Discuss about the Shipping Management.
1. The first step I would suggest is to prepare a work paper for the process. An Environmental Committee must be formed thereafter consisting of members from various departments of the company which have direct contact with environmental matters. The Coordinator of the project should be representative of the Quality Assurance Department who should be responsible for creating an Environmental Manual, as suggested by Blackett & Trebilcock (ed.), (2015). The work paper prepared should be a message to all the employees in the organization, communicating the management’s environmental process. This paper shall also stand as a guarantee by the management for fulfilling company’s environmental policy.
My next suggested step is to prepare a preliminary review of what the existing environmental situation is. The purpose of this review would be to consider all aspects of an environmental management system, assert Branch & Robarts, (2014). Such a diagnosis would also cover these key areas:
Finally, I shall establish a program for achieving the targets and objectives set out in the policy document, define responsibilities, procedures and corrective mechanisms. In certain matters, it would be more appropriate to discuss the policy document with the concerned environmental authorities. The outcome of all this exercise should be lay an exhaustive policy frame for the company’s Environment Management System which can be practiced by the employees as well as the management, as outlined by Lun et al, (2015).
2. As an expert, I believe that to successfully introduce an Environmental Management System in an organisation is a collective responsibility of the management and the employees. Hence, as suggested by CUP, (2010), I always start the process with an environmental training program to involve the employees and also to convince them about the necessity of environmental awareness within the organization. I discuss the following basic principles with the employees to make them involved in the whole process, asserts CUP, (2010).
This should be considered as a principal objective of the company’s strategy.
In order to maintain a continual improvement of company’s environmental control.
This will be a priority procedure for all so as to ensure that they comply with company’s environmental policy, as detailed by Branch, (2007).
The management will promote clean technology and waste recycling initiatives.
Investment policies in Environmental System will be priority criteria.
The company shall use the most advanced technology to protect the environment and minimise its environmental impact by controlling emissions into the atmosphere of the suspended particulate matter emitted by the ships, asserts Stopford, (2009).
The environmental management system shall be intermixed with the company’s management system. It will also be mandatory to being audited, as specified by Delmas & Young, (2009).
It will be the endeavour of the management to establish procedures of communication with the authorities, keeping them informed about the environmental benefits being achieved by the company because of its Environmental Management System, as detailed by Wood, (2002).
2. In the shipping industry, the environmental concerns were more or less concerned with ships, and they were subjected to the environmental regulations so as to prevent marine pollution created either by the ship’s operations or the cargo. Now, the international legal requirements are enforcing the shipping companies to modernise their traditional outlook towards environmental management, asserts Lavelle, (2013). This means to integrate an Environmental Management System into the Shipping Management System of the company. This is being made mandatory with the introduction of new safety regulations in to the existing frameworks as formulated through MLC 2006. I take up the important provisions, as suggested in IMO, (2000).
Effective 1 July 2002, an amendment made in Chapter II-2 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974 introduced a new set of requirements for fire protection on board all ships. The new regulations are to ensure that first of all fires are prevented from occurring; secondly, any type of fire is rapidly detected; and thirdly, any fire is contained and extinguished quickly. It also requires that ships be so designed so as to ensure quick evacuation routes for passengers and crew are made mandatory, as detailed by Lavelle, (2013).
Navigational Safety has always been high on the IMO agenda and it has been introducing measures for improvement since 1959 through notifications, conventions and recommendations. Three conventions are particularly relevant to the issue of navigation, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS); the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREG); and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers, 1978 (STCW), as per IMO, (2000).
Measures dealing with the safety aspects of working conditions appear under Chapter V. IMO adopted a revised version of chapter V, in December 2000, by updating it and also incorporating new requirements and bringing them into force in 2002. SOLAS also covers safety aspects and working conditions, including life-saving appliances, radio communications and the carriage of cargoes, says Lavelle, (2013).
IMO also issued a series of fresh resolutions and codes, which included guidelines about issues and performance standards for communication and lifesaving appliances on board ships. Some of these are only recommendations, although they have a wide acceptance among the formulators of international policies. Others, which are referred to by certain relevant Regulations drafted at Conventions, have also got the same weight as the Convention Regulations themselves, as detailed by Karahalios, (2015).
