CONTENTS (for full stories, select a headline)

• At the bow - Past editions now on the internet
• Conference reports - NAMS Conference New York Region
• Future events
• Spindrift - Diploma in Ship Agency
• Contributions - Attending Conferences.
• Scuttlebut - Great Potential, Panama under scrutiny, Cruise survivor, Timber threat, Condom cargo, Owner charged, Dubai drydock accident, Calls for papers.
• Insurance News - OECD crackdown.
• Epistles - Yacht & Small craft Diploma. Update on quality charter for Marine Surveyors.
• People - Larry Heron, Cargo Surveyor available.
• Useful web sites
• At the stern - Consultants, Mistakes.

At the Bow

Flashlight is a free monthly emailed newsletter for Marine Surveyors and those associated with our profession. It is circulated to anybody who wishes to receive a copy, including Marine Surveyors, P&I Clubs, Underwriters, Professional Institutes, Admiralty Lawyers, etc. Please pass it on to any of your contacts who you feel might be interested in receiving it. If you do notwish to be included in the circulation list, please contact the Editor at the email address below. Past editions can be viewed on
http://msnews.blogspot.com

Your views and contributions will be much appreciated. Just one reminder. The circulation list which your email newsletter is sent to may show the others in your group. Please remember that this is a confidential list and not fair game for advertising!

The following have registered since our last newsletter (if the location is not shown, it is because an email address only was supplied.

Mirantha Perera, Commercial Officer, British High Commission, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Ed Gibson, Three Rivers Marine Surveys, USA.
Alex Koutsakis, President, PetroMar International, Inc., Stamford CT, United States
Richard Franklin, Posidonia

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Conference Reports

NAMS Conference New York Region

A one day conference was held on 26 April 2002 at the Holiday Inn North, Newark
Airport, New Jersey. The conference was attended by a large number of marine
surveyors, claims handlers and cargo underwriters including members/non-members
from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New England, Virginia,
Maryland, together with delegates from Toronto, Montreal, Quebec and Singapore..
As with previous NAMS conferences, the delegates divided into two groups, cargo
surveyors and yacht/small craft surveyors.

Papers presented to the delegates included:

Joseph Carone, Fireman’s Fund McGee Marine Underwriters (FFMMU), New York, New York
Subject : Refrigerated Cargo Carriage and Related Claims

Massoud Messkoub, Maersk/Sealand, Madison, New Jersey
Subject : Surveyors: The Eyes and Ears of the Claims Department

Wayne Meehan, Freehill, Hogan & Mahar LLP, New York, New York
Subject : The Impact of Initial Investigations to Future Litigation

Dennis Eley, Oil Test, Roselle, New Jersey
Subject : Non Compliant Fuel Oil and its Effects on Diesel Engines

Captain Amir Hossain, NAMS-CMS, Houston, Texas
Subject : Vessel Sale/Purchase Surveys

Monica Fekete Markovich, Brown Sims, P.C., Houston, Texas
Subject : How To Establish the Marine Surveyor as an Expert Witness

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Round Table Sessions

Yachts and Small Craft

Edward Sherman, American Boat and Yacht Council, Edgewater, Maryland
Subject : The Highlights of Surveying and Electrical System

Rich McGovern, Ken Houle, and Michael Hock, Detroit Diesel, Lodi, New Jersey
Subject : Engine Inspection and Service Tips

Desmond Connolly, Accredited Senior Appraiser, American Society of Appraisers
Subject : Yacht Donations ­ Appraisal Requirements

Patricia Kearns
American Boat Builders & Repairers Association, Stevensville, Maryland
Subject : Wordsmithing for the Marine Surveyor: The Language of Surveying Small Craft

Peter D. Eikenberry, The U.S. Coast Guard Recreational Boating Office
Subject : U.S. Coast Guard Factory Visits and Program for Recreational Boats

Luncheon Speaker - Randy Roonan of Graham Miller, spoke about “Marine Surveyor
and Adjuster Liability”. Mr. Roonan’s speech covered the distinction between
the Marine Surveyor and the Adjuster, the duties of both, as well as licensing
requirements and liability exposure.

Most everyone who attended the conference agreed that all of the speakers
provided worthwhile and informative papers. All NAMS certified marine surveyors
receive credits for attending conferences.

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Future Events

MED PORTS 2002: Achieving a port economy boom in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region, 23 April 2002 at the Hotel Athenaeum Intercontinental in Athens, Greece.

