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  FLASHLIGHT -July 2003           Edition No: 22

(Past editions can be viewed on http://www.asiaconference.biz)

'Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.'

Seatrade London International Maritime Convention
16-18 September 2003
ExCeL, London, UK

Seatrade London, which continues to attract the top names in international shipping, will be officially opened by guest of honour HRH The Princess Royal, as Patron of Sea Vision UK.

With over one-hundred maritime companies already confirmed to exhibit, countries represented include Hong Kong, USA, Cyprus, Norway, Greece, Korea, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, the Cayman Islands, and of course the UK!

Seatrade London's conference matrix will see the re-emergence of the highly influential Money & Ships conference, with participants including David Jamieson MP (UK Minister for Shipping and Transport), Robert Ho (Chairman-Elect of the Hong Kong Shipowners' Association), Wei Jiafu (President of the Cosco Group), Willem De Ruiter (Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency), Alberto Aleman (Administrator, Panama Canal Authority), and SY Tsui (Director of
the Hong Kong Marine Department).

Other conference sessions will include the Nautical Institute's "Integrated Bridge Systems And The Human Element", a Baltic Freight Derivatives Forum, an Imarest/RINA debate entitled "The Death of the Single Hull Tanker?", a London Maritime Arbitrators Association seminar, a Quality in Marine Fuels Forum, and a session in association with BIMCO dedicated to Ship & Port Security.

View the conference programme planner and register on line:
www.seatrade-global.com/secure/london_conf.asp

Or for more information contact Seatrade:
events@seatrade-global.com
Tel +44 1206 545121
Fax +44 1206 545190
www.seatrade-london.com


CONTENTS (for full stories, select a headline)

At the Bow

FLASHLIGHT is a free monthly emailed newsletter for Marine Surveyors. It is circulated to anybody who wishes to receive a copy, eg, Marine Surveyors, P&I Clubs, their correspondents, 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. Letters, opinions and articles relating to our profession are welcomed for the newsletter.

New readers this month:

Alan Shard, Westcoast Marine, CA, USA.
Pisan Ratchakitprakarn, Ama Marine Co Ltd., Thailand.

[Top]

Spindrift

Asian Marine Surveying & Loss Prevention Forum moves to Vietnam for 2003

Last year's 2002 Marine Surveying & Loss Prevention Forum, held in Shekou, proved to be a very popular event. At last year's event, delegates unanimously voted HoChiMinh City, Vietnam as the venue for the 2003 Marine Surveying & Loss Prevention Forum and we are pleased to be able to
now advise that all arrangements have been finalised.

October 23-24th, 2003 .. at the infamous Caravelle Hotel, HoChiMinh City, Vietnam. Mark the date and note the place as this will be the principal conference for anyone associated with the marine surveying industry, in Asia, for 2003.

This year's theme will be : "Towards maintaining & improving international standards in Asia"

Vietnam's shipping industry is fast developing and in addition to the growing exports of primary products and raw materials, more and more Vietnamese companies are becoming involved in the transportation trade .. in a coastal country such as Vietnam - that mean's shipping! As a developing nation in terms of international shipping practices, Vietnam shows lots of promise and is keen to learn from people and countries experienced in international maritime matters.

Vietnam is a wonderful country, with warm and friendly people and delegates are encouraged to spend the weekend and explore some of the beauties of this mystic land with its wealth of history.

For complete details, programme topics, registration form and other details, please go to :

http://www.asiaconferences.biz/flyer/index.htm

We look forward to seeing you in HoChiMinh City (Saigon) in October.
Asia Conferences Ltd
Astor Tsang or Ferdi Stolzenberg
Tel: +852 2840 0224
Fax: + 852 2523 3637
marine@asiaconference.biz


Call for Papers

The 2003 Marine Surveying and Loss Prevention Forum, will be held in late October this year in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Jonathon Stoneley of Cargill and Karl Lumbers, Loss Prevention Director of the UK P&I Club have already confirmed their attendance and papers. What about you?

Interested parties should submit an abstract or summary of the proposed paper to Mr Mike Wall, email: mikewall@so-net.com.hk. A technical panel, consisting of experts from marine insurance, education and surveying will be reviewing submissions.

