Critical Literature Review and Evaluation
The ISM code is an international standard established to enhance a safe operation and management of ships to prevent environmental pollution. Through the prevention of pollution, the code further aims to minimize or avoid human injury and the loss of life, establish safeguards for all identified risks, ensure general sea safety, and equip the maritime personnel with skills such as emergency preparations related to environmental protection and safety. However, the PSC is an agency responsible for inspecting the foreign ships to evaluate the condition of the ship and its equipment to ensure they comply with the international regulation requirements at the national ports (Saengsupavanich et al., 2009, pp.154-161).
The Port State Control further provides that the ships are serviced and inspected with minimal time at the ports to reduce congestion and unnecessary delays and docking at the ports. The research report thus presents a critical analysis and an evaluation the relationship between ISM Code and the Port State Control with an aim to outline whether the PSC can impact the ISM has on the statistic related to the detentioning and the deficiencies in the findings (Ravira and Piniella, 2016, pp.221-236).
Critical literature review and evaluation
Main similarities and differences for granting a place of refuge or denying entrance
The maritime incidences have been observed in the shipping sector since the earliest time. The literature reviews evolving around the legal aspects related to places of refuge determine the safety of the ship broadly during different situations. Some situations that could impair the safety of the ships are majorly the internal factors such as force majeure or bad weather conditions and the internal factors such as the mechanical failure of the equipment or the human errors in operation (Hetherington, Flin, and Mearns, 2006, pp.401-411). The studies indicate that maritime accidents are inevitable and unpredictable at times and calls for the ship operators to seek a place of refuge to rescue the crew and save the ship.
However, the ISM code grants the provision for the seaworthy ship and that any delay or refusal in providing a refuge place in cases where the ship is rendered to be in distress due to damage or the need for repairs until the ship is viable to resume operations as ascertained by (Allen and Parsons, 2018, pp.16-31). The code further dictates that the owner is obligated to proceed to the destination without deviating unless there is a justifiable reason.
Additionally, deviating to preserve the safety of the crew and the ship is regarded as viable even if the distress is minor or the ship being unseaworthy. Therefore, according to the ISM code, it is upon the interests of the owner to deviate, seek a place of refuge, and provide justification for deviating. However, the owner of the ship also must avoid or minimize the pollution to the environment after entering a refuge place and is liable for both the clean expenses and the potential criminal prosecution in case of violation (Schiferli, 2011).
On the other hand, the PSC was established to permit the states to inspect and if necessary detain the ships that fail to comply with the international Conventions. The main difference between the PSC and the ISM on refuge places is that the ISM offers a provision to the ship owners to seek refuge in case of ship distress whereas the PSC is mandated to hold the unseaworthy ships out of operations or detain the ships until they are safe to resume operations. Concisely, the policies for seeking refuge by both the ISM and the PSC share similarities that are central to ensuring environmental safety and the safety of the crew as well as the ship (Cariou, Mejia Jr, and Wolf, 2007).
Main Similarities and Differences for Granting a Place of Refuge or Denying Entrance
Review of accident theories and models in maritime
The occurrences of maritime accidents often affect the society, economy, and the environment on large scales (Kristiansen, 2013). These accidents are reported to have shaped the maritime industry forcing the sector to come up with the policies on liability, safety, and the environmental protections such as the SOLAS after the sinking of the Titanic. The graph below presents the notable accidents in history and the corrective attempts taken after that by the international maritime community.
The accident model describes a process that can assist in the presentation of accident incidents basing on the theory of accidents (Mullai and Paulsson, 2011, pp.1590-1603). Different authors have outlined some of the theories listed as the risk analysis, domino theory, epidemiologic theory, control and system theory models, and the statistical analysis and trends theories among many others. However, the epidemiology and domino theory will be reviewed, as they are the focus of most scholars in literature analysis.
