APL has been awarded the Safety at Sea Award during the CrewConnect Global Awards 2018 in recognition of the shipping line’s best practices and initiatives that have led to the reduction of risk to human life at sea.
“The accolade re-affirms APL’s ‘Safety First’ emphasis on board our vessels and at the terminals that we operate. Through safety protocols and training, APL imbues in our seafarers the right attitude towards safety management,” APL global head of safety, security and environment Dennis Yee said in a statement.
APL said it adopts policies and processes that safeguard early detection, prevention and mitigation of risks associated with the business to enable safe and secure operations. In 2017, APL reported its 10th consecutive year of zero fatality and a low lost-time injury frequency rate of 1.55 incidents per million man hours.
APL also deploys the latest navigation assistance tools and technologies to track and analyze wide-ranging nautical, meteorological and geographic information from ashore in real time—24 hours a day, seven days a week. Based on live analytics of vessels’ operating speeds, ocean currents, weather forecasts, and high traffic areas, a team of onshore experts is empowered to assess, anticipate, and mitigate any navigation-related risks to the liner’s vessel operations.
Currently, route optimization systems are being installed on board its vessel fleet to complement efforts to cut these risks. These systems take into account the hydrodynamic properties of the vessel, loading parameters, and weather forecasts to map out the safest and most efficient voyage that enable ship officers to make the best-informed and real-time navigation decisions throughout its voyage.
Besides safeguarding its assets and cargoes, APL also renders the voluntary support of its sea crews to ensure maritime safety. Through the Automated Mutual assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) Maritime Safety Programme, APL joins over 160 merchant shipping companies in providing a worldwide safety network that assists search and rescue coordinators in responding to emergencies at sea. In 2017, seven APL-operated vessels were acknowledged for the carrier’s dedication to the program that rescued 283 survivors in 2016.
CrewConnect Global 2018, the world’s largest event in maritime human resources, crew retention, manning, and marine training and education, was held in the Philippines from November 5 to 7.
