Stephen Van Dyck Chairman of INTERTANKO		Peter M Swift Managing Director of INTERTANKO

This has been a year of significant movement on the shipping industry’s key issues, with INTERTANKO active on many fronts from the IMO in London to Brussels, from Washington DC to Singapore, from Greece to Shanghai. The commitment of the association’s members through their keen and untiring involvement in its committees and regional panels, as well as the commitment of the secretariat to its members, has been outstanding, enabling INTERTANKO to cover a huge amount of ground and keep a finger on pulses all over the world.

But there is a broader form of commitment that is crucial to the wellbeing of the tanker industry. The commitment of the tanker owners to their customers; the commitment of all those servicing the tanker industry to the tanker owners; the commitment of every individual working in the tanker industry to perform to the highest possible standard; the commitment of the tanker industry to satisfy the demands of the public.

In the 1960s and 1970s, tankers were designed and built, bought and sold, regulated and chartered, loaded and discharged relatively freely and easily compared to today, on the basis that the parties involved trusted each other to do a good job. That is not to say that there were no bad apples in the barrel, but it was clearer who they were and therefore easier to avoid them. The last twenty years have seen that trust tested as commercial pressures grew and commitment to quality and service became, for a few, simply a drive for greater profitability.

As the focus on the tanker industry sharpened during the early 1990s, so the flaw represented by those few has affected the way the whole industry is viewed. The charterer’s trust in owners to provide a good ship has been reinforced by vetting and inspections; the public’s trust in owners and charterers to provide quality tonnage has largely been lost altogether; trust in classification societies and in flag states has had to be reinforced by port state control inspections; the regulator’s trust in the industry has been bolstered by additional regulation. It is legitimate to ask what we are responsible for besides making money.

"We must look to raise our game to the next level. But this means the whole industry raising its game at the same time."

It is a very small minority of all those working in the greater tanker industry who are performing in such as way as to prejudice trust. The majority are striving to provide a safe, efficient and environmentally sound service. But the good work of the vast majority is held to ransom by this tiny minority. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The weak link holds back progress and aspiration to continuous improvement. It is through a genuine and demonstrable commitment, and performance, that one engenders trust.

INTERTANKO’s Council agreed in November during its meeting in the IMO headquarters in London to a revised strategic plan for the association which in short says that INTERTANKO members will lead the continuous improvement of the tanker industry’s performance in striving to achieve the goals of zero fatalities, zero pollution, zero detentions. We believe that we must shape our own future with a serious commitment to continuous improvement in order to achieve these goals. We must look to raise our game to the next level. But this means the whole industry raising its game at the same time. Every link in the Chain of Responsibility is vital and must perform to the same high standard for these goals to be achieved. The finest tanker in the world operated by the best crew and management will be let down if those worldwide, on whom it depends to trade, are not working to a similar level.

The Poseidon Challenge is part of a strategy to take positive steps towards our members’ goals, working hand in hand with the whole tanker industry to bring about effective action that is workable in practice. (See page 12)

"Every link in the Chain of Responsibility is vital and must perform to the same high standard for these goals to be achieved."

But this challenge is just one part of an extensive work programme. This work programme sees INTERTANKO actively involved in the main political, regulatory, technical and operational arenas worldwide, following the main tanker industry issues. Every one of these issues in which INTERTANKO has been involved round the world will impact the way that shipowners operate their ships, and many of them have the potential to impact tanker owners financially. Our involvement ensures that the tanker owner has a voice on the international stage. Our involvement means that the interests of the tanker owner are being protected. Our involvement means that the tanker owners are holding onto money that they would otherwise have been obliged to part with.

2005 has seen INTERTANKO active at the International Maritime Organization. Working on interpretations for Marpol Annex VI (air pollution), which entered into force in May 2005, and its NOx technical code, and preparing for a review of air pollution regulation; the preparation of guidelines for the Ballast Water Management Convention; involvement in the Working Group on Maritime Security at MSC (Maritime Safety Committee) 80; a significant and varied input into MEPC (Marine Environment Protection Committee) 53 including other key issues such as the development of a binding instrument to regulate ship recycling, input into the designation and practical operation of PSSAs (Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas).

Also on the international stage has been the discussion over whether the current international oil pollution compensation regime should be revised - something that INTERTANKO and others resisted strongly. This came to a climax in October when the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund Assembly (after interventions from 52 states) agreed to halt any further discussions on revision, and wound down the Third Intersessional Working Group. The challenge that remained was to develop an equitable sharing mechanism for compensation for finalisation in 2006.

2005 has seen INTERTANKO active in the United States. Intervention over the Delaware River Protection Act which was introduced as a result of an oil spill caused by the Athos I hitting an uncharted underwater obstruction, and over a New Jersey state bill requiring compulsory double hulls; intervention in the Californian Federal Court’s decision that the EPA’s exemption of ballast water discharges is improper; chasing for clarification in Michigan’s ballast water requirements; intervention as a plaintiff in the Massachusetts Oil Spill Act lawsuit in order to reinforce the U.S. Coast Guard’s position on jurisdiction in maritime rulemaking. INTERTANKO continues to maintain that U.S. maritime regulation should come from one central body (the U.S. Coast Guard) rather than from a host of individual states, just as it maintains that shipping law should come from one international body (the IMO) rather than from individual nations. Any other alternative is likely to be both costly, inefficient and detrimental to the interests of tanker owners.

In Asia INTERTANKO participated in the discussions at the Jakarta Meeting on the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, which followed the Batam Joint Statement on close cooperation between the littoral states to enhance maritime security in the region. In addition the Marine Electronic Highway (MEH) project for the Straits of Malacca and Singapore advanced a significant step when Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia signed a MoU to implement the regional MEH project, along with a MoA with INTERTANKO, the ICS and the International Hydrographic Organisation to provide ships for the project.

"It is through a genuine and demonstrable commitment, and performance, that one engenders trust."

This year has also seen broad and far-reaching legislative moves in a Brussels that has been coming to terms with its enlarged Parliament and new Commissioners. It has also seen the launch of the INTERTANKO-initiated Maritime Affairs Section of the Intergroup on Sustainable Development. Most important has been involvement in the build-up to the Third Maritime Safety Programme, where six of the seven proposals, (dealing with a revised European port state control regime, a common approach to accident investigation, licensing of class, minimum flag state rules, financial responsibility, maritime traffic and monitoring) are of significant importance to the tanker industry.

INTERTANKO’s work in Brussels has gone from the ship recycling debate at the European Parliament, to the amendments to the EU Directive on sulphur in fuel; from Commissioner Barrot’s invitation to INTERTANKO to provide input on port reception facilities, to Commissioner Borg’s envoy’s invitation to INTERTANKO to provide input into the future EU maritime policy; from input into the EC’s Pollution Prevention & Control project, to input into the panel of experts sponsored by the European Maritime Safety Agency; from activity on the EU Directive on ship-source pollution which includes criminal sanctions, to discussions on the EU competition rules and the continuing exemption of liner and tramp shipping.

Our interaction with politicians, regulators, national representatives, technical experts has been considerable, which means that our members have had an involvement in, and a say in, the process - not to try and block changes, but to attempt to end up with constructive regulations that will work in practice and more effectively achieve the goal that they were intended to achieve. Such a commitment can also save our members money - considerable amounts of money.

If the tanker industry is to work towards ‘zero’ goals, then the whole sector needs to be driven by commitment at all levels - not just commitment from senior executives, but right down through all ranks. Commitment needs to be more than just instructions from the top. It needs to permeate the working day of every person in the industry. The commitment of the human element is the key to the door for access to an altogether higher level of quality.

Stephen Van Dyck Chairman of INTERTANKO

Peter M Swift Managing Director of INTERTANKO

January 2006