The Accident of the Shipping Industry in UK

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The human error
The use of the guidelines
Lack of accountability
Ship characteristics
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The rate at which ships do sink in UK or US is warranting such that maritime inquiries are very necessary. Due to the accident that happened in March 1987 around 193 people died and a report was written on this in the cause of sheens report (Dennis and Randall, 2004). The report was about the cause of the accident and other findings that could be concluded from the car ferry accident. Therefore, the lord justice sheens report was basically to find out details on how and why the ship sank and the human errors that the associated with the tragedy plus the consequences of the accident for the shipping industry.

The human error

According to the investigation that was carried on the accident that happened in March 1987, it was realized that the cause of the accident was due to human error linked with management faults as a contributing factor. Lord justice sheen in his inquiry then described the management failures as “the disease of sloppiness” on the moss of the Herald of free enterprise (Houben, 2005). After the incident had taken place, legislation was passed on the safety management of ships. The IMO adopted a resolution that provided guidelines on the management of ships for safe operation and pollution prevention. This act was passed in October 1989 two years after the accident had taken place. The guidelines were focusing on those responsible for the management and operations of ships whereby they were expected to develop a framework for the paper development, implementation, and assessment of safety act pollution prevention measures concerning the best practices.

This legislation was very important since the accident was a result of management failures from the top to the bottom at all levels from the board of directors down to the junior employees according to a report written by Lord Justice Sir Barry Sheen in July 1987 exactly four months after the accident. If even a small amount of water could make the ships capsize then it could be said that the corporate body was suffering from a disease of sloppiness (Robert,2001).

The use of the guidelines

The use of the guidelines that were developed by the 16th Assembly by IMO A.647 (16) led to the enactment of the international management code for the safe operation of ships and for pollutions prevention (the ISM code), which became mandatory in 1998. The legislation or code provided the safety management objectives and requires the shipping company to establish the safety management system, which is spelled out as the shipowner or any person, such as the manager or bareboat charterer, who has assumed responsibility for operating the ship. Through the legislation that was passed by the IMO, the company was supposed to develop and implement the policy to realize the stated objectives in the safety management system. The policy that was to be developed or established was to include the relevant resources and shore-based support.

According to the legislation, every shipping company was to a point an individual ashore having direct access to the highest level of management. Lack of proper coordination between the top managers and the lower superintendents was one of the causes of the accident. To ensure effectiveness in the implementation of the ISM code, an independent expert group was put in place by the IMO secretariat to study the effects of the legislation established on the safety management system.

A report on the activities of the expert’s group would then be submitted to the Maritime safety committee. Generally, the safety management system was to ensure that ships are safer when on water and the seas are kept clear and clean. Water pollution was a serious environmental issue brought about by oil spillage on water. Poorly constructed or developed ships were found to have the cause of water pollution. Those who would be found going against the legislation passed under the ISM code were to be dealt with according to the framework under the ISM code. It would be very foolish if one abdicated another person’s idea, which is considered to be important (Ism. code 1987).

The legislation that was passed to ensure safety management was very much okay since it meets the goals that were set out by lord justice sheens. One of the goals that were set by lord justice sheen was to ensure accountability and coordination of activities. This was spelled out in the ISM code set by the IMO. Each individual or individual was to be appointed to guide ashore having direct access to the highest level of management. According to Fisse and Braithwaite (1994), the process of allocating responsibility within the company was rather uneven. The ship’s master was subjected to internal disciplinary action and the matter was sorted out when he resigned. From the sheen’s report, the assistant bosun, who was directly responsible for closing the doors, was asleep in his cabin, having just been relieved from maintenance and cleaning duties. The sheen’s report aimed to find out safety management procedures in which everyone is assigned responsibility.

Lack of accountability

Under accountability, every employee starting from the marine director to the sweepers should be accountable for the work done on daily basis. If members of an organization do not perform the duties, they are given appropriately then things would be disorganized. The disease of sloppiness that management of the company was suffering from was a result of a lack of accountability (Elliot, 2006). The tragedy was associated with human errors since it was even found that a small amount of water entering the decks made the car ferries capsize.

