Ballast Water Management

1. The introduction of invasive marine species into new environments by ships’ ballast water, attached to ships’ hulls and via other vectors has been identified as one of the four greatest threats to the world’s oceans. The other three are land-based sources of marine pollution, overexploitation of living marine resources and physical alteration/destruction of marine habitat.

2. Shipping moves over 80% of the world’s commodities and transfers approximately 3 to 5 billion tonnes of ballast water internationally each year. A similar volume may also be transferred domestically within countries and regions each year. Ballast water is absolutely essential to the safe and efficient operation of modern shipping, providing balance and stability to un-laden ships. However, it may also pose a serious ecological, economic and health threat.

3. Studies carried out in several countries have shown that many species of bacteria, plants and animals can survive in a potent form in the ballast water and sediment carried in ships, even after journeys of several months' duration. Subsequent discharge of ballast water or sediment into the waters of another port may result in the establishment of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens which may pose threats to indigenous human, animal and plant life, and the marine environment. Although other media have been identified as being responsible for transferring organisms between geographically separated water bodies, ballast water discharge from ships appears to have been among the most prominent. .

CATASTROPHE IN THE WAITING

4. There are thousands of marine species that may be carried in ships’ ballast water; basically anything that is small enough to pass through a ships’ ballast water intake ports and pumps. These include bacteria and other microbes, small invertebrates and the eggs, cysts and larvae of various species. The problem is compounded by the fact that virtually all marine species have life cycles that include a planktonic stage or stages.

5. It is estimated that at least 7,000 different species are being carried in ships’ ballast tanks around the world. The vast majority of marine species carried in ballast water do not survive the journey, as the ballasting and deballasting cycle and the environment inside ballast tanks can be quite hostile to organism survival. Even for those that do survive a voyage and are discharged, the chances of surviving in the new environmental conditions, including predation by and/or competition from native species, are further reduced. However, when all factors are favourable, an introduced species by survive to establish a reproductive population in the host environment, it may even become invasive, out-competing native species and multiplying into pest proportions.

6. As a result, whole ecosystems are being changed. In the USA, the European Zebra Mussel Dreissena polymorpha has infested over 40% of internal waterways and may have required between US$750 million and US$1 billion in expenditure on control measures between 1989 and 2000. In southern Australia, the Asian kelp Undaria pinnatifida is invading new areas rapidly, displacing the native seabed communities. In the Black Sea, the filter-feeding North American jellyfish Mnemiopsis leidyi has on occasion reached densities of 1kg of biomass per m2. It has depleted native plankton stocks to such an extent that it has contributed to the collapse of entire Black Sea commercial fisheries. In several countries, introduced, microscopic, ‘red-tide’ algae (toxic dinoflagellates) have been absorbed by filter-feeding shellfish, such as oysters. When eaten by humans, these contaminated shellfish can cause paralysis and even death. The list goes on, hundreds of examples of major ecological, economic and human health impacts across the globe. It is even feared that diseases such as cholera might be able to be transported in ballast water.

7. India has more than 7500 kms long coast line with12 major ports. Average 5000 ships call in Mumbai port alone and receive 1.8 m tonnes of ballast water each year. Indian coasts are falling prey to the malicious Marine Bio invasion through ballast water. Through port baseline survey and research work, it is established that Mytilopsis sallei, a native of Sub-tropical Atlantic, is found in Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam ports in India.

8. Mytilopsis sallei is a mussel which has invaded Indian sea. This species accumulates in large quantity (10-12 kgs/m ) and creates several maintenance problems with regard to marine structures, equipment and machinery. This species is strong enough to survive in difficult marine climatic conditions and also in polluted and Oxygen deficient water.

TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY

9. Re-ballasting at sea, as recommended by the IMO guidelines, currently provides the best-available measure to reduce the risk of transfer of harmful aquatic organisms, but is subject to serious ship-safety limits. Even when it can be fully implemented, this technique is less than 100% effective in removing organisms from ballast water. Some parties even suggest that re-ballasting at sea may itself contribute to the wider dispersal of harmful species, and that island states located ‘down-stream’ of mid-ocean re-ballasting areas may be at particular risk from this practice. It is therefore extremely important that alternative, effective ballast water management and/or treatment methods are developed as soon as possible, to replace re-ballasting at sea. Significant research and development (R&D) efforts are underway by a number of scientific and engineering research establishments around the world, aimed at developing a more complete solution to this problem.

