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CONTACT
GROUP CAFE
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European Commission - Directive on Safe Loading and Unloading
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European Commission - proposed directives on Safe Loading and Unloading of Bulk Carriers The European Commission formally adopted its Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (of Ministers) establishing Requirements and Harmonised Procedures for the Safe Loading and Unloading of bulk carriers at end May this year (2000). The content of the proposed directive will be discussed by the Executive Committee of the Terminals Group at its meeting at London Gatwick on Monday 26th June. It is understood that under the new joint procedures for decision making the Directive must be approved by both the European Parliament and Council of Ministers although this may not happen until the final quarter of this year. The Portuguese Presidency finishes at the end of this month (June 2000) and the early months of the French Presidency, in terms of maritime safety matters - are expected to focus on tanker safety in the aftermath of the ERIKA incident. The Swedish Presidency commences in January 2001. Georgette Lalis, Director for Maritime Transport at DG Vll of the European Commission has been invited to speak about its Proposed Directive and its approach to bulk carrier safety at the Terminals Group meeting in Gijon In September. Click here for the full 62 pages of text in PDF format of the 'Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council Establishing Requirements and Harmonised Procedures for the Safe Loading and Unloading of Bulk Carriers' (259kb) NB: This link is an Abode Acrobat file which will open automatically in your browser window if you have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. You can download acrobat reader for free from www.adobe.com. The linked document above may take several minutes to download. (Secretariat 06/00)
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European Commission Proposed Directive Safe Loading and Unloading of Bulk Carriers A Summary of Main PointsBACKGROUNDMembers of the International Dry Bulk Terminals Contact Group are aware that the European Commission announced its plans to develop a Directive on the Safe Loading and Unloading of Bulk Carriers at the end of 1998. As a result the Executive Committee of the Group approached the maritime division of the Transport Directorate with a request to be included in the Working Group. (After assessment of the Group Constitution and its Aims this was approved and representatives of the Group attended a meeting in Brussels on 6th April 1999). The Working Document – now forming the basis of the Proposed Directive – was examined by representatives of the Group. Following the Brussels meeting a list of Initial Comments and Questions were sent to the Commission on 24th April 1999. The Formal Response of the Group to the Working Document was sent to the Commission on 17th May 1999 and details of this may be found in the Private Pages of the Web Site in the section ‘Contact Group Café’. A link to the full text of the Proposed Directive (62 pages including Annexes etc) may be found at the same location on the Web Site. When viewing the “General Introduction” of the Directive it is important to note that the Group sought clarification on many of the statistics, especially those relating to a Survey carried out by the Naval Architect, Burness Corlett and Partners referring to a Survey of Terminals. The Commission was unable to provide a copy of the report as it contains ‘commercially sensitive’ information. The demand for Quality Assurance Certification of dry bulk terminals in the European Union stems also from the Burness Corlett report. MAIN POINTS SUMMARY Group Members are encouraged to read the full text of the Proposed Directive and note that its content, purpose and impact will be a major discussion item at the Group meeting in Gijon from 14-15 September. Approval of the Directive is now expected during the last quarter of this year at which time its procedures and requirements will be imposed by the Member States. Purpose and Scope According to the European Commission the purpose of the legislation is to provide better protection of the safety of bulk carriers calling at terminals in the Community for the loading and unloading of solid bulk cargoes. It aims at reducing the risks of excessive stresses and physical damage to the ship’s structure during cargo handling operations by laying down suitability requirements for those ships and terminals and by establishing harmonised procedures for co-operation and communication between those ships and the terminals. The proposal seeks to establish a legal framework in the Community for applying in a harmonised way the relevant provisions of the IMO Bulk Loading and Unloading Code; this adopted at end 1997 and instrumental in the creation of the Contact Group. It seeks further to ensure that the five main principles referred to in the operative part of the BLU Code are implemented as essential requirements. Governments with solid bulk cargo loading and unloading terminals within their territory are urged to introduce port by-laws to the effect that: · Terminal operators are required to comply with the relevant IMO Codes and recommendations on ship/port co-operation · Terminal operators are required to appoint a ‘terminal representative’ as stipulated in the