Class welcome

Four leading shipowner groups have welcomed IACS plans to provide common rules fo rnewbuidling scantlings as a matter of priority. iACS coundil has agreed to initially consider scantling rules for dbouble side skin bulkers and tankers, and then address other ship types.

Slow progress on bulkers

Concern has been expressed at IMO's slow progress on improving bulk carrier safety. The criticism come in the wake of the sinking of a pananax bulker off the coast of Denmark, an incident that highlighted the vulnerability of such ships following collision or ingress of water.

The 69,973 dwt PRC flagged 'Fu Shan Hia' sank just a few hours after its No 3 cargo hold was breached in a collision with the 3,903 grt Cyprus flagged cargo vessel 'Gdynia'. One UK expert has suggested that the speed with which the bulker sanik was a sign of the inadequate structural strength of many vessels in the existing fleet. This despite attacks on IMO's maritime safety committee last month for not going far enough in reducing the risks of rapid progressive flooding amongst existing bulkers. The UK had proposed the banning of alternate hold loading on bulkers aged over 15 years, but this was diluted by the committee.

Prestige extraction

Spanish oil and gas company Repsol-YPF says it is unlikely to complete work on extracting fuel oil from the sunken tanker 'Prestige' for at leas a year. If initial tests on the removal process next month proves successful, work to extract the fuel oil will begin next spring.

Chinese boom

China is continuing to consolidate its position as the world's third larges shipbuilding nation, with 4.46 m tonnes of orders on its books. Bulk orders are at leas 20% cheaper in China than those placed in Western Europe.

(Courtesy of NUMAST Telegraph)

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Contributions

In the absence of any contributions from readers this month:

Performance Appraisal

Many survey companies start small and grow into larger organisations. However, as has previously been stated, many of us are unfamiliar with the vagaries of company administration and personnel management, learning all too often by personal experience and mistakes. We are usually too busy being surveyors and running a company to take time out to learn more about these things. This is where the short course trainers come into their own, providing the one or two day courses on relevant topics.

One of the areas of personnel management which is often shied away from is performance appraisal. Most managers and their employees are reluctant to get into face to face contact situations to talk about their abilities and shortcomings, but it is a necessary part of employee relations. If you don't assess the performance of your employees how are you going to know if they are maintaining your standards and how do they know whether they are meeting them or not?

In these days of employment legislation it is also necessary to have some record of employee performance in the event that they are dismissed. Using an objective appraisal system can also dispel perceptions of cronyism within companies. By linking performance appraisal to annual salary increments, management can ensure that the better performing employees are rewarded in an appropriate manner. Having said this, it is not usual to penalise those who are not performing by reducing their remuneration, but keeping it at the same level whilst others are increased, should bring the message home.

So where does the money come from to pay for increments? It is generally acceptable to all concerned to have some form of profits sharing system in place where the amount is divided between those who have contributed most to the company's improvement during the previous year. Some companies allow employees to take their increment in the form of other benefits, eg, additional leave, upgrade in make of car, etc.

Clearly, in order to measure performance there has to be some standard against which it can be measured. This is where a clear and comprehensive job description is essential. Whilst a broad and general job description may give management a tool to get an employee to do anything and everything, as most marine surveyors do, it does not give an objective benchmark.

Having established a good job description, the next job is to define which personal and professional factors contribute to the surveyors' duties. The personal factors include those parts of the job relating to other than technical factors, eg, time keeping, interpersonal relationships with other staff, sick leave, contributions to the team, personal commitment, use of initiative.

Professional factors involve those necessary to do the job of marine surveying, eg, technical knowledge, planning, organising and expediting, surveying skills, reporting skills, ability to meet deadlines, establishing a rapport with ships' crews, other surveyors, principals, etc.

The above are only examples. These will differ between companies and the type of work which they do. They may be broken down further into sub-factors, eg, Reporting can be broken down into format, spelling, grammar, presentation, accuracy, photographic presentation, etc.

