CEO blog

So what happened to 2014? It went by like a whirlwind and I find myself shortly to celebrate my first year in office, which I find unthinkable.

Of course at the end of the year it is natural to look back and to assess the highs and the lows and to review the events that shaped the year. Fortunately for me, there have been many more good times than bad times.

So the top ten achievements that the IIMS team has delivered during 2014 (in my opinion) and in no particular order of importance are as follows;

Continue reading “Out with the old; in with the new – 2014 roundup”

Most weeks at IIMS head office are eventful! But this week has been more eventful than most it has to be said.

After some hiatus with edexcel, the awarding body for the IIMS HNC and HND in Marine Surveying, we finally had a flood of HNC certificates arrive. Well, I am exaggerating slightly. But it was pleasing to be able to forward HNC certificates to half a dozen successful students, the first crop to qualify through this education programme.

On Tuesday I chaired a meeting of the Registered Marine Coatings Inspectors qualification stakeholder’s group. There were 8 of us present and the purpose of the meeting was to evaluate the first pilot course, run at Portchester several weeks ago. It turned out to be a most productive meeting and we are now moving forward to deliver the first course for real from 6-10 December in Amsterdam.

Some weeks ago I had accepted a kind invitation from Roger Daniells, Chairman of the British Association of Cargo Surveyors to attend their luncheon. Thursday arrived and I made the trip to the historic city area of London. The venue was superb, the turnout excellent, Continue reading “An eventful week”

It is holiday time in the UK. Sadly mine has been and gone already! Things have got very quiet generally as IIMS members (and head office staff too) have headed away for their annual breaks. This has allowed me to devote a little time to the activities of the Marine Surveying Academy Ltd (MSA), a wholly owned subsidiary of IIMS that we launched earlier this year.

MSA’s reason for being is primarily to provide training courses for IIMS members and commercial marine based educational opportunities for third party organisations.

For some months now, IIMS has been responsible for marking and handling the examinations for The International Registered Marine Insulation Inspectors course (IRMII for short) as well as providing accreditation for those who have passed. The course is aimed at a highly niche market comprising subsea insulation inspectors and is run, organised and promoted by Wood Group Integrity Management. Around 70 people have now passed and been accredited. Although very specialist in nature, this is an interesting subject. My involvement has been minimal thus far. But that has changed recently when I oversaw the development of a simple IRMII web site. Here we are able to showcase the course and its content, but more importantly it is a place where we can provide a dedicated listing for those who have successfully qualified. This group of specialists now have their own home.

Continue reading “Getting to know my IRMII from my RMCI”