Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2020

2015 by an international conference held in the Philippines and organised by IMO in collaboration with the Government of the Philippines, IACS, Interferry and the WMU. There have also been several sessions of the ASEAN Regional Forum Workshop on Ferry Safety, bringing country officials together. An Expert Group Meeting on Improving Domestic Ferry Safety in Support of Safe Maritime Connectivity in Asia and the Pacific took place in March 2020 (held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic). This meeting adopted the Bangkok Declaration on Enhancing Domestic Ferry Safety – which supports the development of a Convention on Domestic Ferry Safety, Intergovernmental Agreement on Domestic Ferry Safety, framework Model Regulations on Domestic Ferry Safety, or a combination of all. Please describe what you see as the ideal future regulatory environment for domestic ferry safety. This is something Member States will decide and could take different forms. As already stated, we are looking at developing model regulations on domestic ferry safety. The MSC, consisting of IMO Member States, will eventually decide which form the final product will take and it is, therefore, important that Member States with major domestic ferry operations are engaged in this process. What are the key future milestones (planned and not yet set) as you head towards this goal? The last session of the MSC in June 2019 included the issue of measures to improve domestic ferry safety on its agenda, with an estimated four sessions needed to complete the work. This work will focus on developing model regulations on domestic ferry safety; providing guidance on the incorporation of model regulations on domestic ferry safety in domestic law; developing online training material on domestic ferry safety; and continuing to provide technical assistance to countries in need through IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme. The next MSC session is expected to consider the next steps. A key element after finalising the set of model regulations will be capacity- building, including training on how to incorporate these regulations in national law. There also needs to be a focus on instilling a safety culture and raising awareness among all local stakeholders, including ferry operators and passengers, on the safety issues connected with the operation of domestic ferries. CFR IMO’s simple one-minute animated video shows passengers the importance of following safety rules while on ferries 1 4 4 INTERV IEW