News Bulletins

Let me start by wishing you all the very best for 2020. We are at the beginning of a bright new decade and I hope this coming year proves to be a progressive one for you. The year 2020 is set to be an exciting and challenging one, both for the marine industry and for your Institute too. The IMO 2020 Sulphur Cap comes into force this month, the most dramatic change to impact the marine sector in the last 50 years some would say. Only time will tell how this new regulation rolls out.

As for IIMS, we are committed to developing a selection of new benefits and great events for members to take advantage of as well as seeking to push the profession of marine surveying to the fore at every opportunity! We have exciting plans for this year. As we continue our progress towards the anticipated purchase of Murrills House in the coming months, I would like to remind you that the opportunity to make a donation towards the maintenance fund in exchange for a Founder’s Plaque on the wall in the premises remains open until 31 March. We have received the most generous donations so far.

Did you miss the publication of the 108 page December Report Magazine last month – the biggest ever? Click to read it.

View the bulletin to continue reading: News-Bulletin-January-2020 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

There is only one place for me to start this month and it is with the 10th anniversary celebrations of the IIMS UAE Branch. I had the pleasure to host the branch’s 6th biennial Conference the week before last in Dubai. Reaching this milestone makes the branch the longest running of the overseas branches. One of the reasons for its enduring success is undoubtedly the people locally who work hard to make it what it is. I applaud the various Chairmen over the years and those loyal committee members for their efforts. The event opened with a splendid cocktail party onboard the delightful Queen Elizabeth 2, now permanently moored in Port Rashid. It proved to be an excellent choice of venue, which attracted nearly 100 invited guests from around the region and further afield. The Conference the following morning opened with a warm welcome from the Dubai Maritime City Authority for the 80 plus delegates.

Don’t forget to join us online on 10th (small craft) or 12th (commercial ship) December for the Marine Surveying International Fest II 2019. Great value. Great content. And if you cannot join us online, you can purchase the videos we will make on the days.

We have just published our schedule for the IIMS Baltimore 2020 Conference to be held on 24th and 25th January. James Renn has lined up a cracking list of speakers. See inside for details.

View the bulletin to continue reading: IIMS-News-Bulletin-December-2019 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

I am grateful to Vice President, Geoff Waddington, for his assistance in putting together an open letter to the yacht and boat manufacturing industry on the subject of latent defects. Since its recent publication via the various IIMS social media channels and online news portals, a number of supportive comments have been received. I have chosen to publish the letter in full in this news bulletin. I will let you make up your own mind on its contents!

IIMS has launched its first WhatsApp group, this one for UK based canal narrowboat surveyors – a niche grouping. I hope over the coming months we can develop this platform further with the launch of a number of specialist interest surveying WhatsApp groups around the world.

This month sees the tenth Anniversary since the inauguration of the IIMS UAE branch. This landmark is to be celebrated at a wonderful event and one day conference onboard the QE2 in Dubai on 20 November. The theme of the conference is Safe Ships, Safe Cargo – The Insurers Perspective. A full report and photographs will follow next month. Details of how to reserve your place at this prestigious event can be found in this bulletin.

View the bulletin to continue reading: IIMS-News-Bulletin-November-2019 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

Regulation changes are afoot again. In reality they are never far away as the sector is forever changing to meet the evolving needs of the modern boating and shipping world. Work is now well underway by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency  in the UK to update the “colour codes” that are used by coding examiners on vessels under 24 metres in commercial use. Presentations have been given to the UK based Certifying Authorities in recent weeks and a roll out of the first phase is not too far away I suspect. The codes are long overdue for a refresh, and this is to welcomed when the current codes are finally updated. In my role as Chair of the Certifying Authority Professional Standards Working Group, I have a special interest in seeing what the outcome is.

The other significant looming regulation change is the IMO 2020 Sulphur Cap which is set to hit the shipping sector and to be enforced from January. Disruptive change for the industry for sure, the word on the street amongst those in the know is that many ship and vessel owners/operators are struggling to be ready to meet the new regulations for a variety of reasons. The new regulation will see marine sector emissions in international waters slashed. The marine sector will have to reduce sulphur emissions by over 80% by switching to lower sulphur fuels. Clearly this is a challenge and not without significant cost for some, so it will be interesting to see how Flag States react in their local waters to non-compliant vessels.

View the bulletin to continue reading: IIMS-News-Bulletin-October-2019 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.