Page 29: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 1998)

lean Bob Stump, chairman i House Veterans Affairs ittee, managed to remove a ion giving a group of World

I merchant mariners veter- urial and death benefits, titrust immunity for the con- ces to set freight rates is pre- :d under the bill passed by the ie, but the requirement to file tariffs with the Federal itime Commission (FMC) is linated. Carriers would have mblish standard freight rates, confidential contracts could be seen by other shipping lines. 1C Looks Into Shipper iscrimination Charges

The U.S. Federal Maritime ommission (FMC) is reportedly ivestigating allegations that !hina discriminates against U.S. hipping firms. The FMC warned hat sanctions could be imposed if illeged barriers at Chinese ports are not lifted.

In a June letter to the FMC,

Senator Hollings reportedly com- plained that the state-owned

China Ocean Shipping Company "operates and competes freely and openly in the United States while our carriers face costly, anti-com- petitive restrictions in China."

U.S. firms need special approval to re-deploy vessels from one

Chinese port to another, are limit- ed in the number and location of branch offices they may open, and face restrictions on ground trans- port to inland customers, he said.

London Club Issues Warning

On ISM Certification

The London P&I Club has warned that ISM certification, if not properly implemented and monitored, can be little more than a worthless paper exercise. The

Club notes that there have been reported incidents of vessels — not entered with the London Club and with ISM code certificates — being detained in port as a result of seri- ous safety deficiencies.

In one case, these deficiencies led to port state control inspectors checking the ship's condition against that recorded in the paper- work of the safety management system (SMS). The result was that the ship bore little or no resem- blance to the reported condition.

The auditing body for the ISM code and class were called in and not only did the physical defects have to be rectified, but also the non-

September, 1998 conformities with the SMS.

MMS Sets Rules For

Offshore Spill Rules

The U.S. Interior Department issued final rules spelling out how offshore oil producers must pay for clean-up and damage caused by spills. The rules issued by the

Minerals Management Service (MMS) apply to certain crude oil wells, production platforms, and pipelines located off the U.S. coast- line. The rules also include proce- dures for filing claims for spill- related compensation. The new regulation becomes effective in

October. MMS said it created a separate panel to review the issue of financial responsibility for spills occurring in state waters. The agency also scheduled workshops to explain the new rules to the industry in Houston on Sept. 1,

New Orleans on Sept. 15 and

California on Sept. 24.

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Circle 215 on Reader Service Card "The SeaLion handles perfect for difficult jobs requiring long cable lengths of up to 1,000 ft.

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Circle 239 on Reader Service Card 29