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SHIPBUILDING & EQUIPMENT | SAFETY & SECURITY
Independent entity to
promote safety
QACE | The classifi cation societies recognised
by the European Union and authorised
to work on behalf of one or more of the
European Union Member States’ maritime
administrations, have founded a community-interest
company responsible for the
quality assessment and continued certifi cation
of the EU Recognised Organisations
(RO).
The organisation, to be known as the Entity
for the Quality Assessment and Certifi
cation of Organisations Recognised by
the European Union (QACE), has been
established in England and will maintain
headquarters in London. It has elected a
fi ve-member board responsible for the
oversight of its activities.
QACE has been established in accordance
with Article 11 of the EU Regulation (EC)
391/2009. In fulfi lling the purposes set
out in Article 11 and promoting safety at
sea and the protection of the marine environment,
it will undertake the following
tasks:
� frequent and regular assessment of
the quality management systems of the
EU Recognised Organisations, in accordance
with the ISO 9001 quality standard
criteria
� certifi cation of the quality management
systems of EU Recognised Organisations,
including those organisations for which
recognition has been requested in accordance
with Article 3 of the Regulation
� issue interpretations of internationally
recognised quality management standards
that take account of the specifi c features of
the nature and obligations of Recognised
Organisations
� adopt individual and collective recommendations
for the improvement of EU
Recognised Organisations’ processes and
internal-control mechanisms.
The establishment of QACE is expected to
lead to improvements in the delivery of
classifi cation services over time to the benefi
t of the member societies’ clients and to
further improvements in maritime safety.
Call for
consensus
LIFEBOAT HOOKS | Lfeboat manufacturer
and service provider Schat-Harding says
IMO and parts of the shipping industry
need to move more quickly to a consensus
on vital lifeboat safety issues that have
important consequences for the safety of
seafarers.
According to Schat-Harding, there is a
broad consensus that the current standards
set by IMO for on-load release hooks
urgently need amendments.
Draft guidelines to ensure that on-load
release mechanisms for lifeboats are replaced
by those complying with new,
stricter safety standards under SOLAS
were discussed in February 2010 by the
IMO Sub-Committee on Ship Design
and Equipment (DE 53). However, no
agreement was reached. Similarly, no
consensus was achieved at the 87th session
of the Maritime Safety Committee
in May 2010.
Schat-Harding hopes that new SOLAS
standards will be introduced by July 2014.