September 07, 2008

Shipping industry concerned with falling shipbuilding standards

It is reported that executives from leading shipping companies, class societies and shipyards are alarmed by falling construction standards in the rush to meet a record demand for new ships.

Mr George Sarris MD of Enterprises Shipping & Trading manager of one of Greece’s largest fleets, while speaking at Lloyd’s List International Shipbuilding Conference in Athens, said that “We have to do something now before it is too late. A decline in shipbuilding standards, caused mainly but not solely by the emergence of numerous new yards in China, threatened to throw away the past 15 years of progress in making shipping safer. Safety and quality standards are non existent and where they should happen to exist they are being compromised all the way.”

According to Mr Sarris, many recently established shipbuilders simply copy pasted specifications from other existing designs, sometimes combining them in ways that make no sense.

His concern was echoed by a prominent private Chinese shipbuilder, Mr Simon Liang chairman & CEO of Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group, which five years ago was delivering two vessels a year but which has 45 deliveries scheduled for 2008. He said that “It is my personal opinion, but maybe 30% or maybe 40% of ships delivered by these [new] shipyards are going to be sub quality. This market will leave unsafe ships for sure.”

Mr Liang said that the industry had been growing too fast for the past five years and too few of the new builders had been able to acquire the proper knowledge or resources. However, this lack of expertise did not stop them experimenting on demanding ships, he warned. Mr Liang urged ship owners to choose very carefully when selecting a shipbuilder for their contracts.