Once each of the main factors have been established and broken down into sub-factors, a marking system should be established, usually between 1 and 5, where 5 = outstanding, 4 = exceeds expectations, 3 = meets expectations, 2 = below expectations, 1 = unacceptable. Half scores may be used if necessary.

With the essentials of the system defined, the procedures for implementing the system must be put in place. It is usual to have annual performance assessments with six monthly reviews. A copy of the form is given to the employee and one to the immediate manager. They each then complete their copy, the manager assessing the employee whilst the employee carries out a self-assessment. Spaces are included in the assessment form for general comments or observations from either manager or employee.

The two are then brought together in a meeting to discuss the two completed forms. Here it is often better to start with the positive aspects of the surveyor's performance, leaving the sensitive issues to later. The two should come to some agreement on what to score for a sub-factor. In the event that the score is 3 or below, it may be that either training or monitoring is necessary to improve performance. Once this is established, a training and development plan can be established, the employee having to meet set requirements by a certain time. The six monthly review is used to see if the programme is being followed, with the opportunity for further feedback from the employee.

At the end of the appraisal meeting, the two should agree a summary of the proceedings with general comments and the action plan, signed by both, with the date for the next appraisal agreed. In the event that no agreement can be achieved, it may be that the process should be handled by a more senior manager with the immediate supervisor present but asked to keep quiet until asked to speak. An appeal mechanism should always be provided for all concerned and an employee given the right to meet with his immediate supervisor at a reasonable time to discuss problems with the development plan.

Copies of performance appraisal reports should be retained in the employees personal file and only accessible to superiors who should acknowledge that they have accessed the report for review.

Perhaps one reason for the lack of willingness for people to get involved in this process is that whilst it might appear that it is the employee that is being assessed, it is clear that the manager is also being assessed, not necessarily by the employee but by the way in which he/she manages the employee and the process.

This is a very simplified explanation of a performance appraisal system. Different companies with varying types of work will have different factors of importance for appropriate job performance. However, the basic framework for the system should be similar.

Mike Wall

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Scuttlebut

ABS Steel Vessel Rules (2003) has been updated by Rule Change Notice No. 3.
Approved by ABS' Technical Committee on 24 June 2003, this RCN includes the
following rule changes:
- New Harmonised Bulk Carrier Notations, BC-A, BC-B and BC-C
- New Optional Class Notations, POT
- Updates to Gas/Chemical Carriers based on IMO IGC/IBC Codes - Enhancements of Survey After Construction of Tankers

The RCN is available on the ABS web site.
Please note, this update is only available for download.

Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels 2003

Download SVR RCN 3 Effective Date: 1 July 2003

Download ABS Rules & Guides for free

ABS Technical Publications Email: abs_pubs@eagle.org

16855 Northchase Drive No. 1 Frying Pan Alley
Houston, TX 77060 London E1 7HR,
USA UK
Tel: 1-281-877-6306 Tel: 44-207-377-4442
Fax: 1-281-877-5801 Fax: 44-207-247-3053

ITF News

The creation of a new international negotiating forum for seafarers on over 1,800 FOC ships has been agreed by the ITF and two major bodies representing maritime employers in Europe and Asia. The International Bargaining Forum was established at a meeting in Yokohama in May 2003 between the ITF and the International Maritime Employers' Committee and the International Mariners' Management Association of Japan. Arising from the decision, the ITF benchmark rate for an AB, which had been scheduled to rise to US$1,350 per month from 1 January 2003, will remain at US$1,300 at least until the meeting this month of the ITF Fair Practices Committee (FPC), the body responsible for setting ITF FOC campaign policy. The FPC meeting will receive a recommendation from the ITF negotiating team that the benchmark figure should not be increased until the end of this year.

Seafarer IDs

Lengthy negotiations over a new globally acceptable ID card for the world's 1.2 million seafarers culminated last month with a top level agreement between Governments, Owners and Maritime Unions. Two weeks of talks at the ILO in Geneva ended with a proposed new convention on seafarers' ID Cards being adopted by a vote of 392 for , non against and 20 abstentions.

Under the terms of the convention, seafarers will have to carry an ID card featuring a biomnetric template based on a finger print.