Ninth International Conference on Marine Engineering Systems 18-21 May 2003 at The Helsinki University of Technology in Espoo, Finland and aboard The MS Silja Serenade en route to Stockholm, Sweden with return to Helsinki, Finland. Sponsored by
The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology
The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
The New York Metropolitan Section of the Society of Naval Architects and
Marine Engineers and The International Cooperation on Marine Engineering Systems

The language of the conference will be English.
All correspondence will be conducted electronically.

To obtain additional information about the technical program contact Martin
Toyen, Chief Operating Officer, Seaworthy Systems, Inc., at mtoyen@seaworthysys.com.
For other information about the conference visit
http://www.hut.fi/Units/Ship/ICMES or contact Prof. Pentti Hakkinen, Professor
of Marine Engineering, Helsinki University of Technology, at pentti.hakkinen@hut.fi
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RORO 2002 Conference. 28-30 May 2002, Lubeck Congress Centre, Germany.
Bookings: www.roroex.com
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3-7 June 2002, Posidonia, Piraeus, Greece. Posidonia 2002 is the eighteenth
biennial International Shipping Exhibition. Posidonia is five days of non-stop
business and social activity. In 2002 the acclaimed Posidonia Congress will
start the week with discussion and debate at the highest level, followed by four
days of the exhibition: an international showcase of new ideas, products,
services and technology.

For more information: www.posidonia-events.com
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MARITECH 2002

The Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering is holding it's annual MARITECH
Conference and Exhibition in St. John's, Newfoundland from 12-15 June 2002. The
theme of this year's event is NEW HORIZONS - A Time for Change and Opportunity
for Canadian Marine Engineering.
See: http://www.maritech.ca
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The Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors, Inc®. will hold it's Annual
Conference & Educational Training Symposia, in London, England at the Palace
Strand Hotel, 9-12 October 2002. Information and a registration kit: Executive
Director, Mary Stahler at 800-344-9077, 01+904-384-1494. Email inquiries can be
sent to SAMSHQ@aol.com.
Or web page: http://www.marinesurvey.org/calendar.html
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The 5th Biennial Conference and Dinner of the Australian Institute of Marine
Surveyors will be held on 25 July 2002 at the Novotel Bayside Hotel, St Kilda,
Melbourne, Australia. The AGM will be held on 26 July at the same location.
The conference will include 8 speakers on a variety of subjects and a well known
after dinner speaker.
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23-24 September 2002, National Association of Marine Surveyors, Inc., 34th
Annual National Marine Conference West 2002 at the Radisson Hotel Fisherman's
Wharf, 250 Beach Street, San Francisco, CA. 94133. As further information is
made available, it will be posted on NAMS' web site www.nams-cms.org

Email inquiries can be sent to Evie Hobbs at office@nams-cms.org
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Spindrift

DIPLOMA IN SHIP AGENCY 2002 by Distance Learning
Commencing 17th June 2002, enrolling NOW!
Presented by The National Sea Training Centre and Lloyd's List Events

ON LINE APPLICATION FORM AVAILABLE:

This course leading to a Diploma in Ship Agency, now in its second year, is designed to equip potential ship agents with the relevant skills associated with this specialised and complex profession. The course explores these complex roles in depth and looks at the commercial, legal, and financial skills required as well as the new communications technology needed to be competent in today's market.

The course consists of ten modules, ten assignments, two optional seminars and a final examination. Participants must complete both the assignments and the examination successfully in order to gain a Diploma.

If you are interested in taking part in this Diploma course and would like more information visit the course website:
www.lloydslistevents.com/lm1405/?source=lm1405e2

If you would prefer to receive a copy by post please mail to:
claire.owen@informa.com with your full postal address and quote ref SA1.

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Contributions

Attending conferences

Each year there are many conference advertised in various publications relating
to our industry and some to our profession. So why are there so many
conferences/exhibitions every year and why attend them? Some in our profession
say that they don't want to listen to know-alls blowing their own trumpet, that
they are a waste of time and won't learn anything new. If this is the case, how
come there are so many, often organised by our professional institutes, and so
many in other professions? Those who make such statements tend to be the
'workers' who depend on maximising their fee earning hours. The irony is that
the boss tends to be a regular conference delegates often giving some form of
presentation at a conference to maximise the worker's earnings.

Those of us who run companies understand that there are many things which go
towards running a successful marine surveying operation. These include
technical expertise, report writing skills, adaptability, perseverance,
initiative, etc. However, administrative skills are also required, eg,
personnel management, book-keeping, recruitment, training and marketing. The
last is one of the more important of the skills required as it is this which
very often brings in the work.

