Europe View by Bruce Barnard: A tale of two ships JoC Online Edition

The connection is that both ships were classed as seaworthy by the Polish Register of Shipping (PRS) which has just been expelled from the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) because of "serious managerial shortcomings." An IACS audit suggested that the Leader L, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of commerce (Newark, N.J.)
Main Author BRUCE BARNARD Bruce Barnard can be reached at 011-44-1223-840-461 or brucebarnard@compuserve.com
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York IHS Maritime & Trade 12.06.2000
Subjects
Barnard, Bruce
Classification
Shipping industry
Ships
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Summary:The connection is that both ships were classed as seaworthy by the Polish Register of Shipping (PRS) which has just been expelled from the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) because of "serious managerial shortcomings." An IACS audit suggested that the Leader L, a 1977-built bulk ship was operating in poor condition under the PRS for some time.The problem for the Turnstone's owner, Manolis Tripodakis, is that his charter contract with Topfer, a German trading house, says the ship must be classed by an IACS member. Tripodakis is furious because he now must change the vessel's class just nine months after the ship was dry-docked for maintenance. That's no easy task, considering the ship is in Argentina. In the end, he thinks the situation will cost him $150,000. The [Erika] has put the IACS in the spotlight again because the vessel was classed by one of its members, Italy's RINA. There was a proposal to suspend RINA at IACS's board meeting in Hamburg earlier this month -- the same meeting at which the Polish register was expelled -- but it was voted down. RINA also is coming under fire because another of its ships, the Maltese-flagged Nunki, was arrested in Amsterdam this month. "They (IACS) want to kill us because we took business from them," alleged Jerzy Landa, PRS' commercial manager. "We charge $20,000, but it can be as much as $100,000 for Lloyd's Register or ABS (American Bureau of Shipping)."Owners of about 200 Greek ships could face similar problems with charterers as Tripodakis because they are currently classed with the Polish register.The troubles aren't new for the Poles. The IACS suspended the register in 1997 following complaints about its handling of some ships transferred to its books from other societies by Cavo d'Oro Shipping, a Piraeus operator whose ships included the Leader L.