be assigned a
class in the Register Book of the Society. Each Member
Society maintains the provisions of class through periodical
visits by its surveyors to the ship in order to ascertain
that the ship continues to comply with the rules of
the Member Society.
A ship is said to be in class when
the rules and regulations that pertain to it have, in
the opinion of the Society, been complied with. Classification
is vital for the structural and engineering design,
construction and operation of ships, and affects shipbuilding,
maintenance and repair, ship brokering, chartering,
marine insurance, and banking.
The classification certificate issued
by a Member Society is a document which confirms that
a ship has been designed and built in accordance with
that Society's rules and is fit for its intended service.
Failure to meet the standards set by the Society or
non-compliance with the recommendations issued as a
result of a survey may result in the suspension or withdrawal
of class.
Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS)
The International Convention for the Safety of Life
at Sea (SOLAS) specifies the minimum standards for the
construction, equipment and operation of ships. It covers
the different aspects of safety at sea. It is the most
important international treaty affecting the safety
of merchant ships.
It is mainly applicable to vessels engaged
in international shipping and trade. The Convention
currently in force is better known as the SOLAS 1974
as amended, or the SOLAS 74/78.
Its provisions include regulations
governing:
* Vessel construction, repair, modification
and outfitting,
* Fire protection, detection and prevention,
* Life saving
appliances,
* Radio communications and navigational
equipment,
* Safety of navigation,
* Carriage of cargo including dangerous
cargo,
* Management for the safe operation
on ships (or the International Safety Management Code),
* Safety measures for passenger vessels,
high speed craft, bulk carriers, tankers, roll on-roll
off vessels and other vessels,
* Safe manning levels,
* Pollution prevention for tankers
and other vessels,
* Regulations affecting vessel traffic
services, and
* Other similar regulations
The first convention was adopted in
1914 in reaction to the accident involving the RMS Titanic.
It has seen subsequent amendments and has since been
updated to what is now known as the 1974 SOLAS Convention.
Under its provision, the "flag state",
or the government of the flag which a vessel flies,
has the responsibility for ensuring that such vessel
complies with the requirements of the SOLAS Convention
and possesses the necessary statutory certificates to
evidence such compliance.
Port State Control Governments of other
IMO-member nations at which port a vessel may be found,
or "port states," have the authority to inspect ships
of other IMO-member country if there are clear grounds
for believing that the ship and its equipment do not
substantially comply with the requirements of the SOLAS
Convention. This procedure is known as "Port State Control".
The convention is kept up to date by
periodic amendments by the IMO. The amendments enter
into force through tacit acceptance procedure and is
deemed binding on all member states on the date specified
by the amendment.
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Maritime
Safety MIC Advocacy (April 26, 2004)
The Maritime Industry
Cluster is advocating for safer ships and cleaner seas
for our domestic merchant marine fleet. There is an
urgent need to institute an aggressive safety regulatory
framework for our domestic fleet.
We must agree how international
standards may be applied or adopted to the domestic
fleet which, because of the nature of its operations,
differ in size, specifications, operations and usage,
as well as management sophistication, from that of international
shipping.
There is also a need
to establish a career path progression and a certification
program for seafarers serving on domestic fleets, so
that they can look forward to making their way to international
manning without jeopardizing the manning requirements
of the domestic fleet.
The international standards
for vessel safety and crew training are rigorous. Our
government regulatory agencies have adopted some of
these standards for larger vessels, or those with sizes
of 500 gross registered tons (GRT) or more.
Standards for smaller
vessels or those with sizes below 500 GRT have to be
definitely determined and implemented so that the ambiguity
of present regulations may be clarified. Likewise, there
are international standards for training required of
seafarers serving on international vessels.
Domestic seafarers are
required to undergo training for safety certification
at another level. In order to achieve a zero-accident
record in Philippine waters and gain public trust and
confidence in the industry, government and the private
sector must work together to design a maritime safety
framework that will be implemented over the next two
to three years.
Safety Standards in
the International Trade International Standards Shipping
is probably the most globally regulated of all industries.
From the middle of the 19th century, countries with
strong maritime traditions recognized the need to develop
international regulations that could be followed by
all shipping nations.
Countries have since
moved towards setting a uniform standard for the worldís
shipping fleet. Shipping, therefore, has become one
of the most regulated industries globally.
International Maritime
Organization (IMO) The International Maritime Organization
(IMO) is the permanent international body that is given
the task to promote maritime safety. It
seeks to ensure safer ships and cleaner oceans.
The IMO is part of the
United Nations Organization. It is mandated to provide
the machinery for cooperation among governments in the
field of governmental regulation and practices relating
to technical matters affecting shipping in the international
trade, particularly setting standards concerning maritime
safety, efficiency of navigation, and the prevention
and control of marine pollution from ships.
Codes and conventions
of the IMO are made applicable to vessels engaged in
international shipping. International Association of
Classification Societies (IACS) The International Association
of Classification Societies (IACS) was born out of the
need of marine insurance underwriters to provide a system
of inspection for ships' hulls and equipment.
A committee, created
among insurance underwriters in the mid-18th century,
was given the task to classify the condition of the
vessel's hull and its equipment on an annual basis to
determine the fitness of a ship for the voyage to be
undertaken.
The vessel's condition
was published in a register and made available to underwriters.
The leading underwriters of the time called themselves
"Members of the Society". The
system, however, eventually fell into disrepute.
This forced the members
to clean up their system and organize themselves into
a self-standing "classification society". This became
known as the "Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign
Shipping" and was the model used by other countries
in setting up their own organizations for the classification
of their vessels.
The creation of other
classification societies facilitated cooperation among
them. However, technical regulation of vessels did not
come until the formal organization of the IMO. Since
then class rules have become the technical basis for
gauging the safety of ship structural and engineering
systems.
