Page 28: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 1995)

Elsag Bailey is present on board with a new genera- tion of automation systems, based on the distributed

J control system "INFI 90" 4 and on a new generation ' of advanced interactive videographic stations, performing the integrated supervision and control of the engine room, cargo and auxiliary machinery, as well as of the navigation and telecommunication systems.

Elsag Bailey systems "are sailing" all seas world-wide either on passenger, cargo and naval ships, or on the large offshore platforms.

Elsag Bailey Tel. 39-10-6581 - Fax 39-10-6582898

A Finmeccanica Company « Elsag Bailey fin, Via G. Puccini, 2 -16154 Genova

MASTERS AT SEA

International Arena

In addition to concentrating on our Washington agenda, ICCL con- tinues to make inroads to the inter- national arena. We have augmented our staff with the recent addition of

Captain Ted Thompson, a retired

USCG captain. As ICCL's vice presi- dent of International Operations, he is responsible for overseeing the myriad of technical issues which challenge our industry, particularly at the International Maritime Or- ganization (IMO).

Recent IMO industry activities include participation in the devel- opment of amendments to SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea). The new

SOLAS amendments call for un- precedented safety improvements on passenger vessels to be phased in between October 1994 and 2010.

For the first time, these amend- ments apply to both new and exist- ing ships. By way of overview, the

SOLAS amendments call for pas- senger ships to carry additional firefighting equipment and mandate improvements in the arrangements of fire doors and stairway enclo- sures designated as a means of es- cape. The amendments also ad- dress the lighting and marking of escape routes and call for installa- tion of smoke detectors and auto- matic sprinkler systems on vessels that previously were not required to have them. The cruise industry is constantly striving to improve safety procedures. Our excellent safety record attests to the importance the industry places on the safety of our passengers.

The industry continues its work in the environmental health area through its participation in the Cen- ters for Disease Control (CDC) Ves- sel Sanitation Program (VSP). We are currently in the process of work- ing with the CDC to establish uni- form standards for new vessel con- struction, with a focus on building ships which ensure the highest health standards for our passen- gers.

Today only the global management of the ship assures significant cost savings, operational efficiency, absolute safety. cabotage laws.

As always, the ICCL is vigor- ously defending the passenger cruise industry from the imposition of additional taxes and user fees which are unrelated to services pro- vided to it. ICCL generally opposes such legislation because it has a chilling effect on the growth of the cruise industry. As the trade asso- ciation for the oceangoing, over- night, deep-sea passenger cruise industry, the ICCL opposes the im- position of additional unrelated taxes on American travelers who already pay hundreds of user fees and taxes totaling billions of dollars each year.

In particular, in this congressional session we are monitoring legisla- tive attempts to impose additional

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) inspec- tion fees on our vessels as well as an

Immigration & Naturalization Ser- vice (INS) user fee.

ICCL is attempting to ensure that its members are not required to pay increased USCG user fees to cover the cost of inspections conducted on another segment of the maritime industry. The amendment intro- duced by Congressman Billy

Tauzin (D-La.) earlier this year would increase the USCG user fees paid by our vessels for the cost of inspection services provided to small

U.S.-flag passenger vessels. This amendment would cost the cruise industry $4 million to pay for a program totally unrelated to any service provided to our vessels or our cruise passengers.

On a similar user fee issue, ICCL is attempting to strike a provision in a Senate immigration bill which seeks to impose a $6 per passenger fee on our industry to fund illegal immigration efforts. The proposed legislation would lift the current exemption from the $6 immigration inspection user fee for cruise pas- senger arrivals from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The proposed

INS user fee would raise over $24 million a year from cruise passen- gers who are vacationing outside the U.S.

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Growth

The number of ICCL member ships scheduled to debut in 1995 alone signifies the industry's long- standing expectation that passen- ger demand will meet or exceed the industry's expanded capacity. Of 30 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News