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A senior naval architect and member of the inquiry board that investigated
the Herald of Free Enteprise disaster strongly critised safety at sea last
week. Ewan Corlett, a fellow of the Royal Insitute of Naval Architects,
called for an International Safety Bureau, independent of all existing bodies
involved in setting regulations at sea, including the International Maritime
Organisation.

‘The IMCO,’ said Corlett, ‘is open to some criticism. So many compromises
have to be made to adjust to national pressures that some requirements are
demonstrably questionable.’

Corlett’s remarks to a conference on marine and avaiation safety at
the Royal Aeronautical Society, drew a mixed response. Many in the audience
were keen that the idea should be taken seriously. Others queried who would
pay for it. Ronald Sutherland, deputy secretary for shipping and aviation
at the Department of Transport, said if such an organisation is set up,
the industry should pay, because the IMO is almost bankrupt and ‘is in no
shape to take on more work’.

Corlett wants the bureau to collect information about incidents, including
structural cracking, damage in heavy weather and operational deficiencies.

Currently, individual companies and bodies such as Lloyds Register hold
this information. Corlett, though, says that the information is rarely in
the public domain, and commercial secrecy prevents other groups from studying
the data. If an International Safety Bureau had the legal right to demand
information about shipping incidents, they could spot trends and make recommendations
that might prevent future accidents.

The new bureau could also vet the certifying procedures for new ships,
establish operating procedures and give guidelines on the appropriate number
of crew. Modern ferry design means that passengers have to go up to get
into the open air, and they are then a long way from the water. ‘They need
the help of trained seamen to escape,’ he said, ‘but there are fewer of
³Ù³ó±ð³¾.’

As for operating procedures, Corlett says they vary from very good to
virtually nonexistent. Managements should not write the procedures, because
they often protect themselves and may perpeuate bad practices. Management
and crew should discuss procedures to ensure that they can be operated practically,
even at busy times.

‘Here one must learn from experience,’ says Corlett. ‘The highly questionable
practices current in Townsend Thoresen up to the Herald disasater clearly
show that such operating manuals and reporting procedures should be prepared
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