On Saturday 16th September 2023, I had the absolute pleasure to attend the one day conference at Hotel Agrabad, Chittagong, Bangladesh, as Guest of Honour, to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Marine Surveyors Association of Bangladesh (MSAB). An audience of more than 100 delegates from the marine surveying profession and wider local shipping industry had assembled to take part in the event. The conference was also broadcast live via Facebook. Continue reading “Marine Surveyors Association of Bangladesh celebrating thirty years”
It fascinates me when two industry sectors combine, and it is great to know that an older OSV can be put to good use as a new spaceport. Recently I read an article about a former offshore supply vessel that is reportedly destined to become the world’s first marine spaceport for human spaceflight. Classification society ABS has reported it is supporting the planned reactivation and modifications to the 25-year-old vessel, which is expected to be operational later this year as part of test flights in advance of an anticipated 2024 commercial launch. 
Now here’s a strange tale indeed. Smuggling the ‘white stuff’ usually has a very different connotation, but in this instance, it refers to nothing more harmful than sugar! Apparently, on Friday 17th February, the Philippines Agricultural Department charged 15 crew members of a cargo ship for smuggling sugar. The sugar cargo with a value of P400 million led authorities to charge the captain of MV Sunward and the rest of the crew with smuggling.
Following the surprise runaway success of the first edition of the Safety & Loss Prevention Briefings Compendium, published in January 2022 by the International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS), and subsequently downloaded many thousands of times, Edition II has been launched covering the period January to October 2022. It is now available to download and read in pdf or eReader formats.