Maritime safety is a pressing issue which KIMO has campaigned on since its inception. Due to climate change, stormy weather is expected to occur more often. Container transport by means of shipping is increasing annually. Container vessels are getting bigger. Traffic routes in the North Sea are becoming more crowded due to offshore windparks. Considering these factors, stringent maritime safety precautions are more important now than ever.

The recent MSC Zoe incident has highlighted some of the shortfalls in the current regulations regarding maritime transport. Not only does container loss threaten the marine and coastal environment but coastal communities do not, at present, have legal recourse to financial compensation for the costs of cleaning up non-toxic spills.

KIMO has campaigned since 2005 on this important issue to prevent pollution of our seas.

We continue to call for:

1) the establishment of a Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Non-Toxic Substances including strict liability on ship owners for pollution from their vessels, compulsory insurance for all vessels and a reserve fund to cover any shortfalls in compensation

(KIMO Resolution 1/05)

2) the establishment of the following measures:
– That adequate load planning is implemented and enforced
– That a robust system for reporting of lost containers is implemented
– That automatically activated beacons be attached to all containers to facilitate retrieval
– That the construction criteria for containers with regard to current stacking heights are reviewed
– That specifications and maintenance regimes for the twistlocks that attach containers be reviewed
– That financial penalties and compensation regimes for the retrieval of lost containers be introduced

Source: kimointernational