Coast Guard: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Cruise Ship Safety

As part of a new IMO subcommittee on "Flag State Implementation," the Coast Guard submitted a paper, consistent with the intent of the recommendation, on guidelines for flag states. It also submitted a paper on minimum standards for classification societies. IMOs approved these papers in November 1993. The Coast Guard also said that its policy was to bring recurring problems associated with foreign vessels to the attention of IMO authorities in order to obtain an international consensus for a solution.

The Coast Guard has upgraded its marine safety computer software to better capture results, with emphasis on tracking deficiencies, of its foreign passenger vessel examinations.

The Coast Guard established a Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) training fund at the Marine Safety Office in Miami to immediately upgrade inspector SOLAS training. A formal SOLAS training program to provide marine inspectors with this training was implemented at the end of FY 1993. In addition, the curriculum for the Inspection Department course at the Coast Guard Reserve Training Center has been revised. Marine inspectors are now taught appropriate SOLAS requirements in conjunction with the U.S. regulations for all shipboard inspection areas.

The Coast Guard proposed revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchstanding for Seafarers (STCW) to mandate courses in fire-fighting training for crew members assigned to fire parties on passenger ships. Currently, STCW requires fire-fighting training only for the master, deck, and engineer officers. The IMO Secretary has set 1995 as the target date for completing STCW revisions.

Under a current IMO resolution, the ability to extinguish actual fires is included as part of the practical elements of the basic firefighting course recommended for all seafarers. The Coast Guard proposal to revise the STCW Convention includes making this course mandatory. Also, new developments in shipboard firefighting systems and procedures are planned to be reflected in the course content.

An IMO resolution recommends issuing a special certificate for attending a fire-fighting course when fire-fighting training is not already included in the qualification for another certificate. Consistent with the GAO recommendation, the Coast Guard proposed and supported revisions to STCW that make implementing this recommendation mandatory. As noted above, the Coast Guard also proposed requiring courses in fire-fighting for shipboard fire-fighting crews. Fire-fighting training is currently required by STCW for the master, deck, and engineer officers only.

The Coast Guard has established a Human Factors Coordination Committee which promotes a comprehensive system approach on standards development. The committee coordinates Coast Guard efforts on human factors issues, such as training, safety design, and passenger safety instructions (signs and symbols).

Consistent with the overall intent of the GAO recommendation, the Coast Guard made several proposals to appropriate IMO elements that address escape systems on passenger vessels. Some of the Coast Guard's proposals have been approved. For example, one approved proposal updated the IMO resolution on emergency symbols and pictographs to include other symbols such as directional signs and emergency exits. It also provided guidelines for developing emergency escape diagrams and instructions to passengers, and recommended conspicuous placement in passenger cabins near the door, at muster stations, and in other passenger spaces. IMO, however, rejected GAO's recommendation to use only "non-nautical" emergency terminology because it considered words such as "muster" and "embarkation" to be well understood. The Coast Guard noted that any confusion surrounding the words would be minimized in the future because of the proposed symbols standardization.