IACS urges IMO to keep GBS verification as is

IACS has submitted ten papers for consideration to the forthcoming IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 98) which will take place from 7 to 16 June 2017. Among other issues, IACS urges IMO to confirm that the existing foundations of the GBS verification audit system should not be changed.

Regarding the Goal Based Standards (GBS) verification audit scheme for bulk carriers and oil tankers, IACS would welcome the Committee’s concurrence with the recommendation of the GBS audit team (in paper MSC 98/6/1) that the limited number of non-conformities raised in the initial audits can be considered as ‘closed’.

Three papers have been submitted to MSC 98 that provide updates on the work being undertaken to address the observations raised in the initial audits (MSC 98/INF.7, INF.12 and INF.14). In response to the invitation that was extended by the MSC at its last meeting, IACS has submitted two papers to MSC 98 with a view to improving this verification process in the future (MSC 98/6/4 and 6/8).

Therefore, IACS urges the Committee to confirm that the existing foundations of the GBS verification audit system should not be changed and that it should endorse the conclusion at MSC 97 that “periodic audits” are not necessary.

Moreover, IACS has submitted or co-sponsored papers including proposals for  the following:

• changes to the draft definition of a ‘vehicle carrier’ with a view to clarifying that SOLAS regulation II-2/20-1 (requirements for vehicle carriers carrying motor vehicles with compressed hydrogen or natural gas in their tanks for their own propulsion as cargo) applies only to “pure car and truck carriers”.
• a reformatting of the text, with a view to facilitating its clarity, of the draft amendments to SOLAS regulation II-2/20.2 that clarifies the application of this regulation and regulation II‑2/19.
• draft amendments to the 1994 and 2000 HSC Codes and the Records of Equipment for such craft and vessels that comply with the SPS Code, 2008. These amendments mirror those to SOLAS Chapter IV and the SOLAS Records of Equipment that were developed at NCSR 4, which will be before MSC 98 for approval, to address additional mobile satellite systems, other than Inmarsat.
• updates to table 1 of annex 3 to the 2010 FTP Code in order to clarify that the fire protection materials and required approval test methods contained therein also apply to passenger ships carrying not more than 36 passengers. The paper also proposes some editorial corrections to this table as a consequence of earlier amendments to SOLAS.
• technical data regarding rudder bearing clearances on cargo and passenger ships; and proposes draft amendments to the Survey Guidelines under the Harmonized System of Survey and Certification (HSSC) should be developed to waive the requirement to take measurements of the rudder bearing clearances on cargo ships when the inspection of the outside of the ship’s bottom is conducted with the ship afloat, as is permitted for passenger ships.
• a new output on fault isolation requirements for individually identifiable fire detector systems installed in lieu of section identifiable fire detector systems on cargo ships and passenger ship cabin balconies