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Shipping and Regulators: A Mirror Cracked

Jonathan K. Waldron, partner in Blank Rome’s maritime group, was recently quoted in the article “Shipping and regulators: a mirror cracked” by Rajesh Joshi,which first appeared in the July 2010 edition of Lloyd’s List, Maritime Americas 2010.

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon sinking the classification society ABS, flag state Marshall Islands and South Korea, the country where it was built, have come under intense scrutiny from the U.S. media.

This can potentially undermine the gradual trust that has been built between global shippers and U.S. regulators, including the United States Coast Guard (USCG).

This leads to fear that the USCG might not fully take the shipping industry at its word when it comes to adherence to U.S. requirements on oil spills and response preparedness.

“The USCG has a lot of credibility, much more than MMS (U.S. Mineral Management Service) ever did.  Now that MMS appears to be on the verge of disappearing, the USCG might get additional responsibility, particularly on inspections and compliance on offshore installations,” Mr. Waldron states.

Mr. Waldron goes on to say “there has been a clear difference between MMS and the USCG when it comes to regulatory oversight.  The USCG always had a different level of understanding with the shipping industry.  Let us just hope that the previous level of trust between industry and the USCG remains intact, no matter what new laws are passed.”