10. Options being considered include:-

(a) Mechanical treatment methods such as filtration and separation.

(b) Physical treatment methods such as sterilisation by ozone, ultra-violet light, electric currents and heat treatment.

(c) Chemical treatment methods such adding biocides to ballast water to kill organisms.

(d) Various combinations of the above.

11. All of these possibilities currently require significant further research effort. Major barriers still exist in scaling these various technologies up to deal effectively with the huge quantities of ballast water carried by large ships (e.g. about 60,000 tonnes of ballast water on a 200,000 DWT bulk carrier). Treatment options must not interfere unduly with the safe and economical operation of the ship and must consider ship design limitations. Any control measure that is developed must meet a number of criteria, including:

(a) It must be safe and reliable

(b) It must be environmentally acceptable

(c) It must be cost effective.

12. One of the problems currently faced by the global R&D community is that apart from the general criteria above, there are currently no internationally agreed and approved performance standards or evaluation system for the formal acceptance of any new techniques that are developed. In addition, many groups are working in isolation from each other, and there are no formal mechanisms in place to ensure effective lines of communication between the R&D community, governments and ship designers, builders and owners. These are vital if the R&D effort is to succeed.

Want to be a Naval Architect?

An interesting article (By Rahat Bano) from Indian Newspaper 'Hindustan Times'

A conversation between a woman Indian naval officer and an ‘outsider’?
Outsider: So are you working or studying?
Officer: I’m working.
Outsider: Where?
Officer: I’m in the Navy?
Outsider: You mean like a civilian?
Officer: No, I’m an officer.
Outsider: Oh…but like a civilian?
Officer: No, I’m a commissioned officer in the Navy.
Outsider: Oh! So, you wear uniform?
Officer: Yes, I do.
Outsider: So, what do you do in the Navy?
Officer: I’m a naval architect.
Outsider: Oh…it’s a good choice, women have good decorative skills.
Decorative skills? The naval officer wondered “what to say” to that because she’s in one of the most demanding of professions, which involves designing and developing warships, submarines, hovercraft, hydrofoils and merchant ships. She’s a naval architect — a community that’s celebrating a big recent achievement as they’ve just rolled out India’s first indigenously-designed and manufactured stealth warship, INS Shivalik, from the public sector, 200-(odd)-year-old, Mazagon Docks Ltd in Mumbai.

These professionals are a few from among the countless who get to put sails to their childhood pastime of making and floating paper boats in rainwater puddles.
They design, develop and repair a range of watercraft, including merchant ships (tankers, cargo ships, bulk carriers, etc), warships, submarines, passenger ferries, cruise liners, hovercraft, boats, yachts, icebreakers, and other structures such as hydrofoils and oil drilling platforms. They essentially make small floating cities.

Says a faculty member at IIT Delhi, which runs a diploma programme in naval construction for the Indian Navy, “It’s a profession known to mankind by intuition as across the globe, civilisations have grown and prospered around water bodies. The negative side is only individual thinking, based on self-drawn constraints. In a particular location, growth remains limited like most other engineering jobs.”

Apart from the Indian Navy and government and private shipyards, naval architects have opportunity in self-employment. “The career of a naval architect has massive growth potential in entrepreneurship — ship repairs, boatbuilding, shipbuilding, harbours and docks, ship lifts, equipment for the ships, the list goes on,” says the faculty member. The recession in 2008 affected India’s shipbuilding industry, too, but the pall of gloom is lifting, he says.

However, India lacks graduate naval architects. Many drift towards greener pastures — either an MS abroad or an MBA. They get into management positions or fly to better-paying companies in China, Korea and Singapore, says Harish C Narula, chairman, Fibroplast Marine, Noida, which designs and manufactures commercial and defence boats for clients such as the Coast Guard, CRPF, and the Uttar Pradesh Police. “For the last two years, there has been no (graduate) naval architect (taking up a naval architecture job) in India.” So, Narula says he ends up hiring mechanical engineers and training them. The Indian Navy, too, takes in engineers from different branches, including civil, metallurgical, and mechatronics, who are then trained in naval construction.

Narula says the government should open more institutes giving diplomas in naval architecture/shipbuilding as well as BTech in this discipline, to meet market requirements.