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There are many different ways of marketing our services. There is cold call
marketing, ie, knocking on doors and selling our services. This often needs
some form of referral or prior contact to have some success. Circulating
company profiles by mail, email or on a web page are other ways. Many events
also provide the opportunity, eg, Client cocktail parties, entertaining the
client to lunch/dinner and technical meetings, but these tend to be more
localised forms of marketing.

Conferences place you firmly on the international map, being international
forums for our services to Clients and Peers. They are attended by interested
parties from all over the world. The presenting surveyors come to expose their
ideas and research findings to their peers. The delegate surveyors come to
learn more about our profession whilst the Client delegates come to find out who
in our profession are interested in promoting quality of service. The
professional institutes organise and/or attend in order to promote our
profession and to market their services. All come to network with people in
their profession.

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Ours is a practical, applied profession which often cannot be reported in words
alone. Conferences are an ideal opportunity to illustrate our work in pictorial
form. Some would suggest that by giving a paper at an international conference
you are 'selling your seed corn', ie, giving your showing others how to do it.
To protect your interests, the paper should show what you can do and its
applications, not how you do it! By presenting a paper at a conference you are
showing that you are an expert in a particular field and sufficiently confident
of this to be able to share the information with others. If others do decide to
follow in the presenter's footsteps they will be some years behind and will
never actually catch up with the expert who, if he continues his research, will
always be that little bit ahead.

Conferences also provide and excellent opportunity for networking. The coffee
breaks and lunches are designed to allow the delegates and speakers to mix and
exchange news/ideas. The highlight of any conference is usually the open forum
at which all involved openly discuss and exchange ideas/views on important
issues affecting our profession.

That the delegates will learn something new is certain. The undersigned
attended the NAMS conference in Fort Lauderdale in February this year. All
papers were well presented and relevant to our profession, but some were
outstanding in their highlighting risks. I never knew anything about fork lifts
until this conference. Now I treat them with a different respect. A paper on
risk assessment, in the office not on board ships, also highlighted business
risks. Hearing about others' expertise and experiences can often bring new
ideas for entrepreneurs. But the key fact here is that people are prepared to
share information with others which can only improve skills and expertise,
thereby improving and strengthening our profession. Those who sit in offices
and keep the information to themselves are not doing anybody any favours,
particularly themselves!

Mike Wall

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Scuttlebut

Great potential

The jobs market in shipping and the offshore sector has escaped the impact of
the slow down in the global economy that has hit other industries, claims
maritime recruitment specialist Spinnaker Consulting. Spinnaker states that
there is continuing high demand for specialists with newbuilding expertise and
for charterers, shipbrokers, maritime lawyers and technicians.

Panama under scrutiny

Shipowners have urged the Panama registry to show a greater commitment to safety
by ratifying key IMO and ILO conventions and by publishing the results of
casualty investigations. Owners have called for more of their tonnage fees to
be spent on improving the administration of the Registry.

Cruise survivor

A stewardess form the Norwegian Cruise Lines vessel Norway was rescued from the
Atlantic last month some 10 hrs after falling overboard from the ship. A major
air-sea rescue operation was launched after the 24 yr old Romanian was reported
missing. She was eventually picked up some four miles for the ship's original course.

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Timber threat

The environmental campaign group Greenpeace has warned that Owners of ships
carrying timber logged from the ancient forests face protest action. Activists
have already blockaded several ships trying to unload 'criminal' timber cargoes
in European ports.

Condom cargo

OT Africa Line ships have transported 8,000 cases of condoms form India to the
Central African Republic as part of a UN aid initiative to combat the spread of
HIV/AIDS in the region.

(Ed: Does this make this a French mail boat?)

Owner charged

Costas Klironomoas, Chairman of the Greek ferry company Minoan Lines, is facing
charges over the loss of 81 lives when the ferry Express Samina sank in
September 2000. Along with a fellow board member, Mr Klironomos is accused of
inadequate safety measures, insufficient crew training and possible false
declarations as the vessel's seaworthiness and authorisation to sail. A total
of 25 people, including the ship's Master, have been indicted in the case.

(Thanks to the NUMAST Telegraph for the above items)

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Dubai Drydock Accident

At least 20 people were killed and 150 injured after a floodgate collapsed at
Dubai Drydock. According to reports, two panels on a gate collapsed as they were
being worked on. The collapse caused a flood combined with large boulders used
to anchor the ships, are believed to be the cause a number of deaths.

Call for Papers

The 2002 SNAME Annual meeting will be held in Boston, MA, at the Westin Copley
Plaza Hotel on 25 to 28 September 2002. SNAME Headquarters is currently
accepting drafts for papers to be presented at the technical sessions.

