Ship suppliers around Europe are keenly aware of how climate affects the environment and the impact of our ship supply activities. The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, has brought this to light once again. “We all have a duty to ensure we act responsibly towards environmental matters and that we all conform to environmental laws, regulations, standards and other requirements,” said OCEAN Chairman Wolfgang Sump. “At the same time, we need to acknowledge that our industry is experiencing very difficult times during the global pandemic”, said Constantino Zavoianni, OCEAN Vice-Chair.
We believe that the modern ship supply industry must have environmental considerations at the heart of its business practices, and we encouraged to see that many of our members are already working toward achieving international environmental standards,” said Jens Olsen, current OCEAN treasurer and former ISSA President.
ISSA is the International Ship Suppliers Organization, of which OCEAN is a part. Along with the other 1000+ members worldwide, European ship suppliers are, too, strongly encouraging their members to achieve the International Organization for Standardisation’s ISO 140000 certification. Standards for environmental management systems are set out in ISO14001:2004, while ISO14004:2004 gives general guidelines for companies initiating environmental policies.
“Therefore, we welcome the initiative of our global organisation, ISSA, to in cooperating the GREEN ISSA initiative into our highly successful ISSA Quality Standard” Chairman Sump pointed out and added “Combining the two just makes sense: Being ISSA Quality Certified not only demonstrates our unwavering commitment to quality and service but also make climate and environmental considerations part of the routine operations of OCEAN members”.
Where OCEAN members hold the ISSA Quality Standard, companies doing business with them can be assured that the following key parts of the following Codes and Standards, which are directly applicable to the ship supply industry, are taken care of:
• ISO 9001:2015 covering the Quality Management System
• ISO 14001-2015, covering Environmental Aspects
• ISO 45001 covering Occupational Health and Safety Management
• ISO 22000-2005 covering the Food Supply Industry.
• In addition, the ISM Code and ISPS Code have been taken into account.
“OCEAN’s members are aware of their responsibilities on climate and environment. Many requirements are placed upon the shoulders of the ship supplier. So by updating and amalgamating the key fundamentals taken from ISO 14001-2015 and ISO 22000-2005 into our ISSA Quality Standard, I feel that this puts OCEAN in a strong position for the climate and environmental challenges that lie ahead” Constantino Zavoianni, OCEAN Vice-Chair added.
But OCEAN’s work on climate and environment does not stop there. In addition to complying with international regulations, there are numerous ways in which ship suppliers can ensure that their business takes proper consideration of environmental concerns, including:
• Minimizing waste.
• Introducing biodegradable packaging.
• Ensuring fridges and freezers are operating efficiently and economically.
• Avoiding unnecessary delivery journeys to vessels.
• Using vehicles with low emissions or which run on eco-fuels.
“Environmental and climate measures are constantly on the agenda for discussion during the forthcoming OCEAN Board meetings. We are ready to engage on this topic and discuss how OCEAN can support the efforts of the European Union and make the Green Deal a vital contribution to addressing the climate emergency challenge.
