Papering over the cracks

摘要

Worrying evidence has emerged that somerntanker operators - struggling to satisfy vetting inspectors and secure employment for their ships - are opting to rectify ship deficiencies on a short-term 'fire-fighting' basis, rather than addressing the underlying causes.rnThe approach of curing symptoms rather than the cause has worrying implications for safety and for an operator's bottom line, as it not only allows potentially dangerous deficiencies to recur but also means that resources continually need to be spent on tackling the problems.