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.