Governments will be required to maintain databases and also facilitate shore leave and transit and transfer of seafarers.

ILO Director General Juan Somavia said the agreement was a pioneering work in a sensitive area that guarantees a balance between the rights of the world's seafarers as well as trade interests and security concerns. Maritime unions have suggested that there is now an urgent need for a speedy ratification.

(Courtesy of NUMAST Telegraph)

George Barclay appointed Director of Equasis

The deputy director of Equasis, George Barclay, has been appointed as the on-line shipping information service's director. He succeeds Philippe Barclay who will be taking up a post at the French Maritime Administration.

Mr Barclay's background includes a great deal experience in the London insurance market working as a broker. He will be addressing tomorrow's Maritime London networking lunch at HSBC.

The UK continues to head the list of countries registering the highest number of hits (14%) and active users (10%).

Ed: Equasis is a very popular web page giving PSC records with the vessel's particulars. A ship's page can give a marine surveyor a good idea of what he will find before carrying out a survey on the particular vessel.

UK Club looks into copper fraud

The UK P&I Club has warned of further cases of forged documentation used to defraud would-be purchasers of copper consignments in Dar Es Salaam. A recent upsurge in such incidents, costing the victims several million dollars, has been reported to Signum Services, the UK Club's investigative arm.

Copper comes to Dar Es Salaam mainly from Zambia, usually by train and is kept in a secure area before being containerised, transferred to the terminal and loaded on board ship. Fraudsters target prospective copper purchasers interested in paying below the market price. These people may be less inclined to question the source of the goods and insufficiently familiar with exact documentation requirements, the Club said.

There is no attempt to interfere with official mining company, customs, port or carrier documentation. Instead, the criminals produce an array of forged documents to convince purchasers of their entitlement to the goods and appropriate delivery arrangements. These include false mining company documents and false bills of lading. The fraudsters are known to gain access for themselves and their purchasers to the train goods yard and the container terminal to make a bogus identification of the cargo. They have also attempted to make provisional bookings for the requisite number of containers with the carrier's agent, to provide even more reassuring documentation for the 'customer.' Once the full price or at least the deposit has been paid, the criminals disappear, the Club warns. Purchasers only become aware of fraud when non-existent cargoes fail to arrive. Some have sought to claim against the carrier, based on possession of a forged bill of lading.

Mike Hawkins, chief investigator for Signum Services, explained: "This is a highly sophisticated fraud. The people concerned know the whole copper transiting process in fine detail. They have foreknowledge of when vessels loading copper will dock, enabling them to synchronise their activities. The combination of well forged documents, liaison with the carrier about provisional container bookings and authentic touches such as physical identification of the supposed cargoes all add to the impression that the seller and the sale are genuine."

Carriers' agents are urged by Signum Services to take every effort to stop criminals obtaining original blank bills of lading and to be wary of unfamiliar people seeking to make provisional bookings for containers.

(Courtesy of Maritime London:
http://www.maritimelondon.com/london_matters/8july03.shtml)

[Top]

Insurance News

Costs forecast

Shipowners are set to face an increase in key operating costs over the coming year, according to a report from Drewry Shipping Consultants. The annual forecast on operating costs warns of the impact of new security requirements and rising insurance charges.

[Top]

Wig & Gown

Class not safety guarantor

ARBITRATORS in the US have found in favour of the American Bureau of Shipping in a dispute over the total loss of a yacht by fire off the coast of Spain in 1990. The fire occurred six weeks after the vessel starting cruising following completion of construction in an Italian shipyard.

The owner of the yacht claimed that the fault and negligence of ABS was the cause of a fire that began in the engine-room of the vessel and which was not detected sufficiently early, due to the absence of a fire detection device in the unmanned engine-room.

The arbitrators dismissed the claim, finding that the owner had failed to prove any negligence on the part of ABS. They found that the owner was seeking to transform the role of ABS from classification society to overall safety guarantor when it sought to hold ABS liable for the consequences of the fire. It was noted that, "ABS was not the owner's supervising engineer or independent marine surveyor, and did not become such because (the owner) did not engage such an engineer or surveyor. Nor is ABS a safety guarantor."

