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Speech given at CMA

March 2006

Presented by William O. ‘Neil - President of Videotel Marine International
& former Secretary-General of the international Maritime Organization

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure for me to join you for this meeting of CMA 2006 and to have the opportunity to say a few words during this luncheon.

Since my retirement from IMO just over two years ago, one of the most frequent questions I have been asked is - do you miss IMO?. The answer is quite simple - of course I do - after 14 years of intense activity both in the UK and Internationally it was a dramatic change to realise that I was able to take advantage of my own time and not be driven by the tremendous pressures, which are placed on the Secretary-General of the organisation. At the same time it has been quite interesting to reflect on the changes, which have taken place in shipping over the past decade and a half and to see how IMO has been able to change direction and to cope with the challenges that this very fragmented industry has put to it. Also I have now the opportunity to speak a little more freely.

I was fortunate during those years to have had the support of a very competent and dedicated staff and particularly to have had
Mr Mitropoulos as my right hand man to whom no task was insurmountable. I am extremely pleased that he succeeded me as Secretary-General and would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the excellent leadership he is providing to the organisation.

My time with the St. Lawrence's seaway, the Canadian coast guard and as the Chairman of the IMO council prior to my moving to london in 1989 made me acutely aware of the importance of shipping to the economies of all countries of the world. And, that a sound international regularity system was essential if ship owners were to be able to provide first class service in a very competitive environment.

I also realised early on that maintaining the status quo was not going to be good enough and that new initiatives would be required if imo was to gain the respect of the international community as the focal point for all regulatory matters related to shipping. Considering that at that time IMO had over 100 states as members, many of whom had entrenched political positions regarding the supremacy of their individual sovereign rights, the task of modernising and moulding the organisation to meet the challenges of the 1990's and into the new century was quite a daunting one.

However, the growing emphasis by the general public on the importance of the marine environment which was fuelled by several major tanker casualties provided a platform upon which changes could be built. The subtle transfer from safety at sea to concern for the environment as a dominant issue on the agenda highlighted the need for additional international pollution prevention measures which, would apply, to all ships. It was obvious to those directly involved with shipping, that to be effective unilateral measures taken by individual countries or regions was not the way forward. But after each shipping casualty pressures were and still are exerted by politicians "to be seen to be doing something" which, unfortunately in many instances has produced negative results and has had no beneficial impact on solving the real problems.

For instance, will the recent moves by some governments to make criminals of seafarers, a tag they will carry for the rest of their lives, really enhance the marine environment or will it more likely deter people from taking up seafaring as a career or from taking on more senior positions on board ships?

During the last half of the 1990's the advent of even larger ships and particularly tankers which had the potential to pose greater safety and pollution risks, has driven the development and introduction of many technical innovations and improvements by imo. These advances in technology have been welcomed and have been implemented on the world's fleets with the end result being a measurable improvement in safety and a reduction in pollution of the seas from ships.

Coincidental with these developments was the migration of ships from the flags of traditional shipping countries to those with open registers such as panama, the bahamas, liberia and the marshall islands. This opened the doors for ships to be crewed from a worldwide resource pool where labour rates were a fraction of those in europe and north america. But there was concern that as a result the quality of seafarers would be lowered and that safety would be compromised. Therefore, the stcw convention and the ism code were created so that common international standards would be recognised and the skills of all seafarers could be measured against them.

The records show that a large number of accidents are due to the so called "human factor" and greater emphasis is therefore being placed on the skills of seafarers than ever before. This means that education and training of personnel must be given the highest priority if shipping is to achieve the true status of a high quality operation that is demanded of it today. Young people must be shown that this industry has many facets, which can provide a rewarding career professionally and financially and they must be encouraged to become involved. Education and training facilities, second to none, must be provided where seafarers, marine administrators, managers, engineers, naval architects, surveyors and so on can gain the skills which they will need to meet the challenges of the future.

Education for seafarers is not a one-off matter but is an ongoing process, which requires a combination of many elements. It includes core facilities such as national maritime training institutions, colleges and universities like IMO's World Maritime University in Sweden. But seafarers must also keep abreast of technology and other changes and of the need to handle increased numbers of vessels carrying cargoes such as LNG and LPG. Account must be taken of seafarers lifestyle, which makes it awkward for them to attend courses ashore for any extended period of time so that acquiring skills for promotions or upgrading purposes may be difficult or impossible.

However, organisations such as Videotel Marine International, which because of my interest in training i joined after leaving IMO, supply the means to fill the gap and allow seafarers to maintain high standards. This is done through state of the art educational programs which are specifically designed to be used by seafarers aboard ship where they can be accessed at all times. The opportunity is thereby provided for ship borne personnel to keep abreast of current technical and regulatory developments and is readily available to them in an easy to follow format and therefore plays an ongoing part in assisting in honing their professional skills.

Ladies and gentlemen, if the goal of improving the image of the shipping industry is to be achieved then it must be clearly demonstrated that "quality" is the highest priority item on the ship owners' agenda. And the best way to highlight this is to stress the importance placed on the human factor, the people involved and that all avenues, and especially ship board interactive training programs to improve their skills are being utilised. The time is opportune, the tools are available, the pay off is tremendous, and the implementation is up to you.

I would welcome your views:

© William O. ‘Neil 2006

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