On the evening of 19 November, nearly 100 invited guests assembled in the Grand Lounge on the famous old ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2, (now permanently moored at Port Rashid in Dubai), for a splendid cocktail party to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the IIMS UAE Branch. The event was kindly and generously sponsored by HFW, represented by Richard Strub, who said a few words.
Once the canapes had been finished, IIMS CEO, Mike Schwarz thanked President, Capt Zarir Irani, the local UAE Branch Chairman, Capt Omprakash Marayil and his committee colleagues for their efforts, both in terms of securing such a prestigious and historic venue to mark this special celebration and for delivering a great event.
Special commemorative certificates were presented to each of the past Chairmen, the Treasurer, Current Chairman and Vice Chairman.
IIMS has prepared and published a special 16 page Report Magazine supplement to commemorate the event and to celebrate the tenth anniversary – click for the UAE-16-Page-Supplement.
Winners of four awards for excellence were announced that had been decided on by the committee locally. They were:
– Most Courteous Surveyor awarded to Chris Partridge
– Student of the Year awarded to Rohan Moorthi
– Facilitator for Surveying in the Region awarded to Capt Devathirjan, Harbour Master of Sharjah
– Lifetime Achievement Award awarded to Brian Thornborrow
Wednesday 20 November, the day of the IIMS UAE Branch 6th Biennial Conference onboard the Queen Elizabeth 2, drew over 80 delegates on what turned out to be a unusually wet and miserable Dubai day. But inside the room, the mood was far more dynamic.
Delegates were welcomed to the event by President, Capt Zarir Irani. He gave way to Mohammed Khalifa Alhuraiz, who, on behalf of the Dubai City Maritime Authority, officially welcomed guests to Dubai and in particular, the IIMS UAE Branch Conference.
The first speaker of the day was IIMS CEO, Mike Schwarz. In his short address, he spoke about the progress and development of the Marine Surveying Practitioner Accreditation Scheme with the sole aim of helping to drive up standards across the profession.
Capt Rahul Khanna delivered a polished presentation on the topic of the Allianz Safety & Shipping Review 2019.
Veteran surveyor and mentor, Tony Fernandez HonFIIMS from India, spoke in his usual forthright manner, engaging the audience on the subject of Due diligence in marine hull insurance – myth and reality?
Arun Prassad, an expert in the local underwriting sector, gave an update on the current insurance market with a particular emphasis on war risk perspectives.
Cyber remains a hot topic and Pradeep Luthria is something of an expert on this subject. He spoke eloquently. His topic – cyber resilience and insurance?
Richard Strub and Capt Sanjay Bhasin performed a fascinating double act, during which they played out a mock scenario and arbitration role play entitled Expert witness for a project cargo on a breakbulk vessel.
Dr Zubin Sethna covered the diverse subject of marketing, something that all surveyors need to have some knowledge about these days. A published author on this subject, he spoke about the onslaught of artificial intelligence from a marketing perspective.
Human error remains the root cause of so many incidents and accidents. Capt Porus Dalal spoke knowledgeably as he assessed this phenomenon.
The ever popular Capt Nick Sloane, the man behind the project to salvage the Costa Concordia, gave a thorough overview of one of the most frightening scenarios – Ultra large containership fires.
Capt Rajiv Thakar, W E Cox Claims Group, talked about the recovery from carriers of losses suffered by cargo interests involving the negligent navigation defence.
The digitisation of the survey appointment means things are changing. Capt Henrik Uth was on hand to speak about and demonstrate the SYVR App.
Capt John Dolan presented on one of the most on trend topics – the risk caused by mis-declared cargo in container ships. He presented a rather gloomy overview of the current situation and urged the shipping sector to look for solutions to this unethical practice.
Branch meeting
At the end of a long day’s conferencing, there was a local branch meeting attended by a group of local members plus others from overseas observing.
