[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 153 (Thursday, September 28, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1853-E1854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        WORLD MARITIME DAY 1995

                                 ______


                            HON. BUD SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 27, 1995

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform my colleagues that 
World Maritime Day 1995 is being observed this week. The theme for this 
year's observance is ``50th Anniversary of the United Nations: 
International Maritime Organization's Achievements and Challenges.'' 
The IMO was formed by an international convention in 1948, under the 
auspices of the United Nations, and today has 152 member States.
  Since 1948, the IMO has worked to protect human life and the 
environment by promoting specific international programs focused on 
safety of life at sea and the prevention of pollution from ships. The 
U.S. Coast Guard, our country's representative at the IMO, has 
tirelessly worked through the IMO to bring international maritime 
safety and pollution laws up to our high standards. In order to honor 
the past successes of the IMO and better educate my colleagues about 
the continuing efforts of this international organization in promoting 
safety and environmental protection the high seas, I would like to 
submit the statement of Mr. William A. O'Neil, secretary-general of the 
International Maritime Organization, for the Record. Mr. O'Neil's 
remarks on this important occasion discuss past IMO programs and the 
current challenges it faces in continuing to save lives at sea and 
reduce marine environmental damages.

  A Message From the Secretary-General of the International Maritime 
                              Organization

                       (By Mr. William A. O'Neil)

       Fifty years ago the United Nations was created. When people 
     consider the United Nations today, most think only of the 
     headquarters in New York or peacekeeping missions around the 
     world. Very few people know that the UN indeed has another 
     side.
       This side, of course, consists of the specialized agencies 
     of the UN system which deal with such matters as the 
     development of telecommunications, the safety of aviation, 
     the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the improvements of 
     education, the world's weather, and international shipping, 
     the particular responsibility of the International Maritime 
     Organization.
       IMO was established by means of a convention which was 
     adopted under the auspices of the United Nations in 1948 and 
     today has 152 Member States. Its most important treaties 
     cover more than 98% of world shipping.
       IMO succeeded in winning the support of the maritime world 
     by being pragmatic, effective and above all by concentrating 
     on the technical issues related to safety at sea and the 
     prevention of pollution from ships, topics that are of most 
     concern to its Member States. IMO's priorities are often 
     described in the slogan ``safer shipping and cleaner 
     oceans.''
       But today I do not want to focus on past successes. Instead 
     I would like to talk to you about the future. Nobody can 
     predict precisely what will happen in the shipping world 
     during the next few years but there are indications that, 
     from a safety point of view, we should be especially 
     vigilant.
       The difficult economic conditions of the last two decades 
     have discouraged shipowners from ordering new tonnage and 
     there is evidence that, in some cases, the maintenance of 
     vessels has suffered. The combination of age and poor 
     maintenance has obvious safety implications. Shipping as an 
     industry is also undergoing great structural changes that 
     have resulted in the fleets of the traditional flags 
     declining in size while newer shipping nations have emerged.
       IMO has no vested interest in what flag a ship flies or 
     what country its crew members come from. But we are 
     interested in the quality of the operation. We certainly can 
     have no objection to shipowners saving money--unless those 
     savings are made at the expense of safety or the environment. 
     If that happens then we are very concerned indeed.
       Until recently the indications were that IMO's efforts to 
     improve safety and reduce pollution were paying off. The rate 
     of serious casualties was falling and the amount of oil and 
     other pollutants entering the sea was decreasing quite 
     dramatically. But recently there has been a disturbing rise 
     in accidents and our fear is that, if nothing is done, the 
     progress we have diligently fought for over the last few 
     decades will be lost. To avert this danger IMO has taken a 
     number of actions.
       We have set up a special sub-committee to improve the way 
     IMO regulations are implemented by flag States.
       We have encouraged the establishment of regional port State 
     control arrangements so that all countries which have 
     ratified IMO Conventions and have the right to inspect 
     foreign ships to make sure that they meet IMO requirements 
     can do this more effectively.
       We have adopted a new mandatory International Safety 
     Management Code to improve standards of management and 
     especially to make sure that safety and environmental issues 
     are never overlooked or ignored.
       We have recently adopted amendments to the convention 
     dealing with standards of training, certification and 
     watchkeeping for seafarers. The Convention has been 
     modernized and restructured, but most important of all, new 
     provisions have been introduced which will help to make sure 
     that the Convention is properly implemented.
       When these and other measures are added together they make 
     impressive package that should make a significant 
     contribution to safety and pollution prevention in the years 
     to come. But I think we need something more.
       IMO's standards have been so widely adopted that they 
     affect virtually every ship in the world. Therefore, in 
     theory, the casualty and pollution rates of flag States 
     should be roughly the same but in actual practice they vary 
     enormously. That can only be because IMO regulations are put 
     into effect differently from country to country. The measures 
     I have just outlined will help to even out some of these 
     differences, but they will only really succeed if everybody 
     involved in shipping wants them to.
       That sounds simple enough. Surely everybody is interested 
     in safety and the prevention of pollution and will do what 
     they can to promote them? To a certain degree perhaps they 
     are--but the degree of commitment seems to vary considerably. 
     The majority of shipowners accept their responsibilities and 
     conduct their operations with integrity at the highest level.
       Some others quite deliberately move their ships to 
     different trading routes if Governments introduce stricter 
     inspections and controls; they would rather risk losing the 
     ship and those on board then to undertake and pay for the 
     cost of carrying out the repairs they know to be necessary. 
     Some Governments are also quite happy to take the fees for 
     registering ships under their flag, but fail to ensure that 
     safety and environmental standards are enforced.
       The idea that a ship would willingly be sent to sea in an 
     unsafe condition and pose a danger to its crew is difficult 
     to believe and yet it does happen.
       The reasons for this are partly historical. We have become 
     so used to the risks involved in seafaring that we have come 
     to see them as a cost that has to be paid, a price which is 
     exacted for challenging the wrath of the oceans. We must 
     change this attitude, this passive acceptance of 
     the inevitability of disaster. When a ship sinks we should 
     all feel a sense of loss and failure, because accidents 
     are not inevitable--they can and should be prevented.
       The actions taken by IMO during the last few years will 
     undoubtedly help to improve safety and thereby save lives, 
     but they will have an even more dramatic effect if they help 
     to change the culture of all those engaged in shipping and 
     make safety not just a vague aspiration but a part of every 
     day living, so that it comes as second nature. This is a 
     clear, precise target--a target that is within our grasp if 
     we continue to put our minds and energies to the task.
       Fifty years ago, when the United Nations was being planned, 
     few people believed that there would ever be an effective 
     international organization devoted to shipping safety. But, 
     in the same spirit that led to the founding of the United 
     Nations, IMO itself was born. The vision which led to this 
     has been realized and seafarers of the world have benefitted 
     as a result.
       However, casualties still do occur and much remains to be 
     done by IMO, by its Member Governments, by the shipping 
     industry and by the seafarers who crew the 

[[Page E 1854]]
     world's ships--in fact, by all of us involved in shipping. The waters 
     are not uncharted, the course is known, the destination is 
     clear. It is up to us to conduct the voyage in such a way 
     that our objective of maximum safety is in fact realized.

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