The UK continues to hold its own as a leader in the maritime world after the leading international agency responsible for safety of shipping carried out an audit that shows how well it does its work.
Auditors from other Member States of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the IMO Secretariat praised the way in which the UK oversees and manages the delegation of statutory survey work to its Recognised Organisations. It also highlighted the work carried out jointly by the MCA’s Hydrography team and UK Hydrographic Office as best practice.
The IMO audit examined how the UK and wider Red Ensign Group (made up of Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies) meet their flag, coastal and port state obligations and responsibilities. It was the first time such an audit had been carried out remotely because of the ongoing challenges of COVID-19.
It also highlighted how well the Red Ensign Group worked together towards overall compliance. It has specifically recommended that this level of focus should continue to build
on the continuing success as an example to other IMO Member States.
They particularly singled out the work being
done around III Code coastal state compliance with the Overseas Territories and want to see how they will achieve the maximum benefit from the Code and its conventions as they progress.
Their audit revealed just two findings - the average tends to be in double figures – both of which were already being addressed before the audit.
Work will continue to address the findings but also to uphold and build on the high standards that continue to be demanded and met across the UK and the wider REG.
Brian Johnson, Chief Executive of the MCA said: “The result is significant for us all and importantly, means we retain our position as a world leading maritime state. It shows that the UK and the Red Ensign Group take our international obligations seriously.”
The news comes as The UK Ship Register (UKSR) further cemented its commitment to its Greece office this year, sponsoring the re- cent Shipping Finance conference in Athens. Supporting the conference as a Gold Sponsor, UKSR representatives delivered one
of the keynote speeches and participated
in a fireside talk, as well as organising an informative panel discussion looking at the key focuses of finance, sustainability, safety, and innovation.
On the first day of the conference, Maritime and Coastguard Agency Chairman, Christopher Rodrigues CBE, delivered a keynote speech, looking at the International Maritime Organisation’s 2050 sustainability goals and how these can be achieved.
With maritime a significant contributor to greenhouse emissions, due to its vital role in world trade, the need to find solutions to achieve net-zero goals can no longer be ignored. But, while the goals have been clearly established, the way we get there is less clear, particularly with tonne miles also expected to double in the same period.
In his keynote, Mr Rodrigues sets out some
of the challenges such as the multiple potential fuel options, infrastructure demands and the differing needs across the industry.
Decarbonisation remains a key focus for the UK Flag and wider Maritime and Coastguard Agency as CEO Brian Johnson sets out in a recent interview with Maritime UK. The agency’s Maritime Future Technologies team is preparing to launch a new technology matrix which will enable users to compare different technologies in relation to decarbonisation. “There are a large number of proposed alternative solutions for decarbonisation – one of the things we have been very keen to do is to find an objective way of comparing the technologies,” says Johnson. “That is import- ant because what I don’t see happening in a really disciplined way is the discarding of options which don’t have long-term viability. It is crucial that the international shipping sector starts to converge on what we think is a relatively limited number of potential solutions for decarbonisation. The technology matrix has been developed so that technologies can be compared objectively side by side.”
To facilitate easier and more direct local access to the UK Flag for Greek and Cypriot shipping owners and agents, we opened our offices in Piraeus in 2020.
Heading the UKSR’s team in Piraeus, Greece is Andriani Vodena, who has many years’ experience and knowledge of the shipping industry and working with partners including ship owners, Port Authorities and Government Bodies.
Photo: Andriani Vodena, * Heading the UKSR’s team in Piraeus