RightShip launched the new Dry Bulk Management Standard ( DBMS ) in April, in an email interview with xindemarinenews , Mr. Luke Fisher, Project Lead of DBMS, gives a brief introduction for the new standard.
Luke Fisher:The Dry Bulk Management Standard was kickstarted by RightShip and is a result of a collaboration between a significant number of members of the sector who held a common passion and vision for improving safety standards within dry bulk.
The standards published at the beginning of April 2020 on the DBMS website are still in their draft format, and developing standards further and refining them will be an iterative process that is dependent on members of the sector collaborating further and provide their feedback.
It is clear that there is an obvious need for improved safety standards within the dry bulk sector. In the last ten years, there have been more than 2,000 incidents on dry bulk vessels and more than 200 seafarers have lost their lives. Hundreds more have been injured, leaving a great deal with life-changing injuries that often mean they can no longer work at sea. Not only do these incidents result in an incalculable social and economic cost to mariners and their families, but they are also costly to the owners and operators and the wider supply chain.
While the statutory regulations that support safety in the dry bulk safety do an adequate job, there is very little in the dry bulk sector that allows members of the sector to attain excellence beyond base compliance. The voluntary DBMS programme is designed to allow ship managers to measure their Safety Management System (SMS) against agreed industry standards. This will ensure an operator's policies align with industry best practice to both advance their performance and attain high standards of health, safety, security and pollution prevention.
Improving safety standards is an ongoing and constant area of focus for the dry bulk segment. The DBMS takes lessons learned from other sectors that have developed an extremely rigorous approach to safety, for example, tanker operators and their OCIMF standards. By allowing bulk managers to see their benchmarked performance, they will be able to identify areas that need improvement beyond basic compliance, and set themselves on a roadmap towards better standards.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.
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