The domino theory
(Wiegmann and Shappell, 2017) Pointed out that the accidents occur because of a chain of events. The authors explain that there exist five dominoes, which cumulatively can result in crashes. According to the concepts of the domino theory, undesirable personality traits can be inherited or acquired through the social environment that contributes to the fault of an individual. However, another domino is the unsafe act that directs leads to the occurrence of accidents. The authors claim that people commit dangerous acts due to the reasons such as the lack of competent skills or knowledge, improper mechanical or the physical environment, inappropriate attitude and physical unsuitability of the crew. Through the model, the scholar creates a linear chain of events that results in accidents as depicted in the diagram below.
The Epidemiology Theory
The concepts underlining this theory illustrate that the accidents occur because of faulty interaction among the host, the agent, and the environment in an ecology. This is visualized in the diagram below.Scholars proposed that the accidents are a result of latent human failures without the obvious causes that are based on three concepts namely, local triggering event, the potential failure, and the system defenses. Concisely, the scholars later developed the organizational Accident model and the Swiss Cheese Model to define the variations in the latent and active human failures as presented below.
Whereas the organizational model occurs within technological societies due to multiple causes, they involve and affect many people in different perspectives while the Swiss model outlines the potential and the latent errors that could result in actual errors leading to accidents.
Methodology
The research deployed the use of SPSS package to analyze and critically evaluate the relationship between the ISM and the PSC and the impacts of the ISM to detentions and deficiencies found in the results or the findings. However, the use of real-life case studies of the maritime incidents that led to accidents were selected in evaluation with the use of the secondary sources data. Moreover, the secondary sources were preferred since they provided existing data related to the research study in the maritime industry (Morrissey, 2014, pp.135-141).
Review of Accident Theories and Models in Maritime
Unfortunately, the use of the secondary sources exhibited some weaknesses as indicated below.
Limitations
The use of the secondary sources for the identified case studies lacked the generality due to a limited sample collected. Additionally, the findings that were obtained from the evaluation of the case study could be limited to only a few maritime ports as different measures could be taken to curb the environmental pollution depending on the causal factors or the pollutants.
Statistical analysis of the ships detained by PSC (ISM code)
The data obtained is for the ships registered under the ClassNK society established in 1899 to oversee the property and life safety in maritime industry. The society is regarded as the largest society in the shipping industry that has flagships across the world. Additionally, the analysis is from the viewpoint of the ISM policies on the ships that holders of the Safety Management Certificate (SMC) issued by the ClassNK society based on the PSC reports of inspection (Lee, 2016). According to the society, the number of detention and the corresponding ratio of the ISM detention cases in accordance with the PSC are displayed in the table below for 2014-2016.
The data indicate that the detention ratio for Germany was 100 percent with a reflection of high detainable deficiencies across the European Union countries.
ISM detainable deficiencies
The data for the recorded deficiencies for China, Australia, and the EU countries which have the highest number of the ISM detainable deficiencies according to ClassNK society based on the Paris and Tokyo MOUs of the PSC (Arof and Zulkifly, 2012, p.1). 340 types of deficiencies were identified which were analysed using SPSS and are presented below.
The case study for Australia
The table below is an analysis of the ISM detainable deficiencies per the deficiency code which are categorized into shipboard operations code the other were frequently recorded.
According to the ISM Code 15106, the detaining deficiencies were as a result of ships such as the existence of charts that do not correspond to the planned routes, wrongly published nautical and outdated charts. Additionally, the code required that the operations should be familiar to the standards of ECDIS for the ship to be granted as a seaworthy. The detaining deficiencies were also as a result of failure to use the sewage treatment plant as a requirement by the instructions of the maker. However, the 15199 ISM Code among the others led to detaining of the ships due to deficiencies such as the recorded working hours not corresponding to actual hours of work, fire safety matters, and no records of lifeboat drill. From the analysis, the number of the deficiencies regarded as the proof of the ISM detainable deficiencies are shown in the table below.
