The critical link between shipping and global society is the main focus for this year’s World Maritime Day theme: "Shipping: indispensable to the world". The theme for 2016 was launched by IMO Secretary-General Lim as he opened the Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction (18 January).
Mr. Lim said that without shipping, importing and exporting goods on the scale necessary to sustain the modern world would simply not be possible. He encouraged Member States and the entire shipping community to join in this opportunity to promote shipping to a global audience and to raise awareness of the relevance of the role of IMO as the global regulatory body for international shipping.
Link to opening speech: http://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/SecretaryGeneral/Secretary-GeneralsSpeechesToMeetings/Pages/SDC-3-opening.aspx
Offshore service craft in focus
Defining “industrial personnel”, such as workers transported on offshore service vessels, is among the topics on the agenda of IMO’s Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction (SDC) (18-22 January). People travelling on these vessels are likely to have had specific training and abilities and may differ from ordinary “passengers”, therefore defining “industrial personnel” is important when it comes to setting safety standards for vessels such as wind farm service craft.
Other topics on the agenda include the revision of subdivision and damage stability regulations in SOLAS chapter II-1; passenger ship matters, including making evacuation analysis mandatory for new passenger ships and reviewing the recommendation on evacuation analysis for new and existing passenger ships; revising and updating guidance on wing-in-ground craft; and review of the guidelines for use of fibre reinforced plastic within ship structures, in particular with regards to fire safety issues.
The SDC Sub-Committee was opened by IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim and is being chaired by Kevin Hunter (United Kingdom)
