North P&I club encourages seafarers to be more assertive

The ‘A’-rated 125 million GT North P&I club is encouraging its members to help seafarers become more assertive when faced with apparently unreasonable requests by officials and other parties – particularly if they could jeopardise safety. The call comes in the latest issue of the club’s loss-prevention newsletter Signals.

‘Examples include a shipper’s surveyor trying to show that a visibly wet bulk cargo is safe to load,’ says the club’s loss-prevention executive Andrew Kirkham. ‘Safety could be compromised and result in a casualty, for which the ship’s officers will ultimately be held responsible’.

According to Kirkham, the art of being confident in such situations is not to be aggressive, confrontational or rude but to be assertive. ‘Being assertive means being reasonable and, if appropriate, willing to compromise – but to do so seafarers must know their rights and keep to the facts.’

North points out that the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) chapter X1-2, regulation 8 makes it clear that ‘nothing’ shall constrain masters from taking a decision which – in their professional judgement – is necessary to maintain the safety and security of a ship. It further states that if masters find themselves in a conflict over security and safety, then it is their obligation to put safety first.

However, Kirkham says that to invoke their ‘right’, masters must have an overriding identified reason backed up by the facts. ‘Any compromises – such as conducting their own tests on a cargo in the absence of independent certification – must reflect the safest option to the satisfaction of the master’s professional judgement,’ he says.

North provides P&I insurance to 95 million GT of owned tonnage and 30 million GT of chartered tonnage, with 4,250 ships entered by 375 members. It is based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK with regional offices in Hong Kong, Piraeus and Singapore. 

Contact: Andrew Kirkham +44 191 232 5221