The industry is revving up, with the public sector companies in the lead. India requires more vessels, especially for coastal security in view of increased terrorist threats.

What's it about?
Naval architects design, develop and repair watercraft, and other structures such as hydrofoils and oil drilling platforms. They design basic structure (hull geometry), make the final design and do stability calculations, among other activities. Their employers include four Ministry of Defence shipyards i.e. Mazagon Dock Ltd, GSL, GRSE and HSL and Ministry of Surface Transport’s CSL, Kochi, and many private shipyards, shipping companies and boat builders

Clock Work
In a drawing office, shipbuilding yard or ship repair yard:
8.30 am: Check reports from sites, identify bottlenecks, prepare the information matrix for the day and compare with the bigger picture of the job
9.30 am: Meet respective people to remove the difficulties relating to man, material, machinery or any other aspect like access to relevant part of the working space
11.30 am: In the drawing office or at production floor, check drawings, calculations carried out by subordinates; check the progress
1 pm: Lunch
2 pm: Check all the follow-ups
3 pm: Review the progress covering daily weekly and monthly status
4 pm: Assess achievements of the day reschedule the priorities based on the planned milestones
5.30 pm: Reports, briefs and plans of next day
At shipbuilding or ship repair yards: Status of urgent work, deputing workers on next shift as required, assessing safety and health issues
6.30 pm: Back home (Normal office routine)
During sea trials or harbour trials of vessels, round-the-clock work is required, for which deployment schedules are made on the basis of type of trials

The Payoff
. Rs 15,000 onwards a month for a diploma holder. Rs 25,000 onwards a month for a fresh engineer (four-year degree)
. Sky is the limit for an entrepreneur with training in the field

Skills
. Scientific temperament
. Creative and analytical aptitude
. Decision-making skills
. Leadership qualities — ability to manage manpower and material
. Ability to set priorities (to meet deadlines)

How do i get there?
Take up science (physics, chemistry and maths) at the plus-two level. Pursue a BTech degree in naval architecture and ocean engineering, offered at a few institutes in India, for which you need to clear a written entrance test. The Indian Navy takes in graduates in select branches of engineering, who are given post-graduate training at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. After the officers earn their diplomas in naval construction from IIT Delhi, the Navy sends them to the naval dockyards in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Cochin or Port Blair

Institutes & urls
. IIT Madras and Kharagpur
BTech in naval architecture and ocean engineering as well as a five-year dual BTech/MTech (naval architecture engineering and MTech in applied mechanics in
any of the listed specialisations)
http://jee.iitd.ac.in/availability.htm
. Cochin University of Science and Technology, BTech in naval architecture and shipbuilding
www.cusat.ac.in
. IIT Delhi (Diploma in naval construction, for Indian Navy officers)
www.iitd.ac.in
. Indian Maritime University, Chennai, diploma leading to BSc in shipbuilding and repair
www.imu.tn.nic.in

Pros & Cons
. Constructive work — the fruit of your labour is tangible
. Niche job
. You can design and build small boats (5 metres long) to ultra large crude carriers (400 metres) or floating cities
. Shipbuilding is a cyclic industry, which sees booms and dips by rotation
. Job options limited to some locations
. Opportunities to sail in different types of vessels, from luxury liners to cramped submarines Shipbuilding activity has taken a lead

Security threats and disaster mitigation create the need for more vessels, says a boat manufacturer

What’s the scope in this industry in India? What’s the manpower requirement?
In India, naval architects have been scarce. There were only two colleges teaching naval architecture — IIT Kharagpur and Madras. For the last two years, there has been no (graduate) naval architect (taking up a naval architecture job) in India. So, the real problem is, many good naval architects get into management positions or work in China, Korea and Singapore (because of higher salaries).That’s the supply side.

Government shipbuilding activity has taken a lead. After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, there is a coastal security requirement. The government wants more ships and boats — for the navy, coast guard, and coastal police to patrol the country’s coastline.

Also, after the September 11 attacks on the US, a UN convention requires every country to patrol and protect sea lanes where ships are moving in its territorial waters. So, more fleets are required.

But due to the shortage of (graduate) naval architects, the Navy and the Indian Register of Shipping are being forced to take other graduates — civil engineers, chemical engineers and train them but they can’t have in-depth design capability.

