The NTSB shows concern over Safety Management Systems (SMS) on board ships

Posted by admin on February 19, 2010 under ISM Code | Comments are off for this article

Press Release by The National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC   -  Feb 18 2010

The National Transportation Safety Board today issued its 2010 Federal Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements, adding rail, aviation and marine issues, and updating the status of other issues on the list.  At the same time, the Board removed the issue areas dealing with improved protection for school bus passengers and fatigue in the pipeline industry.

“Every one of the hundreds of currently open safety recommendations address concerns that the Safety Board has uncovered in its accident investigations,” NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said.  “But the recommendations on the Most Wanted list represent those improvements that can have the widest benefit.”

Besides removing two issue areas on the list, the Board reviewed the remaining 13 issue areas on the list and added two new ones.  Each issue area is color coded by the NTSB to designate its action/timeliness:  Red for Unacceptable Response; Yellow for Acceptable Response, Progressing Slowly; and Green for Acceptable Response, Progressing in a Timely Manner.

The NTSB has long been concerned about the issue of Safety Management Systems (SMS) on board ships, including subsystems such as preventive maintenance.  Although the United States Coast Guard has announced that it intends to require SMS for vessels carrying more than 399 passengers, the Board feels this is unacceptable because it does not cover all U.S.-flagged vessels.  The NTSB believes that the Coast Guard should require an SMS for all domestic vessels so that the same level of safety is applied to the domestic fleet of vessels as is applied to the international fleet.  This new issue area on the list, “Require Safety Management Systems for Domestic Vessels” was given a Red designation.