Monday, September 13 1999
Published on
"Lloyd's List Daily Commercial News" on Video tips help pass port checks
Port state control (PSC) is one of those
contentious issues that will always raise hackles in shipping circles. Depending on where
you stand, you are either strongly in favour, or annoyed at the cost of getting caught on
the wrong side of an inspection.
It was quite evident from the Lloyd's List
DCN Australian Bulk Shipping Conference in Melbourne last month that PSC is rarely very
far away from the minds of those directly involved in the industry.
One conference delegate, John Ge of
Sydney-based Petrel Shipping, which represents China Shipping Tramp in Australia, is
someone who recognises the importance of the issue more than most.
He says the robust PSC regime that has been
established by AMSA in Australia has prompted wide interest and concerns among ship's
owners and crews internationally.
AMSA has established a high profile under
the Tokyo MOU by adopting stringent and consistent standards, Mr Ge said.
Having a ship under detention in a Western
Australian port for five days cost his principal US$100,000 a while back.
But rather than sit back and complain, as so
many owners
An enterprising owner's rep didn't sit back and complain about
detention. He did something about it |
do, the Chinese owners took firm action to
try to ensure it didn't happen again.
Mr Ge decided to produce a video program to
offer to Petrel Shipping's clients and shipowners for their information and education.
"We came up with the idea that instead
of repeatedly advising ships of the PSC issue by telex and fax, we would contain and
integrate the information in a visual form to provide crew training that is
relevant," he said.
Chian shipping Tramp sponsored the video,
and Petrel Shipping, through a new company called Maritime Safety Vision Production,
conducted its first trial version in Chinese in May. They launched the program in
Guangzhou and Hong Kong, supported by a lecture conducted by AMSA personnel.
"This appears to have been very
successful as many shipowners and crews had a great opportunity to understand why and how
AMSA conducts PSC inspections," Mr GE said.
"In the meantime we received comments
on our video, which have allowed us to improve the English version"
In fact, the MSVP team wrote eight different
versions, in both Chinese and English. They went on board eight different vessels in order
to film on location in Dampier, Newcastle, Melbourne and Sydney. They also filmed in
various offices of AMSA.
It has taken six months to finalise the
English version.
"We consider that port state control is
a serious matter and it is probably the greatest tool that we have at our disposal to
protect those working at sea and to protect the Australian environment," Mr Ge
said.
"We understand that flag states and
owners have used PSC in the evaluation of companies' and/or crews' competence. We also
know that in general AMSA conducts an extensive PSC program in an open, objective and
accountable manner."
With this in mind, the video production team
spent considerable time wondering how they could explain such a complex topic.
A ship is a huge movable factory, and PSC
relates more or less to all aspects of shipping operations, said Mr Ge.
But AMSA rendered invaluable assistance in
this respect, he said. And the final result is a highly professional 66-minute tape that
the Australian safety authority is now keen to see distributed widely.
For further information on the video,
telephone Maritime Safety Vision Production on (02)9700 7068 or fax (02)9700 7069.
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