In Australia, as a general rule, where there is a reasonable prospect of litigation occurring or investigations being undertaken by regulatory authorities, a business should take all necessary steps to ensure that it can meet its obligations to retain any relevant or potentially relevant documents which would be disclosable in these circumstances.
Industry sentiment expressed at the ICHCA Seminar entitled 'SOLAS VGM One Month Out - Are You Ready?' held in Antwerp last week, was one of frustration. Less than 15% of the IMO Member States in which VGM regulations will be mandatory have issued guidelines on the manner in which they intend to enforce the regulation.
How often is a deficiency found but not acted upon, or an incident occurs, and it is not reported? Loss and near miss reporting has always been a thorny topic, but needs to rise above issues of corporate and national culture.
