16 June 2005
Toll Shipping - Committed to Best Practice
Interislander supports the safety recommendations made by the Maritime Safety Authority (MSA) relating to reports
released by them today, as they reinforce the changes already actioned by Toll within Interislander's operation.
Paul Garaty, Divisional General Manager Toll Shipping says, "The standards at the time of these incidents were simply
not good enough - we accept this unreservedly. We take these issues seriously. We immediately put steps in place to
address the problems identified, - we've committed $5 million so far. The public can have every confidence that safety
is absolutely paramount in our business and will not be compromised."
Significant changes have been made to the interisland operation since the events contained in the MSA's reports, which
date back to 9 months ago.
Toll is committed to transforming the Interislander operation to world's best practice and addressing the historic
practices that were inherited.
Toll has invested a significant amount of work and resource to see new levels of safety and navigational standards
introduced into the business. Toll has also made significant financial investments to raise the standard of vessel
maintenance throughout the fleet, which had been neglected under previous owners.
This action was commended publicly by Russell Kilvington, Director of the Maritime Safety Authority, in a recent
interview on Campbell Live.
Toll has worked tirelessly to implement solutions to address all safety recommendations detailed in the MSA reports, and
has consulted with the Maritime Safety Authority throughout the process. A strong partnership has been formed between
the parties with the shared goal of achieving the highest possible maritime safety standards in New Zealand.
"We are absolutely committed to improving safety standards within our operation and throughout the industry, and will be
uncompromising in our pursuit of the highest possible safety standards," says Paul Garaty, Divisional General Manager
Toll Shipping. "We are committed to being the leader in safety, and we will continue to subject our operation to a level
of scrutiny not seen before either in our operation, or anywhere in New Zealand.
"We have also formed a partnership with the world leaders in navigation practices, Star Cruises of Malaysia. Our
navigational officers are undertaking a training and education programme in navigational management the like of which
has not been seen in our business before.
"The most important thing is that the public know that when they sail with us they are in safe hands. That is our
commitment, and we stand by it."
Interislander's action plans and achievements since incidents:
* Completed full risk and reliability assessment of Aratere
* Completed full audit of BRM techniques on all vessels and all crew with external experts
* Engaged external experts, Star Cruises in Malaysia, to provide extensive training in BRM and navigational
practices to Interislander officers
* Appointing a Marine Standards Superintendent responsible for ongoing training, development and performance *
Undertaken a critical review of entire ISM system
* Internal peer review and external review system in place to ensure ISM compliance
* Established and implemented an intensive auditing programme of Officer performance, BRM and navigational
practices
* Engaged external expert on ISM Code for training purposes * Reviewed and updated Interislander's Safety
Manual in line with all safety recommendations
* Established clear procedures and protocols around reporting and documentation supporting close-outs of
corrective actions, safety recommendations and observations
* Established a working group with MSA to work on IBS system and what is the most appropriate usage
* Reviewed bridge resource manning in pilotage water to ensure full compliance with all bylaws and recommendations
* Voice recording input on voyage data recorder has been reactivated.
* Entire VDR system has been checked and is fully effective
* Parallel indexing techniques have been incorporated into bridge procedure and passage plans and are fully
implemented * Documentation completed on company policy - visitors to the bridge. * Permanent instruction issued to
all vessels prohibiting use of public radio stations
ENDS