Testimony Before the President's Commission on Ocean Policy in San Pedro, California on April 17, 2002

Abstract

This paper intends to demonstrate that ship safety is currently at the center of intense international activities, undergoing a process of evaluation and change that is likely to yield a new face that bears little resemblance to the past. It is most heartening that changes take place in desirable directions but the need for vigilance is now greater than ever. In exploring this process of change the paper stresses the areas where attention is needed the most and attempts to provide evidence in support of a key argument concerning a gap in the way safety has always been approached. More specifically, it is contended that the largest single factor contributing to the unsatisfactory state of affairs as regards ship safety is the compulsion to deal with it through rule development and legislation. This route is becoming progressively more impractical as evolutionary changes happen faster than experience is gained, thus depriving the rule making process of its basic ingredient. As an alternative, a proposal is put forward allowing safety to be brought to the heart of ship design, and integrated within the design process through a suitable generic formalization that ensures inherently safe and cost-effective ship designs.