relevant IMO resolutions · The Master is responsible at all times for the safe loading and unloading of the ship, the details of which should be confirmed with the terminal operator in the form of an agreed loading or unloading plan · In the event of non-compliance with the agreed loading and unloading plans or any other situation that endangers the safety of the ship, the Master has the right to stop the loading or unloading · Port authorities have the right to stop the loading or unloading of solid bulk cargoes when the safety of the ship carrying such cargoes is endangered Significant other points include: · Mandatory introduction of Quality Management systems at terminals as a counterpart to the International Safety Management Code applicable to certain bulk carriers since July 1998 · Proposals to monitor the implementation of the Directive and to assess its impact on safety. This foresees a system of surveillance by the Member States incorporating random inspections of loading and unloading terminals with twice-yearly reports from the States to the Commission · The scope of the Directive concerns all bulk carriers, irrespective of their flag, that fall within the SOLAS definition of bulk carriers and the terminals in the Community they are calling at for the loading or unloading of solid bulk cargoes, with the exclusion of grain Justification for the Directive The Commission document states that: · A harmonised implementation at Community level of these non-mandatory international provisions is necessary to ensure that loading and unloading operations in European terminals are carried out without creating additional risk to the structural safety of the bulk carriers concerned. It is also necessary to avoid any distortion of competition between terminals due to the application of divergent levels of safety in requirements for ships and terminals with regard to the loading and unloading of dry bulk cargoes · The community has a major interest in ensuring that the loading and unloading of dry bulk carriers in terminals in the member States is undertaken in safe and acceptable conditions. A harmonised action is necessary to avoid improper cargo handling operations that may impair the structural safety of these ships and could eventually contribute to the loss of these ships and the lives of the crew on board · The cost of inaction would be that the rate of losses of these types of ships and their crews would remain unacceptably high · Absence of strict safety policies will cause sub-standard and overage tonnage to shift to Europe · Inaction would do nothing to overcome the existing problems that bulk carriers experience with terminals not agreeing and adhering to the loading or unloading plans established with a view to ensuring that the ship’s structure is not over-stressed or damaged during cargo handling operations · Each Member State will have the responsibility of deciding on the methods of implementation of the Directive in accordance with its own maritime safety system GROUP COMMENTS · The Proposed Directive will be based upon IMO’s BLU Code · The development of the BLU Code was carried out without meaningful consultation with – nor representation from - the dry bulk terminals industry · The development of the BLU code triggered the formation of the Contact Group, its development of a Memorandum of Understanding with CETOA, and its Application for Consultative Status at IMO · The Contact Group objected to the tone of the EC’s Working Document that casts a negative light upon the operations of the dry bulk terminals industry · The Proposed Directive contains the same negative tone · The Proposed Directive has acknowledged the Group’s insistence that any legislation or regulation must be interpreted and enforced consistently throughout the Community especially if commercial distortions are to be avoided · The Proposed Directive appears to exclude grain terminals and grain carriers. The position of floating cranes and floating terminals has not been clarified as requested by the Contact Group CONCLUDING REMARKS · All Group Members are referred to the text of the Group Formal Response and of the Commission’s Proposed Directive to be found on the Web Site as mentioned above · A view of the motives and background to the development of the BLU Code and the EC initiative may be seen in the document “Redressing the Balance” prepared by Richard Peckham in response to a series of negative magazine articles. This may be found on the Web Site in the section ‘Contact Group Café’ and also on the Web site of the International Commission on Shipping · Group reaction to the Proposed Directive will be discussed at the meeting of the Group in Gijon. The European situation will be considered against the global picture. Action to be taken by the Group and Members will be debated · Members are urged to register for the Gijon meeting as soon as possible and to encourage neighbouring and associated terminals to attend (Secretariat 07/00)
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EU Directive enters into force – compliance dates announced
The Dry Bulk
Terminals Group has been advised by the Maritime Safety Unit of the European
Commission that the "Directive 2001/96/EC of the European Parliament Terminals
and ships must apply the provisions by 1 March 2004, as outlined Other language versions are available http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/oj/index.html (Secretariat 01/02)
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