The case study for China
The ISM detainable deficiencies were frequently recorded on shipboard operations (15106) and the maintenance and ship equipment (15109). From the data analyzed, it was observed that the Chinese ports under the PSC determined the deficiencies under the shipboard operations as lack of training records of enclosed spaces, the operations charts, not in line with the operation routes, and lack of required garbage management (McDorman, 2016).However, under the maintenance of the ship and equipment code, the detainment was due to deformation of the guard rails, and failure of starting if an engine of the rescue boat (Batalden and Sydness, 2014, pp.3-25). The pieces of evidence of the ISM detainable deficiencies for different codes are displayed below.
The Domino Theory
Three EU member countries, in essence, Germany, UK, and Italy that accounted for 17, 15, and 15 percent respectively were chosen for analysis as they cumulatively accounted for 48 percent of the total ISM detention as per 2016. From the data analysis, the evidence of ISM detainable deficiencies is shown below.
Italy
From the data, most cases of ISM detainable deficiencies were as a result of poor maintenance life-saving appliances and the fire safety equipment in accordance to the requirements by the Port State Control policies.
The UK
The cases of detainable deficiencies were as a result of the poor maintenance of the life-saving appliances and fire safety equipment as well as the deficiencies of the MF/HF radio installation that were recorded as evidence.
Germany
From the collected data, the results of the analysis indicate that the deficiencies were categorized into Crew Certificate where the SEA (Seafarers’ Employment Agreement) monitored the safety of the crew and recorded the deficiencies for detaining the ships at the ports. Another set of deficiencies were categorized into MARPOL that accounted for 49 percent of ISM deficiency cases in the EU member countries. The evidence was recorded as either MARPOL Annex VI for airpollution and Annex V for disposal of garbagge as ISM detainable (Lendvay, 2016, p.9).
Findings and recommendations
From the evaluation, the ISM code is a crucial mechanism that is used to ensure that the foreign ships docking at the ports are sea worth and does not entail any potential threat to the marine surroundings (Martin and Manuel, 2011). However, the Port State Control is contrary to most of the international regulations that ensure the ships are notified in advance that the surveyors are scheduled for inspection where they conduct their inspections randomly.
From the evaluation, it can also be depicted that the PSC data are based on spotting different trends where the important changes could only be discovered or realized after implementation of the code, in essence, the ISM codes. Moreover, the data or the PSC statistics has been noted to generalize the vessel deficiencies where there is no distinction that was made between the ISM and the non-ISM deficiencies (Mejia, 2005).
Concisely, the analysis of the sampled data indicates that the PSC does not evaluate the compliance of the ISM Code per se by the relative company or vessel but rather examines the potential impacts or influence of the ISM policies on the ship safety. It was observed that the PSC focuses on all the deficiencies as indicators of the implementation of the Safety Management System where a properly imposed SMS reflects a safer shipboard thus leading to the identification of lesser findings of deficiencies (Anderson, 2015).
From the findings, it was acknowledged that most deficiencies are due to the failure of the ISM Code such as poorly maintained fire safety equipment and the life-saving appliances where the PSC surveyors related them to defective SMS instead of categorizing the deficiencies into ISM Code for analysis and implementation of suitable solutions (Daszuta and Ghosh, 2018, pp.1-14).
The Epidemiology Theory
Conclusion
The Safety Management Systems were proven to be ineffective since there could be no or minimal incidences of that were as a result of lack of fire extinguishers or the lifesavers (Hanninen, banda, and Kujala, 2014, pp.7857-7846). Additionally, had the SMS been properly functioning, there could be no need of repairing or replacing the basic equipment on the vessels from time to time. Ravira and Piniella (2016) pointed out that the random vessel inspection by the PSC is the most suitable way and factor for determining the effectiveness of the ISM Code as indicated in the statistics.
