What a chaotic few weeks

My thanks to Drew Korek for modelling the very latest in IIMS hi-vis jackets!
My thanks to Drew Korek for modelling the very latest in IIMS hi-vis jackets!

It has been a while since I have updated my blog. Quite simply the weeks since Christmas have merged one in to the other. There has been the challenge of settling in two new recruits at head office. I welcome Tania Bernice (CA Administrator) and Hilary Excell (MSA Business Manager) to the team and wish them much success.

We ran another successful Registered Marine Coatings Inspector course in Southampton in January. This programme is gathering momentum. The next course is in Hamburg at the end of April. Then it is on to Genoa in June. The autumn schedule sees the course return to Hamburg, Southampton and Amsterdam in the autumn. So far 36 new RMCI Inspectors have passed the examination. My congratulations to them. And welcome back Peter Morgan – how we have missed you!

The other exciting news is the awarding of a 5 year contract by the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) to IIMS and MSA to develop, launch and manage a new accreditation scheme for CMID inspectors. The full scale of the task is still unknown. It is thought there could be around 2,000 inspectors operating around the world.  Until the call for accreditation is made later this year, we have no idea how many will come forward and when they will do so. Much of the past few weeks has been devoted to getting the infrastructure in place to ensure we can hit the floor running and deliver a successful scheme from the outset. Time will tell!

Just before Christmas, I challenged some of the more senior (and not so senior) members of the Institute. I invited them to write a series of self help guides for marine surveyors on a range of topics. The response I got was amazing. The offer of over 30 manuscripts for publication has been gratefully received. The guides will be published under the theme of ‘What marine surveyors need to know about’. We plan to self publish in hard copy, downloadable pdf and Kindle format. Deliberately the cost of the guides will be kept to an affordable level. Watch for more details as the guides come on stream soon.

Drew Korek, IIMS member from BC in Canada, has kept me and my colleagues amazed with regular photos of a heavy lift project he has been overseeing. Thanks Drew. The photo on the page shows Drew modelling the very latest in high fashion IIMS hi-vis jackets!

Finally I wanted just to mention the IIMS Conference in September. I was thrilled to be able to secure the Old Library at Lloyds. It will be a real treat to hold our conference in such a prestigious location. I hope to meet many members at this event. In the meantime, I am attending various IIMS events before then and look forward to catching up with you soon.

Happy surveying!

Mike Schwarz

drew100

Instagram Posts from the IIMS @iimsmarine