Marine Recommendations Reassessments

Safety in Canada's marine sector has improved slightly, but complex and lengthy regulatory processes continue to hinder progress. Of the 19 outstanding marine recommendations assessed in 2012, two progressed to "fully satisfactory", two regressed and 13 remained unchanged. The remaining two recommendations were assessed for the first time in 2012.

Fully Satisfactory Recommendations

In 2000, the Board recommended that Transport Canada (TC) require small passenger vessels to provide pre–departure briefings, be equipped with deployable liferaft and accessible lifesaving equipment and have the means to immediately alert others during emergency situations (recommendation no. M01-03). Since then, TC has amended several regulations and shared safety guidance with small passenger vessel owners.

The Board also identified a need for large passenger vessels to carry voyage data recorders (M08-03). TC has amended the Voyage Data Recorder Regulations so that as of January 2012 they will address this requirement, and it has tasked its inspectors to monitor and enforce compliance through regular inspections.

Regressed Recommendations

The Board has identified a number of issues involving fishing vessels. The design and construction of fishing vessels operating in ice (M08–04) pose significant concern. While TC's proposed amendments to the Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations will reduce risks, more than 6,000 registered fishing vessels will be exempt from construction improvements, leaving them exposed to safety deficiencies.

Unchanged Recommendations

Other safety deficiencies involving passenger and fishing vessels have been highlighted by the Board. Dating back as far as 1992, Board recommendations have targeted anti-exposure work suits (M92–07), stowage and launching of liferaft (M93–03), stability booklet information (M94–33), periodic liferaft inspections (M97–01), emergency position indicating radio beacons (M00–09) and fire–extinguishing systems (M05–05). Although TC has proposed amendments to four safety and fishing vessel regulations, the underlying safety deficiencies will not be addressed until implementation is achieved.

The Board has also expressed concern regarding the fishing industry's overall safety culture (M03–02), best practices (M03–07) and use of hatch covers (M00–06), issues that continue to be met with limited progress. Additionally, the Board has recommended that TC collaborate with Canadian and international partners to address emergency preparedness (M03–03), liferaft testing (M05–03) and the transfer of maintenance and failure records to new vessel owners (M09–01).

Unchanged / Unable To Assess

The Board was unable to reassess one recommendation (M04–01), which targets the requirement for small passenger vessels operators to have safety management systems, as the information provided by TC was unclear.

See the Marine recommendations for more details.