The government needs to have more institutes of three-year diploma courses. At the same time, it needs to plan and increase seats in four- and five-year degree programmes in naval architecture.

I would like to add that all naval architecture institutes teach shipbuilding and ship design, not boats. Now boats are required in thousands for disaster mitigation, rescue operations during floods, fishing, patrolling.

So, where do you hire people from?
We take fresh graduates and train them on the job.

Harish C Narula, chairman, Fibroplast Marine Interviewed by Rahat Bano

Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering Courses at University of Strathclyde

Naval Architecture is the engineering speciality which deals with the design, construction, repair and operation of all types of ships and boats.

The Department of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering offers the following degree courses:

MEng Naval Architecture

BEng (Honours)/MEng Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering

BEng (Honours)/MEng Naval Architecture with Ocean Engineering

BEng (Honours)/MEng Naval Architecture with Small Craft Engineering

The degrees are accredited by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST) on behalf of the Engineering Council.

Overview of Courses

The degree programmes are stimulating and challenging and provide a broadly-based engineering education. They are taught by the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NA-ME).

The balance of emphasis of the course material evolves as you progress through your degree, from fundamental engineering science and core Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering subjects, to increasing concentration on topics specific to your chosen course.

The flexible programme structure allows transfer between Naval Architecture degree programmes. Transfer is possible between the Naval Architecture with Small Craft Engineering, Naval Architecture with Ocean Engineering, and Naval Architecture degrees up until the end of Year 2. Transfer to and from the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering course can take place up until the end of Year 1 (and sometimes later). Suitably qualified students may transfer between the BEng and MEng courses.

A range of realistic design projects is made possible though our strong links with the ship and offshore industries. Transferable skills developed through project work and presentations will give you a wide choice of exciting and rewarding careers.

The Courses

Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering

This degree programme is designed to develop engineers who are able to deal with engineering challenges on a wide range of marine vehicles, with additional skills and understanding in the impact and importance of Marine Engineering on their successful design, construction, repair and maintenance. Marine Engineering is the engineering speciality which addresses the design and operation of machinery and propulsion systems for ships and marine structures.

Naval Architecture with Ocean Engineering

This degree deals with other fixed and floating marine structures and systems including offshore oil and gas, renewable energy and ocean resources. The programme is designed to develop engineers who can address the engineering challenges on marine vehicles from giant cruise liners and fast ferries to tidal current turbines and oil platforms.

Naval Architecture with Small Craft Engineering

This course creates designers with all the core skills of ship design, construction, operation and maintenance, along with a particular specialism in the creative design and engineering of small leisure and commercial vessels, including sailing and power yachts, fast ferries, hydrofoils, hovercraft and fishing boats. Small Craft have developed dramatically in recent years. Lighter, faster, stronger and safer vessels are being designed and built using advanced materials and technology combined with creative design engineering.

Course Structure

The degree courses offered by the Department have a flexible credit-based structure. Some of these credits will be elective which you can choose from a wide range of subjects, not only within the Department but also from other Departments and Faculties across the University.

Year 1

You will build the foundations for your specialised skills by studying fundamental engineering science, mathematics, and computing along with introductory classes in naval architecture, marine engineering and marine transportation. You take part in a group project (typically four to five students) to design, build and test a simple container carrying ship model.

Year 2

Focus changes to the study of specialized Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering subjects, such as flotation, stability and safety of ships and marine vehicles, strength of marine structures, properties of materials used in marine structures, manufacturing techniques, and basics of marine machinery and systems. There is a group project in which you apply your engineering knowledge to design, build and test a radio-controlled sailing yacht.

Year 3

You continue to study core Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering subjects, including the resistance (drag) and propulsion of ships, properties of ocean waves, design of marine vehicles, and control of machinery, along with marine business and management. You will also study the first of the specialised modules specific to your chosen degree course. You also carry out an individual project to produce a preliminary design of a ship, using a traditional approach based on the application of established design rules. A focused series of laboratory experiments illustrate important phenomena which will help you understand laboratory techniques used in the marine industries.

Year 4

One or two modules cover core Naval Architecture subjects, with the main emphasis of the other classes being on your chosen specialism:

• Marine Engineering includes marine engineering design, marine transmission & propulsion systems, marine electrical systems, and protection of the marine environment.

