afety
of shipping has been a point of attention as long as there are ships.
Next to well understood own interest of the members of the crew was and
is the salvation of the valuable cargo in the foreground. On the technical
development, which led to the practice of modern shipping, we can distinguish
two main streams: the progressing improvement of the quality of the vessels
and the improvement of the navigation - the nautical and logistical quality
of the use of the vessels.
Construction
The technical
history of the vessel lead to rafts, construction of sewing together animal
hides, hollowed tree-trunks via cleaved and sawed planks to the steel
vessels which in the year 2000 sail the oceans (seven seas). The propulsion
developed via hand force. paddles and oars to sails and from sails via
the steam engine and steam turbine to the diesel engine. Improvements
of the safety became possible through the ever more stronger construction
of the vessels.
From the early history of shipping we only know a few measures which were
directly adapted to the safety of navigation. The Colossus
of Rhodos, the lighthouse which helped Greek seaman navigate a safe passage
on the Aegean Sea, is a well known example. Precise navigation was hampered
because until late in the eighteenth century the fixing of the eastern
and western longitudes was impossible.
GPS
(Global Positioning System)
At the start of the 21st Century the crew of a sea going vessel can rely
on the GPS to fix its position with an accuracy which was formerly unthinkable.
In the professional shipping guessed positions and their related calculations
hardly exist any more. Thanks to the technical improvements in shipbuilding
and navigation shipping accidents are rare incidents, instead
of regularly occurring disasters. Discussing safety in shipping nowadays we are
not only thinking of preventing shipping-disasters or other severe
accidents. A vessel and her crew must also be "safe" in relation to the
environment. In the normal business, but also during incidents, a vessel
may not damage the marine environment. The construction and the equipment of the
vessel, but also the working-methods of the management and the crew must
guarantee this.
IMO
After the Second World War the founders of the United Nations have decided
that an international organisation must supervise a safe and clean shipping.
After long negotiations the IMCO was founded in 1959, since 1982 known
as the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The IMO lays down legal
rules to which vessels must answer.
Green
Award
Since some years another system of standards exists next to and above the
basic requirements laid down by the IMO. This set of standards raises the
technical and managerial quality of a certain category of vessels above the
minimum set by (inter)national laws and regulations. The Green Award Certificate can be awarded after an accurate survey by objective surveyors, to
vessels which meet the specific safety and environmental requirements.
These requirements were established in 1994, as an initiative of the Rotterdam Port
Authority.
Ribbon
The Green
Award Foundation reached its adulthood in 1998, by loosening the relationship
with the founders, the Rotterdam Municipal Port Authority. As an independent
international organisation, active in all sea ports round the world, the
Green Award foundation shall in the 21st century play an important role
by further improvement of safety and environmental efficiency in shipping.
For that purpose Green Award will widen her sphere of activity to other
types of seagoing vessels. Soon also bulk carriers will
be eligible to be among the vanguard of the international shipping industry:
the Green Award vessels.
The Green Award in the form of a certificate and a green ribbon, was awarded
in the first year, 1994, to two vessels. Four years later the green ribbon,
on which a styled Greek sea god Poseidon can be seen, starts to become
a regular appearance in the sea ports of the world. Several port authorities
and maritime service providers give financial incentives to clean and safe Green Award vessels. Environment conscious shipowners and their clients attach more
and more value to the positive image of the Green Award ribbon.