Transport Buyers Join Forces for Responsible Shipping in the Baltic and North Sea
The Responsible Shipping Initiative will look to improve working conditions, health and safety and environmental performance onboard dry cargo ships that traffic the Baltic Sea and North Sea.
Dec. 16, 2019 - EFO, Lantmännen, Stockholm Exergi and Södra have joined forces to create the Responsible Shipping Initiative — a new multisector partnership to promote responsible dry cargo shipping. Inspections and documentation will be performed in a more efficient way within the initiative. Several of the largest buyers of dry cargo shipping in Sweden — EFO, Lantmännen, Stockholm Exergi and Södra — have formed the Responsible Shipping Initiative, RSI. The initiative will look to improve working conditions, health and safety and environmental performance onboard dry cargo ships that traffic the Baltic Sea and North Sea. With the support of RSI, large Swedish buyers of maritime transport will be able to make inspections in a more efficient way, via common standards and better information sharing. “RSI will work transparently and efficiently with standardised ship inspections. Instead of leaving it to each transport buyer to perform their own individual inspections, a company can perform an inspection and share the results with other members via a common database,” says Claes Johansson, Director Sustainable Development at Lantmännen. Together with vessel carriers, RSI aims to raise the level where this is required. The formation of RSI also makes life easier for dry cargo buyers when it comes to requirement specifications in transport agreements with the vessel carrier. “By specifying the same type of requirements we can put joint pressure on the vessel carriers to live up to the terms and conditions. We believe such cooperation is better for all involved; together we can make a bigger difference than each of us can individually,” says Linda Leifsdotter, Sustainability Specialist at the energy company Stockholm Exergi. In recent times, problems on contracted vessels have been brought to the attention of the big Swedish dry cargo shipping buyers. These include inadequate employment terms and working conditions, plus insufficient safety onboard. “Such failings are unfortunately common on contracted vessels. It is important that the vessel carriers that do invest time and resources in safety and good conditions for the personnel onboard should be able to receive acknowledgement for this, which they can use as a selling point on the market,” says Sebastian Tamm, Logistics Manager at EFO, that imports and distributes fuel to energy companies. RSI aims to encourage more dry cargo shipping buyers who want to work towards more responsible maritime transport to join. The four members behind the initiative make up an important foundation and starting point for this work. “As major players within the transport area, we have a responsibility to ensure goods are shipped under good conditions. We are therefore very pleased that this partnership has now got off the ground and hope that with our combined forces we will be able to see the effects in both the short and long term,” says Anders Ripström, Purchasing Manager for Logistics and Transport at the forestry company Södra. The purpose of RSI is to promote responsible shipping with regards to working conditions, health and safety, and the environment in the Baltic and North Sea areas. For more information, go to: responsibleshippinginitiative.org. SOURCE: Responsible Shipping Initiative |