• Ocean Engineering brings in subjects such as analysis of dynamics of structures subject to wind and wave loading, computer prediction of fluid flow around structures (often known as CFD) and technology and performance of renewable energy systems.
• Small Craft Engineering includes subjects such as the prediction of the performanceof sailing yachts and powerboats, design of lightweight structures, and the behaviour of high-speed craft.

You can also take part in a team to develop a preliminary design of a sailing yacht or luxury power yacht to a brief supplied by a group of clients. The remaining 30 credits are devoted to an individual project on a related subject of your choice.

Year 5 (MEng only)

MEng students can choose from an extensive list of technical and business modules. There is also a substantial and challenging group design project on a subject chosen by agreement between students and staff. Subjects chosen recently include designs of high-speed cargo ships, tidal current energy devices and Americas Cup yachts

Role of Classification Societies in Shipbuilding : A Primer for Naval Architects & Marine Insurers

1. A brief history

1.1 The first classification society was formed in 1760 in Lloyd’s Coffee House, London. Lloyd’s Coffee House was a centre for the marine business interests of the day and the Register Society was formed by the customers of the coffee house. The society, later to become Lloyd's Register, was started in order to grade the condition of ships to assist charterers, insurers and other interested parties to assess the risk associated with any particular vessel.

1.2 In the early years classification was simply an assessment of the standard of construction and continuing soundness of ships as determined by the surveyors. In later years the experience and knowledge gained from such assessments led to the creation of rules for the construction and maintenance of ships. Classification rules have been under continuous review and development since that time and now address ship structures and essential shipboard engineering systems.

1.3 Subsequent to the introduction of “open flag registers”, such as Liberia and Panama, and the formation of the United Nations body IMCO (now IMO) to develop regulations concerning technical standards in shipping, Classification Societies have provided statutory certification services on behalf of Flag States.

1.4 Today there are over fifty classification societies in the world. However, 90% of the world merchant fleet (by gross tonnage) is classed by the ten members and two associates of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) – an industry trade association that facilitates co-operation between societies.

2. Classification Today

2.1 IACS defines classification as follows:
“Ship Classification, as a minimum, is to be regarded as the development and worldwide implementation of published Rules and/or Regulation which will provide for:
1. the structural strength of (and where necessary the watertight integrity of) all essential parts of the hull and its appendages,
2. the safety and reliability of the propulsion and steering systems, and those other features and auxiliary systems which have been built into the ship in order to establish and maintain basic conditions on board,thereby enabling the ship to operate in its intended service.

3. Perceptions

3.1 Although the IACS definition is clear the perceptions of different actors in the industry do vary. Many view classification societies as the industry regulators. In the IACS paper Ship Safety and Pollution Prevention: The Regulatory Regime,4 Mr Smith implies classification is a regulator when he says
“The regulatory regime concerning ship safety and marine pollution prevention is comprised of classification rules made by classification societies and the regulations contained in the international conventions made collectively by Member States at IMO.” (emphasis added)
This perception is reinforced as a result of the statutory work that the societies carry out on behalf of Flag States. However, classification societies are not regulators.

3.2 AMRIE believes that this blurring of definition and perception hinders the debate on the technical aspects of shipping. In order to place the AMRIE position on classification societies in context the AMRIE view on the regulatory regime, and the role of classification, is outlined below.

4. The Regulatory Regime

4.1 In terms of the international shipping industry the authority and principal jurisdiction a vessel falls under is that of its Flag State (subject to any Port State or Coastal State jurisdiction). This is reflected in customary international law as codified in the Untied Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

4.2 Under Article 94 of UNCLOS the Flag State has certain duties including:
“effectively exercis[ing] its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over ships flying its flag”
taking “such measures for ships flying its flag as are necessary to ensure safety at sea with regard, inter alia, to:
a) the construction, equipment and seaworthiness of ships;
b) the manning of ships, labour conditions and the training of crews, taking into account the applicable international instruments;
c) the use of signals, the maintenance of communications and the prevention of collisions”
“In taking the measures called for…[above]…each State is required to conform to generally accepted international regulations, procedures and practices and to take any steps which may be necessary to secure their observance.”

4.3 In terms of technical matters “accepted international regulations” is generally accepted as meaning those produced by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The most important of these in the context of this paper is the Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) – the only convention that specifies classification as a statutory requirement.

