Action stations

摘要

Debate at June's two-day symposium on ship safety instigated by IMO secretary-general Koji Sekimizu centred on the need to be pro-active as an industry rather than reactive. According to Sekimizu the subject of the symposium "goes beyond simple compliance". He argued that as ships are becoming more complex so the regulations have also needed to follow. And SOLAS is an old regulation that is no longer fit for the modern industry. Asked directly if he would like to replace SOLAS the secretary-general answered: "I see a lot of merit in that when touching upon the fundamentals, but we will have to wait and see what the MSC [the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee] decides."