Page 72: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1996)

owners and operators should take action to terminate the employ- ment of officers with questionable capabilities, and risk possible wrongful dismissal suits "rather than play around with ISM."

Richard Pilley, manager,

Thomas Miller P&I Club (U.K.

Club), discussed the practical implications of the Code from an insurers' perspective. Since all

P&I clubs are self-governing, mutual assistance organizations, not profit-making organizations, club members are responsibile for voting in and changing rules. Mr.

Pilley stated that as the rules cur- rently stand, if non-compliance with ISM results from an act of the crew, or a shortcoming in the safe- ty management system, then the club carries all liability.

However, if an accident results from any personal fault of the oper- ator, any fine imposed is not cov- ered by the club. He concluded that if the club rules remain as currently written, a failure to com- ply with ISM will not indicate a breach with club rules.

Hurdling laplamantntion

Roadblocks "Say what you do, do what you say, and verify it," advised Mr.

Leitzell, responding to the uneasi- ness associated with creating and implementing fresh safety man- agement plans. He advised that in

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Circle 152 on Reader Service Card most cases large companies should discard outdated manuals and take old regulations off the books, in favor of creating new safety guidelines, which are often as short as three pages.

In regards to the need for all ships to meet the compliance date,

Mr. Leitzell alluded to comments made by James D. Bell, executive secretary of the International

Association of Classification

Societies (LACS): "By July 1998, are there enough people to audit and certify all the ships in the world? ... I don't believe you'll see one person come to your office and then travel all over the world to do the rest of your 10 ships."

And while LACS has generated a standard for credentials and train- ing for ISM auditors, it is question- able whether maritime auditors or management auditors will prevail over the process which strives to ensure safety and environmental protection at sea through the use of a system that targets company managers rather than ships.

Frank Iarossi, ABS chairman and CEO, addressed this issue at the society's Annual Meeting on

April 23: "Our human element efforts to date have largely been associated with the management approach to the safety of ships."

He continued, adding: "Never- theless, there is a growing aware- ness that human element problems in ship safety are also rooted with- in the design, construction and maintenance of marine systems — even before their operation."

Seacor To Acquire McCall

Enterprises Stock

Seacor Holdings, Inc. announced that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire all the capital stock of

McCall Enterprises Inc. and its affiliated companies for 1,215,500 shares of Seacor stock, subject to adjustments reflective of changes in working capital at closing.

Based on SEACOR's closing price on April 17, 1996, the transaction has a value of approximately $48.9 million, and is expected to be closed in the second quarter of 1996.

The McCall Group operates as

McCall's Boat Rentals and is based in Cameron, La. The fleet includes five utility boats and 36 crewboats dedicated to serving the oil and gas industry in the U.S. Gulf of

Mexico. Charles Fabrikant, chairman of SEACOR, said, "The transaction meets our criteria for acquiring businesses which own quality assets and work into

Seacor's plans. The majority of

McCall's fleet fits into the future of

Gulf of Mexico offshore transporta- tion, having flexibility to deal with more sophisticated logistics and the capability to support deepwa- ter production. We are also pleased that Norman McCall is staying on to provide leadership and guidance. His understanding of the industry and his vision will make an important contribution to

Seacor's future development."

Maritime Reporter/Engineering News