LONDON -- A Web-based global fleet database aimed at shining a searchlight on unsafe shipping was launched on Wednesday by the European Union, with Asian and U.S. input.
The Equasis site provides a three-year safety history of about 60,000 ships based on information from port authorities, insurers, vessel surveyors, unions, and ship-owner organizations, chairman director Phillipe Marchand said at its launch.
"The aim is to present on one platform all the data needed to give a full picture of a ship's quality," Marchand said.
But the ambitious plan to help shippers identify good from bad vessels still has some shortcomings, according to its developers.
Further information on the human element in maritime accidents is required and the EU is looking into a proposal to allow charterers who hire vessels that are detained to be named, said Willem de Ruiter, division head of the European Commission's Maritime Safety Unit.
"(But) I want to make it clear this is a direction we intend to develop Equasis," he said.
A decision on whether to include information on ship accidents also needs to be made.
Information on vessel detention is currently supplied by European nations involved in an agreement to police their ports by targeting suspect ships for inspection.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Japan will provide similar data for their regions.
"After an interim period of three years it is intended to widen the scope of Equasis and invite other credible port state control regions to participate," Marchand said.
De Ruiter added that information on crew complaints, false safety certification, and wage levels would be sought from trade unions.
Marchand said the site would have highlighted the fact that the Erika, the tanker which broke in two off France last December causing massive pollution, had frequently changed flag registration and classification society -- information which could alert a charterer to potential problems with the vessel.
But the data would not have indicated that sister ships had suffered structural problems.
