US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Nadeau says his agency plans to increase oversight of class societies enrolled in the US Coast Guard’s outsourced inspection programme.

The move is part of the reforms suggested in the wake of the sinking of the 5,330-lane-­metre El Faro (built 1975), which took 33 lives.

The outsourced inspections, also known as the alternate compliance programme (ACP), aims to reduce the regulatory burden on shipowners by allowing class societies to conduct ship inspections on behalf of the US Coast Guard.

Admiral Nadeau, who took over the USCG’s safety programme last year, told a congressional committee that a majority of ships trading in US waters now rely on inspections done through the ACP.

But the ACP has been faulted in the wake of the El Faro casualty. Admiral Nadeau said class society ABS and the US Coast Guard’s failure to oversee the work ABS done on the Coast Guard’s behalf were both factors in the El Faro sinking.

Admiral Nadeau says the US Coast Guard has subsequently inspected other ships in the ACP that might be considered high risk. He says those visits showed additional evidence of breakdowns in the safety framework. The findings confirm concerns about the material condition of several other US flag vessels.”

“This is not unique to the El Faro,” Admiral Nadeau said. “We have other ships in substandard condition.”

Admiral Nadeau says the US Coast Guard will increase oversight of class societies involved in the ACP, which includes ABS, ClassNK, DNV GL, and Lloyd's Register.

US Congressman Peter DeFazio also says is also concerned about outsourcing US Coast Guard inspections to classification societies. He proposed a blacklist of some classification societies should their inspections be deemed inadequate.

“I have heard from some people in the industry that if you pay these class societies enough, they will certify your rust bucket as seaworthy,” DeFazio said. “That’s just not right.”

Admiral Nadeau says the increased oversight of the ACP is the best way to honour the seafarers who lost their lives in the El Faro casualty.

"This is about the lives of men and women that go to sea in support of the nation's economic prosperity, military readiness and national security," Admiral Nadeau said. "We must honour the 33 mariners on the El Faro with a strong bias toward action."