Additionally, the authors illustrated that the lack of awareness for inspection dates and schedules portrays the actual incidences that take place on vessels thus the PSC statistics are the best for ensuring the ISM Codes are adhered to and adjusted where necessary to improve the safety of the crew and prevention of potential environmental pollution (Parsotaki and Alexopoulos, 2017, pp.261-266). However, the PSC should focus not only on the ISM Code but also on other Safety Management System to collaborate with the implementation of the ISM to achieve more safety and environmental conservation measures (Pantouvakis and karakasnaki, 2016, pp.874-886).
References
Allen, C. and Parsons, J., 2018. The history of safety management. In Managing Maritime Safety (pp. 16-31). London: Routledge.
Anderson, P., 2015. The ISM code: a practical guide to the legal and insurance implications. Informa law from Routledge.
Arof, A.M. and Zulkifly, M.H., 2012. The effectiveness of port state control regime on bulk shipping. MIMET Technical Bulletin| Volume 3 (1) 2012, p.1.
Batalden, B.M. and Sydnes, A.K., 2014. Maritime safety and the ISM code: a study of investigated casualties and incidents. WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 13(1), pp.3-25.
Cariou, P., Mejia Jr, M.Q. and Wolff, F.C., 2007. An econometric analysis of deficiencies noted in port state control inspections. Maritime Policy & Management, 34(3), pp.243-258.
Daszuta, W. and Ghosh, S., 2018. Risk management on offshore vessels: training, expectations and reality. Australian Journal of Maritime & Ocean Affairs, pp.1-14.
Hanninen, M., Banda, O.A.V. and Kujala, P., 2014. Bayesian network model of maritime safety management. Expert Systems with Applications, 41(17), pp.7837-7846.
Hetherington, C., Flin, R. and Mearns, K., 2006. Safety in shipping: The human element. Journal of safety research, 37(4), pp.401-411.
Kristiansen, S., 2013. Maritime transportation: safety management and risk analysis. Routledge.
Lee, M.J., 2016. A study on the effectiveness of the ISM Code through a comparative analysis of ISM and PSC Data.
Lendvay, L.M., 2016. Safety Management Systems to Prevent Pollution from Ships. Safety Management System Objectives, p.9.
Martin, C. and Manuel, J., 2011. The seafarer´ s rights and P&I coverage on the crew in the UK.
McDorman, T.L., 2016. Regional port state control agreements: some issues of international law. Ocean & Coastal LJ, 5, p.207.
Mejia, M.Q., 2005. Evaluating the ISM Code using port state control statistics. Lund University.
Morrissey, K., 2014. Using secondary data to examine economic trends in a subset of sectors in the English marine economy: 2003–2011. Marine Policy, 50, pp.135-141.
Mullai, A. and Paulsson, U., 2011. A grounded theory model for analysis of marine accidents. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43(4), pp.1590-1603.
Pantouvakis, A. and Karakasnaki, M., 2016. An empirical assessment of ISM Code effectiveness on performance: the role of ISO certification. Maritime Policy & Management, 43(7), pp.874-886.
Parsotaki, A. and Alexopoulos, A.B., 2017. Are Greek Tanker Operators Aware of IMO’s Sustainable Maritime Transportation System and Willing to Follow Its Goals and Actions?. In Strategic Innovative Marketing (pp. 261-266). Springer, Cham.
Ravira, F.J. and Piniella, F., 2016. Evaluating the impact of PSC inspectors’ professional profile: a case study of the Spanish Maritime Administration. WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 15(2), pp.221-236.
Saengsupavanich, C., Coowanitwong, N., Gallardo, W.G. and Lertsuchatavanich, C., 2009. Environmental performance evaluation of an industrial port and estate: ISO14001, port state control-derived indicators. Journal of Cleaner Production, 17(2), pp.154-161.
Schiferli, R., 2011. Introduction to a New Inspection Regime. London: Routledge.
Wiegmann, D.A. and Shappell, S.A., 2017. A human error approach to aviation accident analysis: The human factors analysis and classification system. London: Routledge.
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