Interferry: Environmental, Safety Rules Should Be More Pragmatic

Port states have not implemented “draconian” inspection policies, said Roos

Interferry's Regulatory Affairs Director Johan Roos Monday said there has been a "smooth start" to the implementation of Emission Control Area (ECA) rules, but that a host of proposed future environmental and safety rules lack practicality, World Maritime News reports.

Roos said that most ferry operators have switched to using marine gasoil (MGO), with few reported technical issues other than some clogged up filters and separators.

The dramatic slide in oil prices, and consequent drop in bunker costs, have helped the transition by lessening the blow he said, although price differentials between MGO and other fuels still give an advantage to other modes of transport over ferries.

"Long term, the new sulphur regulations have certainly diminished the ability of northern European ferry operators to compete for the same business with rival modes such as railways, motorways and low cost airlines," said Roos.

Roos also commented that port states have been sensitive to switch-over difficulties and not implemented "draconian" inspection policies.

"This recognises that contamination from old HFO in the on-board systems can significantly influence the sulphur content of a fuel sample and generate unintentional non-compliance, which obviously should not be punished."

He added that 40 ships of Interferry members had installed scrubbers as a route to compliance but wider uptake is being hampered by legal uncertainty over where or not existing scrubbers meet all relevant environmental regulations.

Other safety and environmental rules lack pragmatism, too, said Roos.

The issue of most immediate importance for Interferry is the International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Ballast Water Management Convention, he stated.

"In our view, current proposals to prevent the spread of invasive species go too far – measures to restrict inter-continental spread are laudable but we cannot see the point of imposing them on short stretches of water between two nations," explained Roos.

"In effect, this would require spending half a million dollars per ship on equipment to kill organisms that are common in the same water."

Roos added that "neighbouring states should be allowed to reach bilateral agreements on whatever action they see fit" to avoid unnecessary upheaval.

In terms of ship safety, he said Interferry is working towards various goals to improve passenger and ship safety.

Ship Safety Too Academic

As regards improving the ability of ships to remain afloat after a collision or grounding, Roos said IMO developments towards this are too academic.

While praising the logic of being proactive in improving ship safety, he said the IMO's approach has been too theoretical at the expense of using actual experience.

"The concern we have is that the process has been very academic and non-transparent – looking forward, the ship's captain may almost need to be a professor in naval architecture in order to ascertain whether his ship will sink if it is involved in an accident."

Roos also said the European Union should leave Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) infrastructure development to the market.