4.4 The SOLAS convention lays down provisions concerning maritime safety. It is the most comprehensive and widely ratified text of its kind and lays down requirements for the construction of ships, fire protection and extinction, life-saving appliances, radio communication and requirements for the carriage of grain and dangerous goods.
SOLAS Part A-1, Regulation 3-1 states:
“In addition to the requirements contained elsewhere in the present regulations, ships shall be designed, constructed and maintained in compliance with the structural, mechanical and electrical requirements of a classification society which is recognised by the Administration in accordance with the provisions of regulation XI/1, or with applicable national standards of the Administration which provide an equivalent level of safety.”

4.5 In is worth noting that although classification is laid down as a requirement it is not mandatory. An administration may use its own national standard if it wishes, although no such standard currently exists.

4.6 In summary, Flag States are the regulators of technical standards working within the framework as codified by UNCLOS and standards defined by international conventions developed under the auspices of the IMO. In terms of structural, mechanical and electrical requirements they can choose which standards they accept and apply, although in practice, they use those of a classification society.

5. Classification

5.1 The primary sources of independent technical expertise in shipbuilding lie with the Classification Societies. Their role is well defined by IACS above – they develop technical standards, i.e. rules, for the construction of ships. They will approve designs against their standard, conduct surveys during the construction of a vessel and issue a certificate to say that the vessel meets the requirements of their standard on delivery. They prescribe regulations requiring periodical surveys and upon satisfactory completion of such surveys endorse the vessel’s classification certificate to indicate that the vessel still meets the required standard. For all these services, fees are charged based on the size and complexity of the vessel.

5.2 Regulators, port states and other interested parties can then accept the certificate as evidence of the standard of the vessel if they so choose.

5.3 In general, shipyards and shipowners pay for the work of Classification Societies. At the new construction stage the owner specifies which Classification Society is to be used, but the contract for the services provided is usually with the shipyard. Upon delivery the owner then has a contract with the Society for the provision of services, including classification related and statutory surveys (see below). The fees charged for these services represent a very small proportion of the costs involved in such projects.

5.4 Most Classification Societies are not for (distributed) profit organisations that exist for the benefit of the industry they serve. Committees that represent the industry, consisting of representatives from ship owners and operators, builders, insurers, charterers and other relevant parties govern such societies. A small number of societies, however, are limited companies with shareholders.

5.5 It is useful to highlight what the societies are not. As discussed above they are not regulators, neither are they enforcement agencies - they have no authority. There are no punitive measures they can take against a ship owner. If the vessel does not meet the required standard as laid out in the rules, and the owner will not carry out remedial work, the classification certificates will be withdrawn - nothing else. Also, they are not responsible for the maintenance of ships - the certificates issued, or in the case of a periodical survey endorsed, indicate that at the time of survey the vessel met the prescribed standard.

6. Statutory role

6.1 In addition to the technical matters addressed by classification, vessels must comply with the technical requirements laid out in the adopted IMO conventions. As outlined above, ensuring such compliance is the responsibility of the Flag States and some do carry out this function, approving plans and conducting surveys themselves. However, many Flag States do not have an administration with sufficient capability or resource to do so and delegate this task to a recognised organisation, usually a Classification Society. The large Societies have authorisations, to varying degrees, from more than 100 Flag States to carry out plan approval, surveys and certification in accordance with international conventions and codes on their behalf. The only non-technical authorisation delegated to Classification Societies is for the ISM code.

6.2 Some argue that, in these circumstances, the responsibility for ensuring compliance is transferred to the Classification Society. However, it should be noted that authorisation agreements do include clauses with regard to Flag State supervision and audit of recognised organisations - acknowledgement of retained responsibility. The AMRIE position in this regard is that the responsibility for safety at sea with regard to the construction, equipment and seaworthiness of ships remains with the Flag State as defined under UNCLOS Article 94. However, this does not absolve the Classification Society of the responsibility to carry out their work in a professional and diligent manner, ensuring that when a certificate is issued - stating that a vessel complies with a pertinent regulation - the vessel does indeed comply. (Nor in a more general sense does it obviate the practical need for Port State control)

6.3 As discussed in the previous section the societies are not enforcement agencies or responsible for maintenance. This position is further demonstrated by the fact that they do not have the authority to withdraw statutory certificates they have issued – this can only be done with the specific authority of the Flag State.