Table of contents
INTRODUCTION
I consider it a very great honour and privilege to have been invited to prepare
an introduction for this, the Second Edition, of the Gard Guidance to Masters
published by Gard.
Since the launch of the first edition of this excellent book in 2000 I have
been a great fan – and a well thumbed copy has never been far away from
my desk top. This second, revised and updated, edition has made a first class
publication even better!
The Master of a commercial ship seems to be on the receiving end of not only
an apparent endless steam of legislation, rules and regulation with which he
or she must comply but also increasingly severe punishment in the event of any
failure to comply or other violation. It is perhaps worth reflecting for a moment
upon the requirement of Section 1.2.3 of the ISM Code:
1.2.3 The safety management system should ensure:
.1 compliance with mandatory rules and regulations; and
.2 that applicable codes, guidelines and standards recommended by the Organization,
Administrations, classification societies and maritime industry organizations
are taken into account.
Whilst the primary obligation is upon ‘The Company’ to develop,
implement and maintain the Safety Management System – it will be very
much the responsibility of the Master to ensure onboard implementation. The
‘mandatory rules and regulations’ which are referred to in Section
1.2.3.1 of the Code will include not only the Legislation of the Flag State
Administration – but also the laws, rules and regulations of each of the
many different countries which the vessel might visit. Fortunately most maritime
nations of the world tend to adopt and ratify IMO and ILO conventions which
makes compliance somewhat more manageable. However, some countries – notably
the USA and increasingly the European Union – introduce additional or
different legislation – which increases the burden of compliance. However,
such legislation can, perhaps with some difficulty at times, be identified and
complied with. But what about Section 1.2.3.2? What should be included, or excluded,
from those categories of guidelines and publication – which must be taken
into account? I can certainly imagine that, following some maritime incident,
the Master will be criticised for not having taken into account a particular
Code or set of guidelines or ‘industry publication’. This is a very
real, practical, dilemma facing the modern day Master – and Company –
basically there is so much out there to comply with and to ‘take into
account’!
What I think the Gard Guidance to Masters does, more then any other single
achievement, is to provide a passage plan to steer a navigable course through
that dilemma. In other words it is a very practical and helpful filter to guide
the Master as to where his/her attention should be focussed. Of course the Guide
itself is not intended to replace any of the ‘mandatory rules and regulations’
or ‘applicable codes, guidelines etc.’ referred to in Section 1.2.3
of the ISM Code – but it will help to make them a little more manageable.
It is highly commendable therefore that one of the worlds leading P&I clubs
took the initiative to produce such a publication. However, a real dilemma which
must have confronted Gard is how to actually prepare such a set of guidelines
and who would be suitably qualified and experienced to take on such an enormous
task and responsibility.
Such an author, or general editor, would have to have the legal knowledge to
be aware of the all the various rules and regulation – not only as a practicing
maritime lawyer but also, ideally, having had experience working at a senior
level within a Flag State Administration. The individual would, ideally, have
had many years of practical experience of dealing with the whole range of maritime
accidents and incidents which might occur during the commercial operation of
vessels – a P&I correspondent in a large, busy, sea port would probably
be the most suitable candidate. On top of that the individual MUST have had
extensive seagoing experience on a range of vessels who would be in a position
to empathise with the Masters dilemma and really understand the job of commanding
a commercial vessel. Finally, the individual must not only promote and support
the professionalism of the serving Master but must also have the enthusiasm
and the ability to communicate and to motivate serving Masters to share in that
professionalism and enthusiasm – to consult and follow the Guidelines
provided. I know of only one person who could satisfy this almost impossible
set of criteria – and Gard had already secured this Captain to steer their
ship – Captain Ronald Wöhrn.
It is with great pride therefore that I extend my congratulations to Gard, Captain
Ronald Wöhrn and the editorial support team who have worked so hard to
produce this most valuable book. I know that their greatest reward will be the
assurance that serving Masters are using the Guidelines to help them perform
their day to day work of operating their ships safely and efficiently. Aspiring
Masters as well as ship operators, maritime lawyers, surveyors, consultants
and anyone else involved in the operation of vessels and in dealing with problems
if things go wrong will also find the Gard Guidance to Masters an invaluable
addition to their reference library.
1st May 2006
Dr. Phil Anderson, BA(Hons.), D.Prof., FNI, MEWI, AMAE, Master Mariner
President – The Nautical Institute