The IACS was formed
in 1968 with seven leading societies as members. Their
combined level of knowledge of and experience in ship
structural and engineering systems paved the way for
their consultative status at IMO.
They are the only non-government
organization able to develop and apply international
maritime rules.
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Laws regulating
the industry (April 12, 2004)
Laws creating shipping
regulatory agencies
* The Maritime Industry
Decree of 1974 (Presidential Decree [PD] no. 474)
* The Coast Guard Law
(Republic Act [RA] No. 5173)
*
The Revised Coast Guard Law of 1974 (PD No. 601), as
amended
* The Charter of the
Philippine Ports Authority (PD No. 857)
* The Charter of the
Cebu Ports Authority (RA No. 7621) Regulatory and Commercial
Laws governing shipping
* The Public Service
Act of 1936 (Commonwealth Act No. 146)
* The Salvage Law (Act
No. 2616)
*
The Code of Commerce (Articles 573-869, Book Three,
"Maritime Commerce")
* The Civil Code of
the Philippines (Articles 1732-1766, "Common Carriers")
* The Carriage of Goods
by Sea Act (Commonwealth Act No. 65)
* The Ship Mortgage
Decree of 1978 (PD No. 1521)
* Amending Section 806
of the Tariff And Customs Code of the Philippines, As
Amended, By Allowing The Registration Of Vessels The
Ownership Of Which is Vested in Corporations Or Associations,
At Least Sixty Percent Of The Capital Stock or The Capital
Of Which Belong To Citizens Of The Philippines (PD No.
761, As Amended)
* An Act To Regulate
The Transfer of Vessels and Of Shipping Facilities And
To Provide Penalties For The Violation Thereof (Commonwealth
Act No. 606, As Amended)
* Allowing The Temporary
Registration of Foreign-Owned Vessels Under (Time) Charter
or Lease To Philippine Nationals For Use In The Philippine
Coastwise Trade Subject To Certain Conditions (PD No.
760, As Amended)
*Requiring All Philippine-Owned
and/or Registered Vessels To Undertake Repairs and Drydocking
with MARINA-Registered Ship Repair Yards (PD No. 1221)
* Regulating the Operations
of Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Yards (PD No. 1059)
* Removing Red Tape
and Reducing Clearance Requirements for Inter-island
Vessels (Executive Order No. 493, series of 1992)
* Deregulating Entry
Into Domestic Liner Routes (EO No. 185, series of 1994)
* Deregulating Domestic
Shipping Rates (EO No. 213, series of 1994) Incentives
Laws Governing Shipping
*
The Philippine Overseas Shipping Act of 1955 (RA No.1407),
as amended by RA No. 6106 and PD No. 214
* The Philippine Overseas
Shipping Development Act (RA No. 7471)
*
Providing for Incentives to the Shipbuilding and Repair
Industry (PD No. 666)
* Providing Incentives
to the Shipping Industry by Granting Additional Deductible
Items for Income Tax Purposes (PD No. 667)
*
Providing Direct Incentives for the Development of Philippine
Overseas Shipping (PD No. 806)
*
Requiring Government Offices, Agencies, Instrumentalities
and Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations, Persons
and Entities Enjoying Tax Exemption, Incentive or Subsidy
from the Government to Utilize in International Transportation
the Services of the Philippine Flag Carrier and Shipping
Lines and for Other Purposes (PD No. 894 as amended
by PD No. 1466)
*
Authorizing the National Development Company to Assist
Local Shipbuilders and Persons and Entities Engaged
in Inter-island Shipping and Appropriating Funds Therefor
(PD No. 878)
*
Omnibus Investments Code (EO No. 226) Laws Governing
Seafaring
*
Labor Code of the Philippines, As Amended (PD No. 442)
*
Reorganizing the Ministry of Labor and Employment Creating
The Philippine Overseas Employment Association, and
For Other Purposes (Executive Order no. 797, series
of 1982 as amended by EO No. 247, series of 1987)
*
An Act to Institute the Policies of Overseas Employment
And Establish A Higher Standard Of Protection and Promotion
Of the Welfare of Migrant Workers, Their Families and
Overseas Filipinos In Distress, And For Other Purposes
(RA No.8042)
AGENCIES REGULATING
THE INDUSTRY Domestic Shipping
* Maritime Industry
Authority • Philippine Ports Authority
* Philippine Coast
Guard
*
Department of Transportation and Communications
*
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
*
Department of Energy
* Department of Agriculture
*
Department of Interior and Local Government
*
Department of Tourism
* Bureau of Customs
*
Bureau of Quarantine
* Bureau of Plant Industry
* Bureau of Animal
Industry
* Bureau of Fisheries
and Aquatic Resources
* National Food Authority
*
Sugar Regulatory Agency • Philippine National Police
*
Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration
*
National Mapping and Resource Information Authority
*
National Telecommunications Commission
*
Videogram Regulatory Board Overseas Shipping
*
Maritime Industry Authority
* Philippine Ports Authority
*
Philippine Coast Guard
* Department of Transportation
and Communications
*
Department of Foreign Affairs
* Bureau of Immigration
*
Bureau of Customs
*
Bureau of Quarantine Seafaring
*
Department of Labor and Employment
*
Maritime Industry Authority • Department of Foreign
Affairs
*
Department of Education, Culture and Sports
*
Department of Health • Commission on Higher Education
*
Maritime Training Council •Professional Regulatory
Commission
* National Conciliation
and Mediation Board
*
National Labor Relations Commission
* National Telecommunications
Commission
*
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
*
Philippine Overseas Employment Administrationation
*
Bureau of Customs
* Bureau of Investments
2004
Q2 |2004 Q1
2003 Q4
l 2003 Q3 l 2003
Q2 l 2003 Q1
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