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WASHINGTON--Dec. 17--The cargo ship involved in Saturday's accident in New Orleans was pronounced shipshape by the Coast Guard team that boarded it June 11 to conduct an annual inspection required of foreign-flag ships entering U.S. waters.
Exam complete. No deficiencies. All outstanding deficiencies have been cleared. Master and crew cooperative, reads the inspection record made available from the Coast Guard.
The ship, Bright Field, also has a clean bill from the union representing its crew.
There have been no complaints about working or safety conditions on the Bright Field, an International Transportation Workers Federation official said.
The ITF is a London-based union coalition that holds collective bargaining contracts with many flag-of-convenience ships, such as the Liberian-flag Bright Field.
Coast Guard inspectors examine a ship's vessel-classification certificates, officer competency certificates, logs, record books, charts and nautical publications, and check the working order of navigation equipment.
They also check the steering system from all control stations, in addition to lifesaving and firefighting equipment, cargo and mooring systems, and even the galley, the mess and engineering spaces.
The Bright Field disaster could fuel a lingering debate about the Coast Guard's ship inspection practices and reporting procedures.
There have been some suggestions that the Coast Guard adopt a more aggressive program, like the one under wayin the European Union. Authorities there publish the names of ships failing inspections.
The Coast Guard does not publish such a list but maintains a database from which the records of individual ships can be checked with relatively little difficulty.
The Coast Guard's top safety official Monday said the Coast Guard has a "very systematic way of boarding" the vast number of ships calling at U.S. ports and operates a "very aggressive program."
Adm. James Card, assistant commandant for marine safety, said that based on the factors the Coast Guard uses to prioritize boardings, such as classification society, flag-of-registry and owner, the Bright Field did not warrant additional inspections.
Silas Nunn, a shipbuilding consultant who is a member of an international group known as the Committee for the Elimination of Sub-Standard Ships, cautioned against a rush to judgment.
The inspection and reporting procedures embodied in the Coast Guard's Port State Control program are new, Nunn said. They are not perfect, but they are improving, he said.
An official from a union representing U.S. maritime workers was less reticent to assess blame.
"This tragedy highlights the problems you get when you substitute low-cost flag-of-convenience vessels for quality American vessels," said Alex Shandrowsky, president of the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association.
(c) 1996, The Journal of Commerce.
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