HUMAN FACTORS AND REGULATORY REGIME IN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF SAFE AND ROBUST SHIPS AND MAINTAINING THEM FOR THEIR LIFETIME

摘要

Construction of safe and robust ships and maintaining them for their operational life is one of the primary themes of discussion in today's maritime safety community. To this end, specific proposals have been made and are presently being discussed amongst various international organizations, governments and industries with the core issues being the development of the Goal-based Standards at IMO and the common structural rules for tankers and bulk carriers within LACS. The Goal-based Standards for ship structures currently being considered at IMO is of paramount importance in that it will significantly change the present rule making process and practices in the design, construction and maintenance of ships. The IACS common structural rules will also have significant impact as they will change the century-long practice of independent classification rule making. Today, industry practices are also being actively discussed in the maritime community. Ship owners are complaining that shipyards and classification societies have not been totally transparent in application of the classification rules when building new ships. As a result, there have been proposals to change a contract practice for new construction survey i.e. a contract between shipyard and class to a contract between ship owner and class.