Please send your draft to: Connie Cali-Poutre at ccali-poutre@sname.org.
Read more at: http://www.marinetalk.com/url_company.asp?userid=THE028

Call for Papers

The Third Asian Marine Surveying and Loss Prevention Forum will be held at
Shekou, PRC, on Mon/Tues 28/29 October this year. Shekou is just across the
border from Hong Kong, accessible by means of a 50 min catamaran ferry voyage or
2 hours by road. This should allow international visitors easy access whilst
allowing PRC survey companies (who are restricted as to overseas visas) to
attend. Accommodation will be available at the conference venue at a very
reasonable cost. Conference fee will be US$350, with an early bird saving of
US$50 if reservations are made before 28 August 2002.

Exhibition facilities will also be available for those who wish to market their services.

China has the largest merchant shipping fleets and increase in annual GDP,
having just entered the WTO. With deregulation, many new independent survey
firms have opened up, with some expatriate companies setting up representative
offices. This is an excellent opportunity to market your services and find out
more about the largest economy in the world.

All associated with our profession are welcome to attend. If you are interested
in giving a paper, please submit a short summary of your paper to the
undersigned. Presenters will receive two nights free accommodation and free
entry to the forum.

Please send a summary of your intended paper to
Mr Mike Wall, KiwiMarineHK@compuserve.com

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Insurance News

OECD in crackdown on substandard shipping
MARINE insurers should refuse to pay the fines of shipowners found guilty of
safety or pollution-related offences, a group of leading industrial countries is
recommending as part of a new crackdown on substandard shipping.
www.lloydslist.com

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Epistles

We have just launched our new Yacht & Small Craft Diploma with enrolment
available for a September intake. We are also moving into new offices at the
beginning of April,. giving us more admin space plus meeting rooms and space for
seminars and training sessions.

Regards
Nicki Smith (Mrs)
Assistant Secretary, IIMS

Update on the Quality Charter for Marine Surveyors

Many of us will remember the attempt to establish a quality charter for marine
surveyors by FEMAS in June last year. Henk Arntz writes:

"In spite of several requests to Massimo Canepa, member of the Italian
Association and chairman of FEMAS, together with Steve Hale, chairman of the
American Association NAMS, who during the Rotterdam 2 day seminar were elected
to make it happen, nothing whatsoever has happened.

Regretfully I cannot inform you of any encouraging developments. I still
believe that putting a good quality charter together would have helped the
qualified surveyors to get more recognition than there is at the moment, and it
would have been a step to a better future for all concerned."

Why are the professional associations tending to shy away from such a charter?
Do they believe the charter to be ill-conceived or just plain impractical to
enforce? I for one would like to hear from the associations as to their
thinking on this subject. Our readers are also welcome to comment.

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So, how do we do something about the quality of the marine surveyors plying
their business around the world? Whilst IIMS has developed the Diploma in
Marine Surveying in an attempt to raise standards and make marine surveyor
training more appropriate, it is clear that market forces will always apply and
continue to determine who should sink and who should swim.

In business, you get what you pay for and money talks. Pay peanuts and you'll
get monkeys, etc, etc. Unfortunately, those who consider the bottom line to be
more important than quality of survey are using the monkeys whilst the remaining
quality survey companies are going out of business. When they come crying after
a survey disaster, there won't be any quality surveyors left to do their
bidding. Appointing a quality survey firm can save a lot of money in the long term.

This is true all over the world. In some cases it is due to commercial pressure
on Underwriters and P&I Clubs from large powerful groups of Shipowners who would
prefer to have a surveyor who may already be in their pocket or pressurised to
be so. In some cases the employers would prefer to use a company where there
may be a conflict of interest and pressure can be brought in other ways to get
the piper to play the tune required by he who pays him. This topic has been
discussed many times at marine surveying conferences.

The professional associations also put out annual lists of their members who
have usually been severely vetted before being allowed to join. However, a
recent straw poll of clients revealed that many of them don't even refer to the
professional association yearbooks. This situation begs the question "What are
the professional associations doing for their members?" Perhaps one (or more)
of the societies would care to respond?

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Perhaps the lack of reference to the professional association membership lists
is because the members of such societies are perceived to be at the higher end
of the fee structure. It is interesting to compare fee levels for some
professions. Some associated professionals may command fees of US$500 per hour.
The marine surveyor has usually completed a four year cadetship/apprenticeship,
followed by a minimum of six years to become a qualified Master Mariner or Chief
Engineer. This is often followed by many years of service in the rank of Master
or Chief Engineer. Some go on to spend four years obtaining an honours degree
in a marine related subject before joining a reputable marine consultancy as a
junior surveyor, undergoing many years of training before being let loose on
his/her own. Having spent so long in training, they then receive fees which are
a fraction of those charged by others when it is the surveyor who very often
makes or breaks a case!

