News Bulletins

View the July news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin July 2024 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

‘Lite’ categorised podcast versions are also available to listen to. Yacht & Small Craft Surveyors (run time 19 minutes) and Commercial Ship Surveyors (run time 23 minutes).

At last month’s AGM, IIMS awarded Fellowship status to Rory Marshall and an Honorary Fellowship to Zennon Cheng. You can read in more detail why the Institute has chosen to recognise these two exceptional individuals for their contributions in entirely different areas of the marine surveying profession.

The AGM also saw a changing of the guard as Peter Broad stepped down following his two-year stint as President to be replaced by Capt Ruchin Dayal. David Pestridge was also elected as the new Deputy Vice President.

View the June news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin June 2024 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

‘Lite’ categorised podcast versions are also available to listen to. Yacht & Small Craft Surveyors (run time 24 minutes). Commercial Ship Surveyors (run time 26 minutes).

Whilst compiling this month’s news bulletin, I am reminded of the growing presence of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in our midst. Its progress is accelerating ever faster I sense. It is now starting to have a significant impact on our daily private lives as well as in our business environment. There are several articles featured in this month’s news bulletin that expose the onslaught of AI technology as we advance ever further into this brave new world.

I would like to remind you that the 2024 AGM takes place on Tuesday 4th June. I would encourage you to join the AGM, or to view the video after the event. The following day, the IIMS one day Conference takes place at the Axis Conference Centre near Southampton.

View the May news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin May 2024 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

‘Lite’ podcast versions are also available to listen to. Yacht & Small Craft Surveyors (run time 17 minutes). Commercial Ship Surveyors (run time 19 minutes).

I knew it was too good to be true. The start of this year had heralded what seemed to be a sharp drop in the number of major maritime incidents and accidents reaching my desk. And then in late March along comes the collapse of the busy Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore wrecked in an instant having been struck by a ship. I offer my personal condolences to those who have lost loved ones in this catastrophe. At the time of writing, the exact cause is not known and it will be the aim of the formal, painstaking investigation to reveal the actual facts in time. But we now learn that the insurance payouts after this momentous event may turn out to be the largest in history, according to Lloyd’s of London chief executive John Neal. Speaking to Bloomberg News, he said, “This has the potential to be one of the largest marine losses in history.”

View the April news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin April 2024 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

Listen to ‘lite’ podcast versions of the bulletin. Yacht & Small Craft Surveyors (run time 23 minutes). Commercial Ship Surveyors (run time 21 minutes).

In this new-fangled world we inhabit when old-fashioned thinking and ways of working are being scrapped and discarded in haste, new technologies seem to pose challenges and risks for us on an almost weekly basis. To counter this, I would argue that sometimes it is necessary to pause, draw breath, assess and, if required, rethink things rather than blunder on regardless. Rarely it seems do we do that. We plough on until something goes BANG. Only then do we stop and reassess. A colleague in a recent meeting was overheard to call the maritime world a ‘screwed up industry’. With all this in mind perhaps he has a point.

April sees me on the road again. I am looking forward to meeting surveyors in Baltimore, US on 12/13 April and a few days later at the Western Mediterranean Yacht & Small Craft training event in Palma, Mallorca on 25/26.

View the March news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin March 2024 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

Listen to ‘lite’ podcast versions of the bulletin. Yacht & Small Craft Surveyors (run time 27 minutes). Commercial Ship Surveyors (run time 33 minutes).

Last year I wrote a couple of exploratory articles and gave a few presentations on the subject of AI technology and how it is inevitably already impacting on the marine surveying profession as well as in all our private lives too. I was genuinely surprised at the reaction from some – a sense of incredulity and disbelief from many, a feeling of vulnerability from others caused by the fear of the unknown – and from others a grudging acceptance that it is here to stay, and we need to grow and learn with it, as it continues its inexorable rise. I researched for the latest thinking about how AI technology is impacting the shipping and boating sectors.

I am delighted to inform you that the Report Magazine March 2024 edition 107 has been published.

View the February news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin February 2024 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

And now for the first time, the bulletin is available to listen to in podcast format for the yacht and small craft industry (run time 27 minutes) and the commercial shipping industry (run time 50 minutes).

I was delighted at the feedback received, not just from IIMS members, but from the maritime world far and wide, following the publication of the 172 page Safety & Loss Prevention Briefings Compendium 2023. If you missed notification of its launch last month, the Compendium can still be downloaded for free.

Also, on the subject of engaging feedback, the response to President, Peter Broad’s article last month on tick box surveys, has certainly hit a nerve. Not much in the marine surveying world goes ‘viral’, but LinkedIn lit up when it was published, and the comments made are worth reviewing. Click here to read the article.

View the January news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin January 2024 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader format.

Welcome to 2024 and may the new year bring you success, happiness and good fortune. Last month I was invited to address the annual NAMS Global regional conference in the US online. There followed an invitation to attend a meeting of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Maritime and Ports Group at the Palace of Westminster, home of the UK government. The next week, in conjunction with the IIMS Canada Branch, we shared an opportunity as the headline sponsor for the Canadian Bar Association’s (marine lawyers) online seminar entitled “Topical Issues and Recent Decisions in Maritime Law and Practice”.

I would like to remind members that IIMS has now moved to digital membership cards with immediate effect to further reduce the Institute’s carbon footprint. However, I appreciate some members will still need a hard membership card for identity purposes. Cards are still available at no extra cost. Hope to see some of you at the various seminars and other events during 2024.

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.