My apologies for the delay in transmitting the May newsletter due to
your editor
being overseas in the UK and visiting Posidonia, followed by a period
of heavy
activity making up the fee earning time lost!
CONTENTS (for full stories, select a headline)
• At the bow - New subsctibers
• Conference reports - None this month
• Future events - Conferences
• Spindrift - LR unveil new scheme
• Contributions - Debtors database?
• Scuttlebut - New IACS Chairman, Broadening
the scope of SA, SGS cutbacks, Calls for Papers
• Insurance News - Wavelength
• Epistles -
• People - Spinnaker for shipping related jobs.
• Useful web sites - See EQUASIS - good value!
• At the stern - St Peter. Toilet paper.
Flashlight is a free monthly emailed newsletter for Marine Surveyors.
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 not wish 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
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.
A. Javier Quintero Saavedra (Javier Saavedra), Staff surveyor, SERMAP
SA, La
Corunna, Spain
Aneesh Bakshi, NJ, USA
David R. Silver, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Gary Hartland, QSE, UK
Joseph Kamomoe, Marine Manager, Mclarens Toplis, Nairobi
Steve Findlay, Taylor & Co (Marine).
None to report this month.
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
[Top]
NAMS 35th National Conference West, 22-24 September 2002, Radisson Hotel,
Fisherman's Wharf, 250 Beach Street, San Francisco, CA, USA
Contact: Bill Hansen. wchansen@earthlink.com
or Evie Hobbs at office@nams-cms.org
As further information is made available, it will be posted on NAMS' web
site
www.nams-cms.org
[Top]
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
[Top]
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.
[Top]
19/20 September 2002, Mare Forum 2002: Flag State Quality & Regulatory
Governance, Divani Apollon Hotel, Kavouri Athens Greece
e-mail: info@mareforum.com
Website: www.mareforum.com
[Top]
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
[Top]
11-13 October 2002. THE Nautical Institute North-East Branch in the UK
has
chosen salvage as the theme of the thirteenth seminar in its "The
Mariner and
the Maritime Law" programme. The seminar will be held on board the
"Queen of
Scandinavia" while it makes its way from Newcastle to Amsterdam and
back again.
For further information contact Denise Huddleston at: niseminar@nepia.com
[Top]
NAMS 41st National Conference East, 13-15 April 2003, Tremont Hotel,
100 East
Chestnut Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Contact: Greg Davis. email info at www.daviscoltd.com
[Top]
SNAME 2002 Annual Meeting. 25-28 September 2002, The Westin Copley Place,10
Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116-5798
2002's Annual Meeting will be held in Boston, for the first time in conjunction
with the Annual Ship Production Symposium. The Technical Program will
be packed
with the latest developments in shipbuilding and ship design and will
include a
seminar covering the need for and implications of new security measures
which
need to be implemented by our industry to counteract potential terrorist
threats
to world maritime commerce and to the international trading nations. This
combination, in conjunction with a first class Exposition (IMExpo), promises
to
provide a unique content-packed technical meeting.
www.sname.org/AM2002/am2002_annualmeeting2.htm
LR unveil new scheme
Prior to the opening of the Posidonia Exhibition, Lloyds Register gave
a press
conference where Mr Alan Gavin gave a presentation on 'Using port state
control
detention data to improve ship condition'.
Mr Gavin stated that due to external controls and Society's expectations
on
safety of life property and environment it was becoming necessary to monitor
various indicators. Consequently, LR had started to monitor Port State
Control
(PSC) inspection figures.
PSC have been publishing league tables for some years now giving information
on
those vessel's detained due to serious deficiencies. They are particularly
targeting vessels from various class societies and Flag administrations
which
have poor records.
LR maintains a database of PSC detentions for those ships detained within
its
6,000 ship database which gives the number of PSC detentions, by ship
type, Flag
Stateand age. LR have derived a league table of the most prominent and
recurring detentions.
Alan stated that the deficiencies do not contribute to operational safety
of
ship, but do takin into account combined items which can be more hazardous,
the
top 10 deficiencies accounting for 26% of total recorded deficiencies.
It was
suggested that LR surveyors could carry out random checks of the top 10
items
during their visits to vessels and Mr Gavin stated that they would look
into
this further.
