New Inspection Regime To Start On January 1, 2009

New Inspection Regime To Start On January 1, 2009
4, December 2008
Seafarers’ working and living conditions are to become part of a new mandatory inspection regime which is to start on January 1, 2009. All vessels above 500 GT flying the Norwegian flag will be included in this new regime.

Norway is enforcing International Labour Organisation Convention No 178 – the Labour Inspection (Seafarers) Convention. DNV will conduct these inspections in accordance with requirements set by the Norwegian flag authority.

The Norwegian flag authority, represented by the Norwegian Maritime Directorate (NMD), has directed all its recognised organisations to start inspecting ships as from the beginning of 2009. DNV is one of these recognised organisations.

“We have been working closely with both the ILO and several flag states for years. So we are well prepared to take care of the core of this regime – namely the working and living conditions of the seafarers. In addition, we are prepared to make this a smooth transition into one more regime that ship-owners have to face,” says Georg Smefjell, the project manager of DNV’s Maritime Labour Convention team.

Smefjell added that a large number of ship-owners are well prepared and have established conditions for their seafarers above the minimum requirements in the new regime a long time ago. “However,” he says “all ship-owners and operators must be in compliance with the laws and regulations stipulated in the Convention, and they need to start now.”

The ILO 178 surveys are to be carried out at intervals of 2.5 years – with a maximum of three years between two inspections. According to the NMD, the surveys are to be carried out during ordinary manning surveys or international safety management audits as appropriate. DNV are in a dialogue with the NMD to determine how this can be effectively done.

A new certification regime will be mandatory as early as in 2011. The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), which is another step forward and has a wider scope to safeguard the seafarers’ working and living conditions, will soon be ratified by the Norwegian parliament.
“Required inspections for compliance with laws and regulations in the areas covered by ILO C-178 must start in 2009. By 2011 the ships coming within the scope of ILO C-178 will have to be inspected and certified for compliance with the overlapping and additional requirements in the MLC (Maritime Labour Convention). DNV has informed the NMD that we will be able to link ILO-178 services to MLC certification and offer voluntary certification to those who want to be ahead of the additions to be introduced in 2011,” concluded Smefjell.
Source: www.dnv.com