IMO has been particularly noteworthy in its comments regarding strict compliance of the procedures adopted towards preparation of documents by the issuing authorities such as LRS, ABS and DNV and the shipping companies. Documents should not only give authentic information about the cargo, they should also reflect the procedures and processes followed by the issuer and the receiver on matters concerned with the safety, health and work conditions of the employees working on the ships, asserts CUP, (2010).
3. Regulations presented under the MLC 2006 are designed to cover a lot of issues related to the employees of shipping companies, especially those who are on board for most part of their working life. Now, as per IMO, (2000), managements will be required to monitor the problems linked with work load, hours of work, stress and fatigue of all seafarers. The most important feature of MLC 2006 is that the seafarers’ working hours must comply with the limits set in the new provisions. Regarding hours of rest, it has now been made the responsibility of the Master to ensure that the seafarers get sufficient and adequate periods of rest, as explained by Branch & Robarts, (2014).
Regulation 2.1 of MLC 2006 stipulates that the shipping company has the responsibility of ensuring the seafarers get a fair employment agreement. This means the management has to ensure that the terms and conditions of employment for a seafarer are written in a clear and legally enforceable contract. Regulation 2.2 of MLC 2006 defines the shipping company’s obligation of ensuring that wages to all seafarers are paid regularly, at least monthly and are paid in full agreement with the specified terms of employment.
Another important aspect for the management to comply with, as per Lavelle, (2013) is the entitlement to leave under Regulation 2.5 of MLC 2006 and it should be ensured that seafarers are provided with adequate leave. Agreements without considering the provision of annual paid leave will not be permissible under the new regulations and a justified absence should not be included in the seafarer’s annual leave. Unless it is specified through a provision of collective bargaining, calculation of annual leave should be made according to the Standard A2.4, which stipulates that the minimum basis is of 2.5 days per calendar month of service put-in, as detailed in IMO, (2000).
Regulation 2.6 of MLC 2006 specifies that an indemnity has to be declared by the shipping company for ensuring that seafarers get adequate compensation in case a ship is lost on high seas or has foundered and also in case of injury or unemployment for this reason. Further to this are Regulations 2.7 and 2.8, as per IMO, (2000), which imply that the shipping company must employ sufficient manpower which should be in compliance with requirements mentioned in IMO SOLAS-52 for safety of the manpower employed. For matters related to these provisions, it is mandatory for the shipping company to impart adequate training to the Seafarers, including vocational education and guidance so as to promote the seafarers’ career and skill development, states Lavelle, (2013).
Regulation 4.4 of MLC 2006 stipulates that each Member State is to ensure that all seafarers working on board ships get access to shore-based services and facilities. This implies that the management cannot discriminate in respect of welfare facilities either on the basis of colour, race, sex, nationality, social, culture and political opinions or on the basis of the ship’s flag. However, the management is allowed to provide the time for shore leave as mentioned in Guideline B4.4.1 of MLC 2006 as per IMO, (2000). These allocations of leave on ports shall be based on the welfare services provided to the seafarers. It will also be taken into consideration the facilities available at different ports and the spare-time activities which are permissible by the Member State, as per Lavelle, (2013).
List of References
Blackett, A. and Trebilcock, A. (ed.) 2015, Research Handbook on Transnational Labour Law. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham.
Branch, A.E. 2007, Elements of shipping, 8th ed. Taylor & Francis, Oxon.
Branch, A.E. and Robarts, M. 2014, Branch’s Elements of Shipping, 9th ed. Routledge, Oxon.
CUP. 2010, Ocean Trade and Shipping. CUP Archive, Cambridge.
Delmas, M.A. and Young, O.R. 2009, Governance for the Environment: New Perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
IMO. 2000, Resolutions and other decisions: Assembly, Twenty First Session, 15-26 November 1999. IMO Publishing, London.
Karahalios, H. 2015, The Management of Maritime Regulations. Routledge, Oxon.
Lavelle, J. 2013, The Maritime Labour Convention 2006. CRC Press, Oxon.
Lun, Y.H.V., Lai, K., Wong, C.W.Y. and Cheng, T.C.E. 2015, Green Shipping Management Shipping and Transport Logistics. Springer, Heidelberg.
Stopford, M. 2009, Maritime Economics, 3rd ed. Taylor & Francis, Oxon.
Wood, D.F. 2002, International logistics, 2nd ed. American Management Association, New York.
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