Asbestos Servey For Specific Flag State Compliance Certification

Compliance Regulation Requirement

To ensure the total ban of asbestos within maritime industry, the IMO revised the relevant SOLAS convention in 2009. As from January 1st, 2011, SOLAS now requires an asbestos-free condition for newly installed materials and  products onboard ships or offshore facilities. Despite the new SOLAS requirements asbestos is still found on new ships. CTI regularly performs pre-delivery surveys on new builds and finds asbestos within their construction. This is not confined to Asian yards and we would highlight this has also been the case in European yards.

The issue of continuing to find asbestos on recently constructed vessels has prompted SOLAS to state that all ships built after June 2002 now require an official asbestos-free compliance statement. This certification can only be achieved by having an asbestos survey performed by marine specialists with technical knowledge of ship construction.

Port State inspections are on the increase and the discovery of ACM's (asbestos containing materials) deemed to be a violation to the Flag State in turn, require the ACM to be removed within 3 years on issue of a non-extendable exemption certificate. This violation could easily compromise a charter agreement with the significant financial exposure of damages and lost revenue.

Australian Flag State requires ships constructed after 31 December 2003 and/or Australian flagged vessels to be 100% asbestos free. An approved  Asbestos Free Certificate (AFC) issued by an accredited inspection body is mandatorily required by Australian Customs & Excise. Further to this, vessels on national voyages are subject to the Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993 and the associated Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) (National Standards) Regulations 2003 (Regulation 2.08 and Schedule 2, column 2).

The Australian Maritime Safety Administration (AMSA) is the prosecutor body of these OHS regulations. The ship owner must provide the Australian Authorities with an asbestos inspection report and asbestos-free certificate issued by an accredited inspection body such as CTI.

Background

Australian Resolution
  • The Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993
  • The Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) (National Standards) Regulations 2003
UK
  • HSG264: Asbestos: The survey guide 2012
NETHERLANDS
  • Instruction to ship owners , shipping companies and recognized organizations (RO’S),Ban on the use of asbestos on board ships

CTI Company Qualification

The first and only UKAS accredited inspection body in the world to perform asbestos surveys on ships

The first foreign marine asbestos survey body recognized by Australian Maritime Safety Administration (AMSA)

The first foreign marine asbestos survey body recognized by Netherlands Ship Inspectorate (NSI)

The first IHM investigation body approved by LR, DNVGL in Asia-pacific area

Schedule

Phases Turn Around Days Output
Plan 1-2 Visual and Sampling Plan
Mob. 0.5  
Onboard survey 2-4 Visual and Sampling Check Records
Demob. 0.5  
Lab analysis 5-7 Lab Testing Certificate
Report 1-2 Report
Asbestos register with risk assessment 0.2 Asbestos Register, Risk assessment
Certification 0.2 Asbestos Compliance Certificate, recognized by Australia, Netherlands, UK and US government
Total 10-16 days  

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