The Quality Shipping Campaign, initiated and focused on the industry's role in enhancing safety and quality in maritime transportation. In an attempt to increase maritime safety, the Campaign's goal was to unite all parties engaged in the various marine business sectors.
The main instruments of this initiative were voluntary measures. It was founded on discussions between the public authorities and the marine industry. A real quality culture in shipping is hampered by the lack of disclosure in the information regarding the standards of ships and their operators, as the Good Shipping Initiative showed.
Even if a lot of pertinent data has been gathered and is accessible, it is frequently dispersed and challenging to find.
Making this kind of data easier to find was one of the main inferences drawn from the Quality Shipping Conference. Participants, who represented the entire spectrum of industry professionals, included owners of ships, cargo owners, insurers, brokers and terminals.
In response to this request, the Maritime Administration agreed to work together to create an information system. It gathers already available safety-related data about ships from both public and private sources and posts it online.