Page 3: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1995)

EDITOR'S NOTE

Whereas death and taxes are the reputed certainties in life, new rules and regulations in regard to safety at sea and clean seas are just as sure bets in the marine industry. The phrases "Clean Seas" and "Safety at Sea" are heard so often that it might seem they have entered the fraternity of industry buzzwords. But the fact is, tremendous efforts by international authorities to enact rules and regulations to protect the environment, the ship and the crew have brought the issues to the top of most every vessel owner/operator's agenda.

With new rules and regulations constantly coming on-line or being discussed, the challenge for the shipbuilder and the shipowner is to integrate the mandated changes — often entailing considerable capital expenditure — in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

Focusing on both safety and clean seas in this issue happens to be particularly relevant, considering the vast number of issues currently under scrutiny by national and international regulatory bodies. When the Conference of Contracting Governments to the International

Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea meets next month at IMO headquarters, major changes to the safety standards of RoRo passenger ships are expected. While new standards regulating the building and outfitting of RoRos affect only a niche of the marine industry, it can be safely said that the fervor to make allvessels safer and cleaner is rapidly rising. According to the recent ILU casualty report (page 62), the industry is heading in the right direction. Merchant ship casualty, in terms of both number of ships and total gross tonnage, has shown marked improvement during the first six months of 1995, as compared to the same period in 1994.

Tying in with our environmental theme (albeit not intentionally),

International Editor Alan Thorpe reports that the ship repair market outlook is good, due to heightened environmental pressures, as well as rising freight rates. The article starts on page 48.

One final note: Questions have been forwarded to me regarding MR/

EN's reporting on statistics quoted at a MarAd-sponsored conference, and referenced in the featured article of the August 1995 edition, "U.S.

Yards: Seeking the Competitive Edge." Two of the letters received are reprinted on page 8.

Greg Trauthwein, editor

Please send any comments or suggestions to me via e-mail at

[email protected], or you can fax me at (212) 254-6271. I look forward to hearing from you.

Ule ore ju/l here in America. Booth flo. 802 on Mth International maritime Exposition fit the UJa/hington Hilton and Tower/

Ula/hin9ton, D.C.

During October 4,5,6,1995

TO BUILD OR REPAIR YOUR SHIPS

CMC HITRAN

YOUR BEST CHOICE IN

CHINA cmc IIITRflfl MTERnnTIOMH SIIIPBUIIDinG COfllPIMY Erligou, Xijiao, Beijing China P.O. Box: 49, Beijing Tel: 0086-10-8421959 8423620 Fax: 0086-10-8421958

Circle 239 on Reader Service Card

October, 1995 5