The International Safety Management (ISM) Code defines a broad framework for the safe management and operation of merchant ships, maintaining high standards of safety and environmental protection. On the other hand, ISO 14001:2004 provides a generic, worldwide environmental management standard that has been utilized by several industries. Both the ISM Code and ISO 14001:2004 have the practical goal of establishing a sustainable Integrated Environmental Management System (IEMS) for shipping businesses. This paper presents a hybrid design methodology that shows how requirements from both standards can be combined into a single execution scheme. Specifically, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Axiomatic Design (FAD) are used to structure an IEMS for ship management companies. This research provides decision aid to maritime executives in order to enhance the environmental performance in the shipping industry.
Although new technologies and recent innovations have been integrated into many different transportation systems, ongoing efforts to reach environmental targets and manage global requirements are too often frustrated (Tsamboulas and Mikroudis, 2000, Toffoli et al., 2005, Giannouli et al., 2006 and Vieira et al., 2007). The environmental impact of merchant ships is of particular importance, through both routine operations (Hyvattinen and Hilden, 2004) and catastrophic maritime casualties (Hofer, 2003, Renner, 2006, Loureiro et al., 2006, Ernst et al., 2006 and Wirtz et al., 2007). This fact has motivated a global effort towards enhancing the Environmental Management Systems (EMS) used in the shipping business.
To this end, the ISO 14000 series of generic environmental standards has been integrated into the management systems of professional shipping organizations worldwide (Magerholm Fet, 1998). The International Safety Management (ISM) Code, adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by resolution A.741(18), defines additional performance standards specifically tailored for the maritime industry. The ISM Code also encourages continuous improvement in the safety-related and environmental aspects of ship management. Briefly, the ISM Code aims to ensure safety at sea, prevent human injury or loss of life, and avoid damage to the marine environment (Glazar, 1998). However, recent researches on marine casualties and their significant environmental impact ( Derraik, 2002 and Burgherr, 2007) have highlighted the urgent need to redesign the procedures followed for implementing these diverse regulations and standards. Recalling the catastrophic impacts of previous famous marine casualties (i.e., the M/T vessels Torrey Canyon in 1967, Exxon Valdez in 1989, Erika in 1999, and Prestige in 2002) has also increased the motivation on needs for improving the current EMS practice in shipping industry. Ongoing maritime casualties and their associated environmental threats can be reduced by designing an Integrated Environmental Management System (IEMS) that includes both safety-related requirements and environmental aspects of shipping operations.
The goal of this paper is to develop one such system, using a hybrid methodology that ensures compliance with requirements of the ISM Code and ISO 14001:2004. Section 2 of this paper introduces the implementation and regulatory concepts behind EMS currently used in the maritime transportation industry. Our methodology for designing an IEMS specific to be implemented in ship management companies is described in Section 3. The outcome of the requirements analysis and a proposed IEMS model are discussed in Section 4. In addition to serving as a decision aid, implementing the proposed IEMS would reduce the environmental impact of marine disasters.
This paper analyzes the degree of compliance between ISM Code clauses and ISO 14001:2004 requirements on the basis of AHP and FAD methodologies. In particular, FAD is used to quantify the expected problems and shortcomings in a fully IEMS. We complete the analysis by proposing an IEMS that can serve as a pilot application for ship management companies. The proposed IEMS is expected to contribute environmental performance of ship management companies and to prevent environmental disasters in maritime transportation industry subsequently. Hence, the outcomes of this study can satisfy the maritime industry expectations on managing the environmental concerns satisfactorily. However, the concern about the availability of competent managers to execute this kind of environmental tools in shipping industry is a common problem that urgently seeks for a satisfactory solution. However, this paper gives a scientific foundation and genius idea for the further efforts to design IEMS in ship management companies. Despite the complexity of hybrid methodology for relevant shipping managers, the industrial practice of the proposed IEMS can be managed by taking advisory support from maritime consultants. Consequently, it can be expected that execution of the proposed IEMS in shipping business will ensure establishing of managerial and operational interface on maintaining sustainable environmental management satisfactorily.
Our future research will expand the scope of the integrated system to cover issues of occupational health, safety, quality, and environmental management under a unique implementation scheme based on the same hybrid methodology. Moreover, the same methodology can be followed also to enforce the integration of Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) with ISM Code.
