Shipmanagers are warning there could be a surge in fatalities in the coming weeks, as crews are deployed to prepare vessels for the 1 January IMO 2020 deadline.
“We bet there will be a spike of deaths,” says Captain Kuba Szymanski, secretary general of the International Ship Managers Association (InterManager).
Szymanski fears that forcing crews to visit the most “dangerous, slippery” bunker tanks will have deadly consequences, adding that unsafe ladders and the awkward shape of the tanks make them difficult and dangerous to clean.
