'Faliure' of shipping to deal with asbestos examined:

According to the front page lead in TradeWinds today, scores of ships built in the past 10 years containing substantial amounts of banned asbestos have triggered claims of lax enforcement of rules and the erroneous issuing of safety certificates.

In the article Henning Gramann, MD of GSR Services draws attention to the fact that 'asbestos free' declarations from shipyards are 'useless if they have not fully controlled the incoming materials' or the supply chain.

The report claims 'It is now acknowledged that a large-scale problem persists and the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has now submitted a paper to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) focusing on a "unified interpretation" of the regulations, seeking to clarify especially where responsibility lies.'

Responding to the problem, an industry workshop has been set up in Singapore to offer clarity and help ship owners, builders and recyclers deal with asbestos safely and legally. Organised in the wings of the TradeWinds Ship Recycling Forum, the workshop will focus on how ship owners and operators should deal with the risks posed by asbestos on board. 

The workshop will offer practical assistance to ship owners in the areas of asbestos surveys on Chinese newbuildings, cleaning up the supply chain, potential consequences of noncompliant reporting, creating a chain of liability, selecting the most appropriate certifiers.

Attendees will learn about the reliability of inventories and upstream supply information (including repairs and regular maintenance), issues arising from Certification of people giving inventory services, costs, risks and relevance of inventories and hazards and how to avoid operational risks and liability in jurisdictions such as Australia and the Netherlands.

The workshop is taking place at the Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore on March 12th.  The event will be moderated by Henning Gramann, MD of GSR with presentations given by Gerhard Aulbert, Global Head of Practice Ship Recycling, Germanischer Lloyd, Dr Alexander Berg, Junichi Hirata, Project Manager of ClassNK and Robin Townsend, Lead Specialist at Lloyd's Register. The event is sponsored by Lucion Marine.

 

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Source: NHST Events. 10 February 2012

http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/pressroom/nhst-events/pressrelease/view/faliure-of-shipping-to-deal-with-asbestos-examined-731337