By GENIVI FACTAO

Government is considering having a mandatory merger of the country’s local class societies to ensure maritime safety.

The sinking of the Princess of the Stars owned by Sulpicio Lines and other wooden vessels have raised suggestions for the drafting of one class society for domestic ships.

According to the Maritime Industry Authority there are seven classification societies accredited under Marina that are competing with the shallow number of vessels plying the local trade.

A classification society is a non-governmental organization in the shipping industry that maintains standards for the construction and classification of ships.

With too many class societies, there is so much competition and quality suffers as well as safety, according to Marina.

Marina requires that vessels from 3 gross tonnage to above 500 GT should be classed.

It is also proposing to revise and amend the Philippine Merchant Marine Rules and Regulations (PMMRR) in order to update its old provisions and incorporate new ones such as those pertaining to the operation of High Speed Craft, non-conventional size ships, fire protection and preventive measures and safe manning.

The government now has a draft of the Philippines Merchant Marine Rules and Regulations which it targets to be passed into law and implemented by 2010.

The Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers (SONAME) has supported the concept of having a single classification society covering domestic shipping and proposed to have a governing body to ensure the transparent operation of the classification society.

Marina administrator Vicente Suazo, Jr., has planned to streamline class societies patterned with that of Japan which has a government class society and a private class society.

He claimed that this guarantees that business is equally divided among the players while giving operators an alternative to choose in terms of cost without risking safety.

"This is more suitable for the country. The existing class societies will not be closed down but will only merge operations with others based on their expertise," Suazo earlier said.

He claimed at present, class societies are more inclined to commercial operations instead of ensuring seaworthiness.