Regulatory Issues Emerging as Topic of CMA Shipping 2014

Regulatory issues have been at the forefront of dialogue at CMA Shipping 2014, which kicked off yesterday.

The opening session, "Around the World in Ninety Minutes: The State of the Industry" featured a panel discussion moderated by Peter Hinchliffe, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping, with speakers from the United States Coast Guard, shipping companies and classification societies.

The opening panel was followed up by a discussion on ocean governance featuring Ghislaine Maxwell, Founder of The Terramar Project and Paul Holthus, Founding CEO & President of the World Ocean Council.

All expressed the importance of developing and enforcing uniform environmental and labor standards for the industry while acknowledging the challenges and costs involved in implementation, a sentiment echoed by the flag states the OGSR spoke with yesterday.

Scott Bergeron, CEO of the Liberian Registry, told the OGSR that if regulations were applied with more consistency, they could be streamlined and there would not be as much need for the creation of new regulations. This echoed a sentiment John Ramage of the Marshall Islands Registry shared with us at Shipping 2013 that the International Safety Management code and Maritime Labor Convention addressed similar standards and the two sets of regulations "could be harmonized."

While the ISM and MLC may cover similar ground, Matthew Bonvento of the Vanuatu Registry expressed that flag States needed to be conscientious of keeping separate records for each since the standards are enforced by two separate bodies, the International Maritime Organization and International Labor Organization, respectively. Bonvento also felt the organizations provided little framework for implementing the conventions.

Bertrand Smith of the Jamaica Registry identified the implementation of regulations as a challenge and that governments at the national level did not necessarily understand the intricacies of implementation, given the often conflicting interests of flag, port and coastal States.

The OGSR will continue to monitor the sentiments of the industry at this event and follow up with further updates.

Presentation materials and audio recordings from the conference's opening sessions are available here.