¡¡¡¡Facing increasingly tougher regulations the world over, environment protection has become more and more an important subject of research for the development of shipping.
¡¡¡¡OOCL is the first carrier in the world that has been granted a certificate for environmental safety management by the U.S. classification society. How did it make this great achievement? OOCL¡¯s response...


¡¡¡¡Practice of Int¡¯l Regulations

¡¡¡¡OOCL accepts all international and domestic regulations on environmental protection; all OOCL¡¯s ships have gained safety certification and strictly follow the ISM-code, ISO9001.2000, ISO14001, MARPOL73/78 as well as rules on shipboard rubbish handling and use of ballast water etc.
¡¡¡¡As far as use of ballast water is concerned, OOCL actively started to take part in a number of international ballast water management projects from 1977 and orders the change of ballast water for all ships 200 miles away from the seashore of any port country they enter to avoid water pollution. All ballast water carried aboard is recorded for periodical checks and the records can be found at every inspection & quarantine office of the port visited. Besides, all its ships and loading/discharging facilities are structured expressly for the purpose of environment protection; the unhidden flow of water through valves and in pipes has effectively prevented the spread of various water-borne diseases.
¡¡¡¡Regarding the use of resources and the handling of waste, a monitoring system has been established in accordance with ISO 14001, an a special burner installed on aboard each vessel for the burning of oil dregs, the soot from which, instead of being dumped into the sea or onto land, is then carried onshore to the OOCL recycling institute stationed in the local area for uniform collection and handling.
¡¡¡¡OOCL pays high attention to lowering energy consumption and optimising energy benefit, including careful protection of resources, and greater use of materials that can be recycled or re-generated to reduce as much as possible the production of rubbish and waste.
¡¡¡¡The efforts have led to one result: all OOCL ships meet the ¡°International Convention on the Prevention of Shipping Pollution¡± and the environment standard of the U.S. coast guard as is the most august and tough standard in the world. It is thus easier to understand why the U.S. ship classification society once declared OOCL the first container carrier of the world to have obtained its quality certification for environment safety management.

¡¡¡¡Environment Protection Equipment

¡¡¡¡OOCL always puts before everything else the safety of ships, containers, container trucks and warehousing facilities. Special timber is required in the construction of its container bottoms, and such timber must come from trees legally felled, with due attention to the repeated use of such timbers. The part of every ship that is below water is painted with the environment-friendly TBT to reduce as much as possible the consumption of fuel and the discharge of exhaust.
¡¡¡¡OOCL began to use refrigerating agents R134A and R404A in the construction of refrigerant containers as early as in 1995 in place of R12 for better protection of the atmospheric environment, until they became the only refrigerant agents adopted in the whole corporation. And all the container equipment, especially the refrigerant containers and containers for dangerous goods, meet all related standards in function, loading/discharging operation, energy consumption, noise control and maintenance etc.
¡¡¡¡OOCL is active in the introduction of information technology and development of e-communications, and stresses the conservation of resources by effective adoption of e-commerce in business service.
¡¡¡¡Even in the choice of business partners like distributors and suppliers, OOCL has shown its high sense of environmental protection, and only those that have a similar consciousness on the subject can be accepted for mutual cooperation and support. Before chartering a vessel, for instance, it must first conduct a careful investigation to see whether the ship concerned has been granted all related certificates and documents to ensure its function in environmental protection has reached international standards and presents no danger of leakage or pollution.

¡¡¡¡Personnel Training

¡¡¡¡Ask any OOCL employee, he or she would tell you without hesitation that ship safety and environment protection is to them a matter of primary importance. It is also the most vital part of work in the company?¡¥s worldwide operation and management. For them, company development must be achieved at no cost of ship safety or environment protection.
¡¡¡¡OOCL has achieved the above through effective personnel training.
¡¡¡¡In OOCL, electronic forms are used to replace paper forms, waste paper is recycled, computers, lights and air-conditioners must be turned off at the close of the day, all office equipment like printers and ink cartridges and so on are shared....
¡¡¡¡Personnel training ends with strict examinations in OOCL; every training class is periodically recorded and checked to ensure they fully meet related regulations on safety, quality and environmental protection. It is learned, OOCL has even surpassed the industrial standard in these aspects.
¡¡¡¡OOCL offers internal training on dangerous goods at the website:DGSMART. Every employee who receives dangerous goods or is in charge of related booking must be well acquainted with related international regulations, with newly endorsed environment policies passed to each employee by the company. All training subjects and exam results are kept on record and periodically transferred to related department for check, selections and awards.