IMO committee gets ten-point list to achieve goal-based understanding.

(From Lloyds List)

Byline: a Special Correspondent

Achieving common understanding of key issues concerning the development of goal-based ship construction standards is the aim of a 10-point list prepared for today's critical debate of the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization.

In a written note introducing the list, the committee's chairman, Tom Allan of the UK, stressed that it was 'purely a first attempt to identify the major elements of the work to be accomplished'.

A total of 26 detailed responses have been submitted by 19 countries, the International Association of Classification Societies, the International Chamber of Shipping and Intertanko.

The establishment of goal-based standards for the design and construction of new ships is included in the IMO's strategic plan for the six-year period 2004-2010.

Responding to a joint proposal of the Bahamas and Greece, it marks a radically new approach to the organisation's regulatory role, prompted by dissatisfaction with recurring casualties to ships and major pollution disasters such as the Erika, Prestige and Nakhodka.