News Bulletins

View the December news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin December 2023 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

This past month has seen a number of successful training initiatives taking place. Interesting to see is the number of non IIMS members who have attended training this year. I make no apologies for training non-members and see it as a responsibility the Institute has to train anyone who wants to learn in an attempt to drive standards higher.

I am pleased to inform you that the December 2023 Report Magazine is published and available to read from today. The publication has had a makeover. The front cover looks more appealing and very modern. The inside pages too look a bit different. Edition 106 is another fine collection of features and articles to whet your appetite.

If you are a member and are expecting your annual plastic membership card to drop through your letterbox this year, it won’t unless you message the Institute to request one. As time and technology has moved on and, in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, IIMS has announced a move to digital cards with immediate effect.

View the November news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin November 2023 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

As I sat down to think about the content of my introduction to this month’s News Bulletin, my eye was drawn to a press release from Sunseeker, a UK international brand requiring little introduction which is synonymous with the large yacht sector. The press release reminded me that it is prime marine exhibition and show time, before the harsher northern hemisphere winter climate sets in.

I have just returned from the KORMARINE exhibition in South Korea. IIMS shared a stand with President Peter Broad’s company, Broadreach Marine Ltd. I am grateful to him for keeping me out of trouble during my trip! The exhibition itself was busy – perhaps 20,000 plus visitors. It was certainly a unique opportunity to promote ‘brand IIMS’ to a new audience. We exhibited as part of the Great Britain & Ireland pavilion. Photos and a short report of the event can be found in this bulletin with a longer version being published in next month’s Report Magazine. Whilst in Busan, Peter and I had the chance to participate in a UK Department of Trade networking event on the first night.

View the October news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin October 2023 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

Our first online Australian seminar was scheduled for mid-September and more than 80 people registered for the event. My thanks to those who helped to organise the event and also to those who spoke, including a welcome and introduction from IIMS President, Peter Broad.

The big event of the month for me personally came when I accepted an invitation to attend the 30th anniversary conference of the Marine Surveyors Association of Bangladesh (MSAB) as Guest of Honour, which was held at Hotel Agrabad, Chittagong. The event attracted an audience of well over one hundred delegates and it was certainly an adventure and an experience. Importantly, I also had the opportunity to chat openly at a private meeting with Commodore Maksud Alam, Bangladesh Director General of Shipping. I am most grateful to the MSAB President and Committee, my hosts, for making me feel so welcome and for looking after me during my short visit.

View the September news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin September 2023 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

The recent fire aboard the Freemantle Highway has once again brought the subject of the transportation of electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries by sea into sharp focus. The Dutch coast guard has stressed the cause of the fire on the 11-deck ship is officially unknown and authorities have been careful not to speculate. But an audio recording emerged of one rescue worker suggesting it had started in the battery of an electric vehicle and “it appears an electric vehicle exploded too”.

IIMS has a range of training activities taking place in the run-up to the end of the year. I am looking forward to making a trip to Scotland in November. It has been some while since we ran a training day in that area. It is also pleasing to be able to confirm our four-day practical surveying course for yacht and small craft surveyors will take place from 13 November at the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis, UK.

View the August news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin August 2023 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

Every now and again I am invited to engage in something slightly unusual. Here’s one such example. Recently, the President of the Marine Surveyors Association of Bangladesh (MSAB), Captain Mahfuzul Islam, and IIMS Regional Director for Bangladesh, Capt Zillur Bhuiyan FIIMS, approached me as their local organisation heads towards its 30th anniversary. They invited IIMS President, Peter Broad, to compose an introduction to their special journal to mark this auspicious occasion.

IIMS is planning to return to the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis twice (subject to demand) for courses later this year. The first event, a new programme, is a 4-day residential practical surveying course giving delegates the opportunity to conduct in depth surveys on a couple of small craft under the instruction and guidance of two experienced surveyors before compiling a survey report for marking and assessment.

View the July news bulletin in full: IIMS-News-Bulletin-July-2023 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

Well, what a past few weeks it has been in the life of IIMS. The team has certainly stretched itself on various fronts and to its limits, but ultimately has played a blinder. Well done and thank you. I am referring to the delivery of the recent Annual General Meeting, Southampton Conference and Dinner, coupled with a management board meeting which was followed the week after by our annual presence at Seawork.

Seawork is a good place to start my introduction this month perhaps. The event was good for IIMS and we met a number of old friends and made some interesting new ones. But the three-day show is likely to be best remembered by many for the explosive reaction and negative outpouring from many of those who attended the presentation given by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) on the proposed new Workboat Code 3, which is set to hit the statute books in January 2024 if all goes to plan.

And finally, before I close this month, I wanted to reference the two appalling avoidable disasters that have happened in the past few weeks that have rightly made major news headlines around the world.