Examples of compounding effects are dirty ER, flammable material around
ER, EM
Fire pump not working, Empty CO2 bottles, etc.
LR started targeting substandard ships in 2000, with 470 ships declassed
since
the start of the scheme.
USCG statistics show that out of 1,340 arrivals classed by LR, there
were 26
detentions, the ratio being 1.94, with BV having the highest at 5.21
Unfortunately, LR could not say what proportion this figure represented
on the
total number of PSC inspections of LR classed vessels as they were not
informed
when one of their ships was boarded. It was suggested that perhaps LR
surveyors, when carrying out normal duties, togethere with checking the
top 10
deficiencies on board vessel, could also find out when the last PSC inspection
had been carried out and report this back to head office. This would then
give
LR a better picture of the proportion of their vessels being detained
and a
better idea of whether their services are appropriate.
Mr Gavin confirmed that the number of detentions were rising, but remarked
that
this might be due to the increase in the number of inspections. He agreed
that
there was a need for standardisation of PSC inspections as standards varied
around the world.
It is clear that the public is looking for greater transparancy but
unfortunately the information on the LR database will only be made available
to
Flag States, Port State Control and Owners with the information being
available
on the web with password protection. Fortunately for the rest of us peons,
we
can see the information on the Equasis web page! (see below)
It is clear that PSC Detentions have become the major KPI of shipping
and the
policemen of the shipping industry. There is clearly a need for inspections
to
be stepped up and the number of PSC to be increased.
Ed: Should you wish to see the PSC inspection record of a vessel go to
http://www.equasis.org/
This web page has the principal particulars, Class
registration and PSC record for more than 6,000 vessels.
Debtors
Cash flow is the lifeblood of small to medium sized companies (SMEs)
these
making up 99% of marine survey and consultancy firms. It is a well known
fact
that you must have enough cash in the bank to keep going for six months
when
starting up such a business. Whilst P&I Club ship vetting departments
are
timely payers, their casualty departments are often not so speedy. Law
firms
are others who are guilty of tardy payment, working on the principle that
they
will not pay out until their principals pay out. As some cases can go
on for
years, payment may take some time. For this reason, many companies will
submit
interim invoices to ensure that their is sensible cash flow.
Large insurance companies are also guilty of tardy payment, again due
to the
time taken for settlement of claims and their cumbersome accounting systems.
Many SMEs will add a premium either to their fee rates or to the final
invoice
to take account of the money lost by the funds being in the Client's bank
account instead of theirs. This all combines to increase insurance casualty
costs and ultimately premiums, an endless spiral.
So what do you do about debt collection? Some companies are totally complacent
and have none at all, others having computer generated reminders periodically
issued. Some get the secretary to call up with reminders as women often
have
more success than men, debtors reluctant to get mad and swear at a woman.
Of course, the way to prevent such situations arising is to ask for your
fees up
front. Some Owners, particularly of certain nationalities, will take advantage
of you if you do not, and often respect you more for doing so. It is seen
as
good practice to ask for slightly more than the anticipated invoice amount
up
front, then to return the balance if the final invoice is less than the
amount submitted.
Having stated the above, most of us have been caught out at some time.
I was
particularly hard hit when Adriatic Tankers went bankrupt and having employed
SCI Business Services Ltd in London who had no effect whatsoever.
There seems to be an excellent case for setting up a database of bad
debtors,
ie, a black list. If this receives a good response, I am suggesting that
those
with such debtors send the name of the client together with the date of
invoice
(and amount if possible) to the email address at the bottom of the newsletter.
This would be the minimum information required. Those who receive an
appointment but are not sure of the credit-worthiness of the client could
email
us and we will let them know if the client is on the bad debtor's list.
All
other information would be confidential and not released. Bad debtors
could be
classed into different categories depending on the amount and time since
the
invoice was issued, together with the number of instances of non-payment.
Let us know your thoughts on the matter.
Mike Wall
BMM have recently been conducting a survey on how many companies possess ultrasound equipment. Below are some of the responses received with respect to Ultrasonic Leak Test Equipment :
1. The transmitter has to have sufficient power to enable accurate results.
2. Vessel's cargo holds have to be empty or loaded with cargo with good
reflecting properties, such as steel. Where holds are loaded with cargoes
such as grain or other bulk cargoes, these absorb the signals, thereby
reducing the unit's ability to detect leaks.
