Lloyd’s Register (LR) has acquired a 50% stake in ISF Watchkeeper, a work and rest hours crew compliance software from IT Energy Systems and Consulting. The deal will see the class society jointly own the product with the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).
ISF Watchkeeper, originally developed by ICS and IT Energy, is a suite of digital solutions that helps global ship operators to plan, manage and report their crew’s rest hours compliance in accordance with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) and the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).
The software is used by more than 180,000 seafarers for calculating seafarers’ rest hours and planning work schedules, available through web, mobile, desktop and API. It has recently developed a benchmarking solution that allows shore-based teams to assess fleet compliance geographically, enabling comparison against wider industry averages.
Martin Taylor, LR Digital Solutions CEO, said: “The addition of ISF Watchkeeper to the LR digital solutions business adds further to our existing complement of digital voyage solutions. ISF Watchkeeper has the only comprehensive database of crew working practices and through this we will be able to provide detailed insights to help improve seafarer safety and efficiency at sea.”
LR CLASSIFICATION JOINS BUSINESS SHARE IN “ISF WATCHKEEPING” CUSTOMISED SOFTWARE GAMES… INSTEAD OF PURSUING SAFETY MANAGEMENT TRANSPARENT SOLUTIONS AGAINST COVER-UPS OF SEAFARERS FATIGUE RESPONSIBLE FOR MARITIME DISASTERS?
The MLC, STCW, and OPA become “guidance for violations” with the “bearing” of Class Societies new “soft” business.
THE FACTS ARE:
1) The well-known in the maritime community malpractice of adjusting records incl. improper recordkeeping, underreporting, and falsification of documents of all sorts of records (e.g., Oil Record Book, SMS procedures, ISPS code records, etc.) to elude unfavourable inspections or audits damaging the Ship Commercial credibility by covering-up the extra workload of Seafarers.
Safety becomes bureaucratization management.
2) Undoubtedly by evidence Seafarers conceal violations of shipboard rest hours logs for fear of reprisal which prevents Seafarers from communicating with shore management violations of rest hours, avoiding been exposed to criticism and retaliation by the company. This is a schizophrenic situation that questions the methods of compliance.
3)What “Data” make the use of this recording software neutral? When the software automatically points out the violation entries as alerts to Seafarers to show “good behaviour” and adjust their entries to show compliance?
4) Double book-keeping. This practice intends to dissimulate excessive overtime from “official work/rest hours’ records” but still to consider overtime on the payroll to avoid crew complaints. Accordingly there are 2 different records – rest hours for official purpose and overtime sheet for payment of overtime. The latter has to be actual.
5) While the enforcement agencies are able to assess the accuracy of oil record books, there are still no robust verification procedures for hours of rest. The ISM Code and its audit system is unable to solve the problem and to prove its usefulness.
The only cause calling for urgent solution is based on the broadly-identified current INSUFFICIENT MANNING that revokes Seaworthiness of Ships, due to crew fatigue, as a critical contributor to Maritime catastrophic events.