Legislation Announced To Prohibit Dangerous Registries

Legislation Announced To Prohibit Dangerous Registries

Rep. DeFazio Seeks To Ban FOCs With Poor Records From U.S. Ports

Peter DeFazio
U.S. Rep. (D-OR)

      Rep. Peter DeFazio Sept. 18 announced legislation to toughen the U.S. Coast Guard's hand against unsafe flag-of-convenience merchant ships in U.S. waters.
     The Con-gressman's bill would permit the Coast Guard and other appropriate authorities to prohibit the loading and unloading of FOC ships in U.S. ports if the vessels' flag states are known to be lax in enforcing international standards.
     Such authority would force FOC shipowners to either pressure the flag states they use into compliance with internationally accepted rules and regulations or to transfer their ships to more responsible registries in order to do business in the U.S., said the Congressman, a Democrat from Oregon.
The legislation would also:

Require oil spill response plans for dry cargo vessels, a provision patterned after an Oregon law.
Increase financial liability for dry cargo vessels.
Require the installation of transponders and "black box" data recorders on certain vessels.
Toughen construction standards for bunker fuel tanks.

     "I want to make flags of convenience a little less convenient," said Rep. DeFazio, the senior Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. "All over the country, ships pull into our ports manned by poorly trained crews, using substandard equipment and carrying cargo that is putting our nation's natural resources, coastal economies and people's lives at risk. When disasters occur in our waters, our communities have to face the clean-up bill and suffer the environmental consequences."
     Rep. DeFazio, a longtime critic of flag-of-convenience shipping in cargo and cruise markets, said his bill was triggered by the grounding and break-up of the Japanese-owned, Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier New Carissa off the Oregon coast in 1999.
     In the flag-of-convenience system, ship owners register vessels in poor countries-Liberia, Panama, Honduras and others-that are either unable or unwilling to enforce internationally accepted safety, environmental protection, labor, and other laws and regulations. There is typically no genuine link between a FOC ship's country of beneficial ownership and its country of registry, or flag state.
     "It's time to hit bad operators and negligent flag states where it hurts-in their wallets," Rep. DeFazio said. "My bill sets up incentives to ensure that shippers use responsible vessels and ship owners register their ships in countries that uphold international safety and environmental standards."
     The Congressman added: "We need to take steps to prevent future New Carissas. With cargo traffic on the rise, it's time to modernize the cargo fleet to meet a higher level of safety."
     Rep. DeFazio acknowledged that, with only weeks left in the 106th Congress, enactment of the legislation this year will be difficult at best. He said he will attempt to attach at least portions of the legislation to other measures certain to move through Congress during time remaining in the current session. Rep. DeFazio will also solicit comments from "stakeholder groups" and reintroduce his measure early in 2001 if necessary.
     Rep. DeFazio unveiled his legislation during a conference sponsored in Washington by Marine Log, a shipping trade monthly.
     That same morning, other lawmakers critical of flag-of-convenience cargo and cruise shipping addressed a Capitol Hill rally held in support of the London-based International Transport Workers' Federation, which has targeted FOC fleets for reform for at least 50 years.
     The rally was sponsored by American Maritime Officers, the Seafarers International Union, the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, the International Longshoremen's Association, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, the Sailors' Union of the Pacific, and the National Maritime Union.

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