The safety management system was going to meet the goals that were set out by lord justice sheens by ensuring that pollution issues were checked. Oil spillage on water or sea was an issue that was to be addressed by the legislation. The design of ships has to be checked such that only strong ships could be allowed to sail on water. This was because the accident of the Herald free enterprise was a result of design errors on how the ships were made. The regulations, therefore, were to ensure that a roll-on, a roll-off ship could maintain stability with the car deck flooded probably to a depth of fifty point eight centimeters, which is roughly twenty inches. According to the legislation, additional floatation devices were to be installed within the hull, or alternatively, the company was to install internal partitions (bulk) heads within the hull. All these modifications were to ensure that any disaster or accident such as the herald of Free Enterprise in which many people were killed does not take place again. Preventing the occurrence of such a disaster was one of the goals that were set out by sheen during his report. He wanted to ensure that standardized ships are established by the companies, which are capable of floating for at least half an hour after being irreparably holed. (National Marine Safety Commission of Australia, 2000).

Ship characteristics

The ability of a ship to float on water is one of the determining factors on whether the ship or boat is going to capsize easily or not. It was realized that the materials that were used to make the ships and boats the company used were defective. This was one of the causes of the accident. The shipping industry was required to develop new ships using the current design methods and technologies. The materials were used in making ships were too heavy whereby sinking was very possible. Designers according to the act were to add some gadgets within the hull to ensure that floating on water is made possible. If the designers could have put the floating devices within the hull then the accident could have not occurred. I believe this is why the accident was associated with human errors. Therefore the legislation was going to reduce the chances of occurrence of any other accident in the shipping industry.

According to justice sheen, the ship characteristics set out in the building industry were not exhaustive. This showed that not all the various materials and elements that were necessary for determining a good ship were included in the structure of the ship. Navigation involves movements on water from one place to the other and sometimes this can be risky if the ship used is not properly designed. To make navigation easy, inflatable balloons and other equipment, analogous to cargo that makes the ship float on water are very important. All ships designed should therefore contain all these materials or devices to ensure safety measures are taken care of. The ships used should be strong and must have all the requirements that should make them float on water.

Conclusion

After critically analyzing how the shipping industry in the UK operates, it can be said that a lot of carelessness exists. Almost everybody starting from the managing director to the lower employees down the line is not responsible for all that they are doing. I, therefore, suggest that the legislation that was passed on safety measures in the industry lacked one thing. Today the society requires people to be responsible and careful about their actions. This shows that anybody who acts against the law should be prosecuted and brought before a court of law. I, therefore, suggest that a law that could spell out the rules and regulations about those who are careless was necessary. Carelessness and negligence should not be tolerated in modern society. Currently, the shipping industry has led to the loss of many lives as a result of human errors. A strong action defined under a suitable legislation act was supposed to be established to ensure that those who break the law are punished severely. This was to ensure that safety measures are properly implemented and everybody was to be mindful about his responsibility.

Lord juice inquiry into the loss of the Herald of Free Enterprise famously described the management failure, as the disease of sloppiness was very important. People’s lives should not joke with meaning that unnecessary silly mistakes should not be condoned in society. Strong and effective laws should therefore be established to ensure that safety measures are observed by the shipping industry. Otherwise, if these minor mistakes continue to occur then the UK will still have to claim more deaths brought by the management error from the industry.

References

Brent, F & Braithwaite, J. (1994). Corporations, Crime and Accountability. London: Cambridge University Press.

Dennis R, J & Randall S.S (2004). International Human Resource Management: Policies & practices for the Global Enterprise. London: Routledge.

Elliot, R.A. (2006). The Herald of Free Enterprise Disaster. Issues in Business Ethics. London: Springer Publishers.

Houben, M. (2005). International Crisis Management: The Approach of European states. London: Routledge.

Information Resources on the International Safety Management code (ISM.Code). Web.

National Marine Safety Commission of Australia. “Managing Ship safety Beyond 2000”. (Kuo feb.1, 2000). Web.

Robert, S.J. (2001). International organizations: A comparative Approach to the management of cooperation. New York: Praeger.

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