Prof. Moses Amweelo
Work at sea has never been without danger and the fishing industry has a long roll of honour of men who have lost their lives in the performance of their work.
Fortunately, loss of life in most types of fishing is now very much less frequent than in the past, but no technological advances can fully eliminate the forces of the sea and other natural dangers which fishermen have to face, nor is it possible to eliminate the human errors or to make the tools of the fisherman’s trade the fishing vessels and fishing gear completely accident-proof.
Main fishing areas and catches (in million metric tonnes) give an idea of the economic importance of the fishing sector.
From a primitive occupation, fishing has, in many countries, already become a highly developed industry employing complex machinery and this development necessitates the introduction and implementation of safety measures along lines similar to those, which apply to other major industries.
While this has been achieved in a number of countries, a more universal understanding and acceptance of this attitude would lead to safer working conditions in the fishing industry.
However, the protection of human life is the main aim of safety on board, increased levels of safety help the industry too.
Safety pays. Accidents occurring in the course of work being performed by fishermen, apart from their direct detrimental effects, also adversely affects the economics of the fishing industry.
Safety of fishing vessels is not one man business, legislators, owners of fishing vessels, skippers and fishermen are all responsible for shipboard safety.
The legislators have to draft legal texts, ratify conventions incorporating requirements into national legislation and implement the provisions contained therein.
The owner has to provide a seaworthy vessel and proper equipment and must promote safe working practices, but those actually on board play the most important role in ensuring that accidents are prevented in the course of operations.
The skipper is responsible for seeing that proper seamanship is practised, for ensuring that the equipment is used safely and correctly and for ensuring that the work is carried out safely on board his vessel.
Each fisherman is responsible for using the safety equipment provided and for performing his work in a manner that ensures, besides his own safety, that of his shipmates, the vessel and its equipment.
Proper use of safety gear may not always prevent accidents, but it usually reduces their seriousness whenever they happen.
One of the main aims of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is to promote safety at sea.
Bearing in mind that the fleet of fishing vessels constitutes a large portion of the world’s fleet of merchant ships, the safety of fishing vessels at sea has been a great concern of the Organization since it started its work.
Nevertheless, the most important international safety instruments, the International Conventions on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) 1960 and 1974, do not apply to fishing vessels. At the International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea, 1960, it was considered whether provisions for fishing vessels should also be included in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1960.
Finally, it was decided not to do so except in respect of Chapter V – Safety Navigation.
The conference, however, adopted three recommendations related to fishing vessels.
The first was in respect of the application of convention standards to fishing vessels.
Recognising that no explicit requirements had been included (except in chapter V) the conference recommended governments to take steps to ensure at least the same standards of safety for crews of fishing vessels as for crews of other ships, taking into account existing experience in the use of inflatable life rafts in fishing vessels and further recommended that contracting governments should apply the principles of the 1960 SOLAS Convention to fishing vessels as far as is reasonable and practicable.
The second recommendation was that contracting governments should transmit to the organisation information on the extent to which they have found it practicable to apply the appropriate provisions of the convention to fishing vessels with a view to inform all contracting governments and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as necessary and the third recommendation related to stability and invited the organisation to initiate studies on intact stability of fishing vessels, taking into account information available, including studies undertaken by FAO on this matter.
Stability is one of the most important safety features of ships.
Small ships, in particular small fishing vessels, tend to suffer from insufficient stability, which could lead to the capsizing of the vessel and loss of the crew.
It is, therefore, essential to design such vessels with adequate stability and to maintain this stability in all conditions of loading during outward and return voyages and fishing operations.