3. No reading implies no ultrasound leakage, however, this does not necessarily
hold true for leakage associated with water ingress through the joints,
because the watertight integrity is based on the degree of compression
of the hatch cover gasket on the compression bar. For example, very light
contact of the gasket on the compression bar will indicate no reading
and consequently no problem areas, although that particular area is certainly
not watertight.
4. If areas of leakage are detected, it frequently occurs that difficulty
is experienced proving that there are leaks to the Superintendent and
crew, particularly those unfamiliar with the use of ultrasonic test equipment,
unlike the hose test where water can physically be seen entering the vessel's
hatch covers. Whilst the Hose Test is by no means any better than Ultrasonic
Testing, we believe it is a more practical method of testing the watertight
integrity, especially when it comes to proving problem areas to ship's
crew and other interested parties.
Ed: Good to see that people are getting involved in the Ultrasound debate.
I've taken the opportunity to respond accordingly:
1. I agree that the transmitter has to have sufficient power and currently the only one which does not have enough power is the UE Systems bulk generator which has only 4 transducers.
2. Agree with the point relating to the absorption of the signal by porous materials such as bulk grain cargoes. However, steel cargoes can also have a diminishing effect as the more the signal bounces off surfaces the more attenuation of the received signal. Clearly, it depends on where the transmitter is placed which should be as near to the top of the cargo and centreof the hatchcover as possible.
3. As to watertight integrity in terms of the degree of compression of the hatchcover seals, if no water passes through the seals then they are considered to be watertight by most P&I Clubs. Yes, the less the seal compression, the more likely that a leak will be generated as the seals and compression bars wear or corrode. Some clubs consider a reading of 10% as weathertight with anything above this figure being non-watertight. Some purists would argue that any signal indicates that the hatchcovers are not watertight.
4. As to convincing the crew and Superintendent with respect to the reliability of the equipment, I usually place the generator in the Master's refrigerator and get him to test the door seals. In some cases I place the generator inside a deck house and test the seals, releasing the dogs slightly to show when a leak occurs. If neither of the above are convincing, a hose test on the leaking area can be the final proof.
IACS
Alan Gavin is due to take up the position of Chairman of IACS on 1 July this year and at the LR press conference at Posidonia was asked about his role. He sees his role as one of improving the transparency of the organisation. When asked about the recent mudslinging between various societies as to the quality of service, Alan remarked that he saw his role as one of continuing to unite the societies whilst trying to 'standardise the standard of service amongst the IACS members'.
Broadening the scope of SA
We hear a rumour that the Salvage Association has branched out into debt collecting since the company was acquired by BMT. Apparently, they will buy your debt and carry out the recovery of funds, taking a percentage on the deal.
SGS cutbacks
We hear that SGS are trying to trim US$2 million from their Asian region budget by not renewing the contracts for non-local staff. If this was to happen in Europe or the USA it would be called racism.
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 SCMS 2002 Asian Marine Surveying and Loss Prevention Conference 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
Sam Ignarski informs us that Wavelength, liability and property insurance
for ports and terminals is up an running. Visit: http://www.wavelengthinsurance.com/
None this month.
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.
Please contact the Editor if you have anything of interest for this section.
For more information on shipping related jobs see www.shippingjobs.com.
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
Marinfo Ltd, Russian
information provider
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
Safety at Sea International
Database containing safety-related
information on the worlds merchant fleet from both public and private
sources. Gives ship's particulars, Class Soc, P&I Club and PSC inspection
record.
Our thanks to Sam Ignarski for the following:
Last night as I lay sleeping
I died, or so it seemed
Then I went to heaven
But it was only in my dream
It seems St Peter met me
There at the Pearly gate.
He said "I must check your record,
so stand right here and wait.
I see that you drank alcohol,
and swore quite often too.
Fact is, you've done so many things
that a good person shouldn't do
We can't have people like you up here.
Your life was full of sin.
Then he read the last of my record,
grasped my hand and said "Come in"
He took me to the Big Boss and said
"Take him. Treat him well.
For he has worked in SHIPPING,
Sir he's had his share of HELL!
That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end,
the
faster it goes! ANON
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
Do not print this page unless absolutely necessary.