The conflict for marine surveyors is that they need to be seen as being totally
independent. Our profession, in the main, is made of many smaller companies who
prefer this independence. Getting them all to come together to be a powerful
force in ship safety and in improving standards of pay and conditions is
unlikely while we remain divided. Our Clients use this to their advantage.
Whilst I am not advocating cartels or closed shops, I believe, like Henk Arntz,
that we need to put any differences aside in the interests of our profession.

(Ed: Contact the undersigned if you would like a copy of the draft charter)

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People

This section of our newsletter is intended for those looking for jobs and those
looking for people. It is also hoped to include information of movements of
people in our business.

Following the flashlight November 2001 report that Larry Heron had been laid off
from Jardine Matheson, Taiwan, we are pleased to report that Larry has re-emerged running his own survey company "Heron Marine Surveyors & Consultants" with Mr. Hubert Shoei, an ex Jardine colleague, they are offering survey/inspection and P&I Correspondent Services in the Taiwan area.
For further details please contact
Heron Marine at tel: 886 2 2100 1350, fax:886 2 2561 8295,
or e-mail larry@gcn.net.tw

Cargo Surveyor - 30 year old male - 10 years experience, during which time, based in South Africa,Sierra Leone, United Kingdom, Russia and North Korea. Lloyd's Agency management and consultancy work for United Nations World Food Programme (Port Captain). Ambitious and hard working. Looking for a challenging assignment, preferably
involved in the management/marketing of a survey network.

Contact the Editor for more details on the above items.

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Web Sites

If your (marine surveying) company has a web site, let us know and we will try
to mention it. Below are some web pages we believe might be useful to marine surveyors.

The Federation of European Maritime Associations of Surveyors and Consultants
International Institute of Marine Surveyors
Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors
National Association of Marine Surveyors
Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
The Association of Certified Marine Surveyors
Three Rivers Marine Surveys.
General access to the directory of the world network of Lloyd's Agents.
Merchant Navy records on UK MN vessels and
information merchant seamen, logs, agreements and crew lists, MN apprentices and
deaths at sea (RMT news November 2001)
Marine Support On Line

A recent search of the internet for marine surveying and consultancy firms threw
up 27,600 web pages. Clearly the internet has become the main advertising
medium for our profession.

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At the Stern

Consultants

Once upon a time there was a shepherd tending his sheep at the edge of a country
road. A brand new BMW Z3 screeches to a halt next to him. The driver, a young
man dressed in a Brioni suit, Cerrutti shoes, Ray-Ban glasses, Jovial Swiss
wrist watch and a Bhs tie gets out and asks the
shepherd: "If I guess how many sheep you have, will you give me one of them?"
The shepherd looks at the young man, then looks at the sprawling field of sheep
and says: "OK."

The young man parks the BMW, connects his notebook and wireless modem, enters
the NASA uplink, scans the ground using his GPS, opens a database and 60 Excel
tables filled with algorithms, then prints a report on his high tech mini
printer. He then turns to the shepherd and says: "You have exactly 1,586 sheep
here. "The shepherd answers: "That's correct, you can have the sheep of your choice."

The young man takes one of the animals and puts it in the back of his vehicle.
The shepherd looks at him and asks: "Now, if I guess your profession, will you
pay me back in kind?"

The young man answers: "Sure."

The shepherd says: "You are a consultant".

"Exactly! How did you know," asks the young man?

"Very simple" answers the shepherd. "First, you came here without being called.
Second, you charged me a fee to tell me something I already knew. Third, you do
not understand anything about my business and I'd really like to have my dog back."

If we all learn by our mistakes, Consultants must have made one hell of a lot! ANON

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Disclaimer: Articles and reports reflect the views of the individuals who
prepared them, and, unless indicated expressly in the text, do not necessarily
represent the views of the editor. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure
that the information in this publication is accurate, the editor makes no
representation or warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy,
completeness or correctness of such information. The editor accepts no
responsibility whatsoever for any loss, damage or other liability arising from
any use of this publication or the information which it contains. The contents
of the publication are the responsibility of the editor alone.

News, views, enquiries, suggestions, articles and letters for inclusion in
future editions of FLASHLIGHT may be sent to:

Mike Wall
Tel:  +852 2259 3150
Fax: +852 2259 3151
Email: KiwiMarineHK@compuserve.com