As well as confirming the appointment of Nick Fistes as INTERTANKO’s new chairman, the Association’s Council last week made some important decisions on a number of key issues – inter alia on MARPOL Annex VI on air pollution from ships, on information exchange over hull failure incidents. The provision of aids to navigation in the Malacca and Singapore Straits is also on the Association’s agenda.

Fistes expressed his thanks to retiring Chairman Stephen Van Dyck from INTERTANKO’s Executive Committee and Council, from the Secretariat, from the Association’s members and associate members, and from the tanker industry as a whole. With Van Dyck at the helm, INTERTANKO has flourished, grown and gained strength. Over the last three years, deadweight in INTERTANKO has risen by one third and the number of ships by one fifth, from 229 members with 2,198 tankers of 165m deadweight in January 2004 to 260 members with 2,650 tankers of over 220 m deadweight in January this year. In 2006 alone INTERTANKO gained 20 new full members with 181 tankers of 14.2m deadweight.

Van Dyck’s vision of a respected industry committed to continuous improvement and proactively shaping its own future became an industry vision. “His vitality, energy and commitment set an example to us all – and make him a hard act to follow,” said Fistes. “My personal thanks and appreciation go to him for his hard work and his achievements, leaving me an organisation that is ready to reach even higher. When we all work together, forgetting our personal agendas and striving for the common good, we can achieve any target, even those challenges that appear impossible to achieve on one’s own.”

Fistes set out his vision for his chairmanship of INTERTANKO. This encompasses a) membership involvement; b) the human element; c) industry image; d) expansion of the Poseidon Challenge.

Membership involvement.

“I want actively to encourage the wider involvement of our membership in INTERTANKO’s work,” he says. Firstly by fostering a greater awareness of the vital work our committees do in protecting and furthering the interests of our members, and in providing technical back-up to our Council as it formulates the Association’s policies. Secondly, by ensuring a greater involvement of, and commitment from, INTERTANKO’s 120 Council members. “This is the governing body of the Association. We want its voice to be heard.” INTERTANKO is keen to utilise its most valuable resource, the vast pool of experience and expertise of its members, out of which come on the one hand the broad general knowledge and experience of Council and Executive Committee members, and on the other hand the deep specialist knowledge and experience of Committee members.

The human element. 

The last few years have seen a massive investment by the tanker owners in new ships. Almost $50bn last year alone. But without a parallel investment in human resources, the hardware investment may lose some of its gloss. INTERTANKO has been encouraging its members to provide cadet berths on their ships, and to provide for such accommodation when designing newbuildings. Fistes encourages the provision of training facilities on ships – desks, chairs, manuals, DVD equipment. “The easiest way to get seafarers’ attention is when they are at sea, not when they are ashore during their precious leave time,” he says. Instead of teaching ashore, training officers would join the ships for training trips. On board training is a step closer to implementation, making sure that crews are not only trained but that they can apply what they learn in on-job training. The ship is the best environment to ensure that training is effective and procedures are implemented. “I applaud the creation and work programme of INTERTANKO’s new Human Element in Shipping Committee,” says Fistes, “one of whose main aims is to promote the availability and utilisation of personnel with the highest quality skills and competence.” Providing quality training is part of attracting and retaining the best people to run and maintain the industry’s valuable assets. The best insurance policy we can have for these assets is a secure future supply of good seafarers.

Industry image.

European Commissioner Joe Borg (Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs) told Fistes recently that he is pleased to see what INTERTANKO has been doing to improve the image of the tanker industry. “But it is not enough,” says Fistes. George Livanos used to ‘make’ officers be members’ of Helmepa (the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association). Already, many of today’s young officers are members voluntarily. “Even so, it’s hard to change people’s minds – the mind of the man in the street, the mind of the politician. But I want to change the minds of our children, the future society. The tanker industry has a great story to tell. We should not be shy to tell it.” His idea is that INTERTANKO’s regional panels could provide a great local launch pad for such an initiative, reaching out to school children and students all over the world. If we can, through the schools of our children, make our society aware of what we do and how we do it,  if we can ensure our future supply of quality seafarers, if we can get our future seafarers and shore staff involved, then we will be several steps nearer to achieving our Poseidon Challenge goals.

