A risk alert which highlights that a new regulation refers to the construction, installation, maintenance and testing requirements for ladders and gangways as detailed in MSC.1/ Circ.1331 ‘Guidelines for Construction, Installation, Maintenance and Inspection/Survey of Means of Embarkation and Disembarkation’ has been issued. In May 2008 the IMO adopted SOLAS regulation II1/3-9 concerning the ‘Means of embarkation on and disembarkation from ships’, which entered into force on the 1 January 2010. Continue reading “Checklists for the inspection of ladders and gangways”
Introduction to Bills of Lading: Basic concepts and issues
There are many kinds of dry bulk cargoes traded worldwide, but the main cargoes are iron ore, coal and grains. This article will explain how to improve grain cargo shortage claims.
Marine surveyors and boat owners are regularly heard to say there is a minimum 4.0mm of hull thickness required at time of survey of a steel narrowboat. Some brokers even publish videos of such information, with some surveyors enforcing it (Whilton Marina, 2012 and 2016). Boaters are subject to it and repair often follows. In a recent article, Geoff Waddington (2021) explains there is confusion in the industry about wastage limits, and consequently acceptable residual hull plate thicknesses, and opinions among surveyors ‘vary wildly’, with some quoting 3mm acceptable minimum plate thickness, others using percentage loss. This short paper explores what a standardised acceptable limit for diminution, and therefore residual steel plate thickness for narrowboats, could be. It describes a variety of methods of calculating the design plate thicknesses (scantlings) and the minimum acceptable residual plate thickness. In doing so, this paper aims to serve as a guide for inland waterways marine surveyors, boat owners, repairers, and insurers alike. 
The increase in Lithium-Ion batteries (LIB) technology is affecting every walk of life as we become surrounded by a myriad of differing formats and chemistries. With the millions of batteries already in circulation and the ever-increasing demand, incidents involving lithium-Ion batteries in Marine applications are inevitably, becoming more common place. There is currently a thirst for knowledge around battery technology which means as incidents occur, they are very much thrust into the spotlight. We should however get some perspective around these incidents, acknowledging the quantity of them is still relatively small, and look to rationalise the reasons behind them. 
The most important of all international maritime safety conventions is the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (
