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MARINE mutual the UK P&I Club has urged gas carrier owners to renew efforts to tackle an impending crewing shortage this decade in order to sustain present safety records.
The club, which offers cover for a third of the world's liquefied natural gas fleet, is concerned that the anticipated expansion of gas trades and vessel sizes over the rest of the decade will put further pressure on existing specialist crew.
UK P&I Club loss prevention director Karl Lumbers said: "Tempting crew away from other companies is a stop gap measure not a solution. "It increases the industry's wage bill without adding to the pool of skilled people. Only first-rate training programmes can produce the highly skilled mariners needed."
At least 10,000 additional seafarers including 5,000 officers are expected to be required by 2010 to service the LNG boom, and the mutual is concerned that crew quality does not suffer in meeting this unprecedented demand.
Speaking at the launch in London of a promotional film offering practical advice to both LNG and liquefied petroleum gas crew, Mr Lumbers said that the challenge is to "maintain today's high standards through a period of rapid expansion and change".
The film Gas Matters, which faced its own production obstacles in the security-obsessed world post-9/11, aims at increasing the awareness of the causes of P&I claims and losses for gas ships.
Mr Lumbers added that, although there have been around 50,000 LPG and LNG voyages since the 1960s with no major incident, vessel sizes were growing ndash; with Q-Max designs ten times the size of the first commercial vessels ndash; alongside new trading patterns, including spot markets.
"This is all at a time of manpower shortage and unprecedented expansion, with the entered tonnage doubled in the last 10 years," he said. "The risk profile is changing."
Figures from the UK P&I Club show that between 1997-2007 gas carriers represented only 1.5% of claims although these vessels represented 5% of its tonnage.
While claims remain low from the gas shipping segment, crewing and navigation errors were responsible for at least 56% of 137 claims from the large LPG and LNG sector over the ten-year period, compared with the club benchmark of 33%. For LNG carriers, crew and collision incidents represented 75% of the 46 claims during the 10-year period.
Mr Lumbers highlighted concern among insurers over the inexperience of a new generation of traders and chartering staff, together with onboard crew.
There are also concerns over the growth of an ageing secondhand market, with veteran LNG vessels over 35 years old due to grow to 23 ships by the end of the decade from nine last year.
Society of International Gas Tanker & Terminal Operators general manager Bill Wayne added that there are 260 LNG carriers in service, with 132 on order and due for delivery over the next four years.
The UK Club said that between 1997-2007 LPG carriers represented $29m of large claims and LNG carriers represented $18m.
| | | 来源:lloyd's list |
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发表于 2008-4-16 20:31
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