Putting Maritime Health and Safety Front and Center

The Covid-19 pandemic has made managing health and safety concerns the top priority for actors across the maritime industry. With biological risks more evident than ever, passengers and crew require extra reassurance that ships meet the highest standards of health and hygiene.

For ship operators—particularly those operating passenger ships—to continue sailing, they must prove that biological risk mitigation measures have been incorporated onboard. This means taking steps to ensure overall health within the marine community, making crew and passenger wellbeing a centerpiece of any voyage.

Two new notations for biological risk management

For ships looking to protect their crew and passengers from biological risks, Bureau Veritas has developed two new notations: BIORISK MANAGED and BIORISK SECURED.

Ships earning a BIORISK MANAGED notation first undergo a biological risk assessment that identifies risks to passengers and crew from infectious diseases. This initial assessment enables owners and operators to develop an outbreak management plan describing procedures and mitigating measures to be implemented onboard. Based on this, ship operators and managers can then define crew responsibilities and resource management, identifying required onboard medical supplies and providing crew training.

Using BIORISK MANAGED as a basis, owners and operators can also apply for the BIORISK SECURED notation. This notation is granted if additional measures, such as the installation or upgrading of specific onboard systems and hardware, have been implemented to mitigate and prevent infectious diseases. Vessels can assign dedicated quarantine areas with remote and access control monitoring systems for infected crew or passengers. Other measures may include reworking ventilations systems and installing onboard equipment for temperature monitoring.

Paving the path to health and safety

For ship operators and managers, proving that appropriate health and safety standards have been implemented onboard is essential to retaining the trust of crew, passengers, ports and society. With every new development, Bureau Veritas is supporting clients in creating, maintaining and verifying the health and safety credentials of their ships.

From our SafeGuard label, to Restart Your Business with BV, to our newly developed BIORISK notations, our experts are constantly looking to improve onboard health and safety. We recently delivered our BIORISK notation to the MSC Virtuosa, a world first for cruise ships, and anticipate doing the same for other cruise ships and vessels types.

Further, as signatories to the Neptune Declaration, we are committed to creating a safe environment for seafarers, ensuring proper onboard health protocols are implemented. Our goal is to respond to clients’ evolving needs, ensuring that operators and managers can always prove their due diligence, and protect both crew and passengers alike.