ICONS, the International Commission on Shipping, is an independent commission originally set up to inquire into and report on means of combating sub-standard shipping.

Although set up with initial funding from the ITF, the commission has operated as a fully independent body.

Since the presentation of the report on ship safety entitled Ships, Slaves and Competition on 6th March 2001 ICONS has maintained a watching brief on world wide responses to its recommendations.

It is clear that in the time since the ICONS report, much has been done to address matters of ship safety ,security and seafarer welfare.

Equally, much remains to done; abuses and exploitation still exist and shady owners still hide behind  layers of secrecy.

Seafarers are still treated as scapegoats and there is a worrying trend toward the criminalisation of mariners as a soft option for States that cannot or refuse to accept their responsibilities under the international maritime conventions.

Unscrupulous manning agents and rogue employers still exist and the evidence seems to be that their methods are becoming more sophisticated and better concealed.

From both the safety and security perspectives, this is an area that requires urgent global attention.

On the positive side, the moves to better identify seafarers as part of the improvements in maritime security may have far reaching effects in addressing  issues such as the proliferation of fraudulent certification , questionable training establishments and dubious manning agents.

Below, you will find the Final Report and link to ICONS web site.