Poseidon Challenge.

It is now three years since the Poseidon Challenge was born during our Athens Tanker Event and Singapore hosted the first Poseidon Challenge Day a year ago. The second Poseidon Challenge Day was staged last week in Houston. This initiative has a vision – that of inspiring individuals and their companies to set, and achieve, new goals of excellence as they work, together with other shipping sectors, to achieve the ambitious zero goals for deaths, pollution and detentions. It is not a quick fix, but a long-term part of people’s work programmes. It is about learning from the past and embracing change. It is not about talking; it is about walking the talk. “We have had good support from INTERTANKO’s members,” says Fistes, “but I would like to see every one of them actively sharing the Poseidon vision – not only in their offices but also through our local society and most important on board the ships.”

The Association’s new Chairman and its management team will encounter some tough challenges. “With the team that we have in place on our Executive Committee, on our committees, on our regional panels and in our extremely dedicated Secretariat, our engagements with our future challenges will be successful,” says Fistes. “INTERTANKO has achieved enormous benefits for its members and for our industry. We at INTERTANKO have to lead. We have to excel. This is our destiny.”

Air pollution and MARPOL Annex VI

The Council reaffirmed the Association’s strategy in approaching the revision of MARPOL’s Annex VI on air pollution. It believes that the realisation by many states that switching to distillate fuels is a viable solution to provide a significant and early reduction in the major elements of air emissions from ships, vindicated the decision to bring this alternative to the attention of the IMO Working Group last autumn. “If INTERTANKO had not placed the distillate fuel option on the table at the IMO, it would not now be part of the discussion - it would not now be an option,” says Dr Peter Swift, Managing Director of INTERTANKO. “We are pleased to observe growing mainstream support for this proactive solution to air pollution from ships.” Having successfully ensured that the distillate option was in the frame at the IMO, the INTERTANKO’s Council is now encouraging the Association to work on recommending this solution at the IMO and elsewhere.

Early Warning System – information exchange

The Association’s senior governing body also considered and endorsed the Early Warning System being set up by the International Association of Classification Societies to ensure an adequate exchange of confidential information between class societies on incidents of hull failure which are considered to have endangered ship, crew or environment and where sister or similar ships could be at risk. “INTERTANKO believes that such a proactive move to  prevent incidents by authorising the release of information on such failures will be beneficial in avoiding casualties,” says Swift.

Voluntary funding scheme for Malacca and Singapore Straits

The littoral states of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore are seeking to establish and gain support for the development of a voluntary funding scheme where shipping companies contribute alongside the littoral states towards the replacement and upkeep of the aids to navigation in the Straits. This would be the first scheme of this type in the world.

INTERTANKO believes that there are merits in considering the establishment of a voluntary scheme, and that the shipping industry, together with other stakeholder interests, should contribute further to the proposal’s development. “We welcome the opportunity to contribute thoughts, comments and advice to further discussion,” says INTERTANKO’s Asia-Pacific Regional Manager Tim Wilkins, adding that it is important to recognise that such a proposal would require the active and committed participation of both the littoral and user states.

Further consideration of this proposal would need to take into account the practical and operational nature of a voluntary scheme while maintaining the free and innocent passage of ships through the Straits. Particular emphasis would need to be given to the structure of the proposed levy for voluntary contributions, as setting a fixed rate for a voluntary scheme may be a disincentive for contributers. “Navigational safety must remain paramount, with the primary focus of our attentions being the assurance of the continued safety of our vessels crew and cargo,” says Wilkins.

Contact:

Bill Box

Communications and Public Relations Manager,

INTERTANKO

E-mail: bill.box@intertanko.com

Phone: +44 20 7977 7023

Mobile: +44 774 380 1487