ICHCA International, an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the safety, productivity and efficiency of cargo handling and movement worldwide, in June named Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) as its newest board member.
ICHCA stands for International Cargo Handling Coordination Association. The organization is based in London.
Dirk Van de Velde, MSC’s chief Environmental, Health, Safety and Quality Management (EHSQ) officer is taking a board position at ICHCA.
“The added knowledge and experience that the number one container shipping line brings will be a tremendous asset in carrying out ICHCA’s primary mission of maintaining and improving safety in all aspects of cargo handling,” the organization said in a mid-June statement.
“Our membership (in) ICHCA is a logical step following this assessment and the expansion of our activities,” Van de Velde commented. “In addition, we want to help address the increasing risks and calamities in the maritime supply chain today. In 2010 we created the Cargo Incident Notification System or CINS organization, however since then serious calamities have only increased. We are joining ICHCA because of its focus on EHSQ and to contribute to its related proactivity.”
IHCA International, which was established in 1952, operates through a series of national and regional chapters, including ICHCA Australia, ICHCA Japan, as well as Correspondence and Working Groups. It provides a focal point for informing, educating, lobbying and networking to improve knowledge and best practice across the cargo handling chain.
ICHCA’s has privileged non-governmental status at the International Maritime Organization, International Labour Organization and other UN agencies which allows it, on behalf of its members to monitor, contribute to, and influence the development of regulations and guidelines that impact cargo handling and movement worldwide.
“We at ICHCA are proud of the role we have in improving industry standards through coalescing the expertise and knowledge of the world class organizations that make up our membership. The addition of MSC to that number is a significant positive step in exerting our collective influence over that improvement,” ICHCA CEO Richard Steele said in a statement. “To count MSC within our number provides additional evidence of ICHCA’s expanding reach across all aspects of the vast business of moving cargo around the world.”