(Courtesy of: www.smany.org)

[Top]


Education and Training

20 year anniversary

The World Maritime University celebrated its 20th anniversary last month, with a series of special events at its site in Malmo, Sweden.

Operating under the auspices of IMO, the WMU has seen almost 2,000 students from 142 countries complete its MSc programme in maritime affairs, with specialisations including port and shipping management, maritime administration, safety and environment protection and maritime education and training.

Students joining next year will be offered a sixth specialisation, maritime resource management. This year will also see the first students on the WMU's new PhD programme, run in collaboration with the University of Wales.

New Engineering Course

A new marine engineering degree course has been launched by the University of Greenwich and the National Sea Training centre at North Kent College. Designed to prepare students for a professional career in marine engineering ? both at sea and ashore ? the course has been developed as a joint project between the two institutions.

Organised around the core of the BSc in Mechanical Engineering already run by the university, the four-year course covers marine, mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering subjects as
well as options including vessel and fleet technical management.

The third ‘sandwich’ year will be used to gain workshop skills required for the Engineering Officer’s Certificate of competency and will also be used to complete work experience, such as sea time
for students sponsored by shipping companies.

Much of the course will be taught at the university’s Medway site next to the former Chatham Dockyard. STCW 95 safety courses, such as survival and fire-fighting, will be completed at the
NSTC in Gravesend and the workshop skills will be undertaken at North West Kent’s workshops.

Students wishing to pursue a seagoing career will complete the NVQ level 3 to gain OOW certificate at the end of the degree.

(NUMAST Telegraph April 2003)

Mediation Training

THE London Shipping Law Centre has confirmed that its specialist shipping and commercial mediation training and awareness course, which is being run in association with Regent's College, is to be held this year on September 19, 20, 26 and 27.

The course tutors will teach the skills necessary to practise as a mediator, helping participants to understand why conflicts arise, how to be an effective listener, how to use effective language and empathy in order to facilitate dispute resolution, and how to help parties re-evaluate their position in a dispute and generate options for a solution.

The course is based on fundamental principles of human behaviour, which it combines with commercial reality to provide tailor-made scenarios from shipping and commercial disputes to enable participants to practise their skills and have them assessed by experts. It is taught by shipping and commercial sector experts working with experts in human behaviour, all of whom are qualified mediators.

Contact: shipping@ucl.ac.uk or www.london-shipping-law.com

[Top]

Epistles

Dear Mike,

Greetings from Finland, Europe!

I have been subscribing your marinesurveyornews for the surveyors, almost from the beginning, a couple of years ago.

It has been a pleasure to see the development of your site. Anyhow I would like to tell you that the "From the poop deck" , including all the maritime jokes has always been very interesting part of your site.

Usually I am reading your messages sometime "on the road" i.e. during carrying out the surveys and inspections abroad, and it has always been very relaxing to read your jokes after hard working week of 8 days...!

So pls go ahead with the same style!

Capt Esa A Anttio
Sea Load Control Ltd

I refer to your article about professional conduct and the lack of a mediation mechanism in the various societies for adjudicating complaints. The Society of Maritime Arbitrators (SMA), whose membership includes several surveyors, offers rules for a shortened arbitration procedure and a
mediation procedure. This seems to be a perfect solution, should the various societies choose to incorporate those rules. Doubtless, most societies would much prefer their peers to judge members, but the SMA does offer independent and professional dispute resolution which is inexpensive
when using the shortened or mediation procedures. Any suggestions for following up on this?

Regards,

Donald J. Szostak, Editor, THE ARITRATOR

Mike -

In your section covering "Professional Conduct" near the end you stated "There are disciplinary procedures in place in all of the institutes but these are seldom used. It is sad to note that there appears to be no mediation mechanism in place in any of our professional institutes."

This is incorrect, at least in the instance of NAMS. When a complaint is filed with our national office against a NAMS member surveyor, concerning his conduct or ethics, an investigation committee is formed and a thorough investigation is conducted. The results of these findings are presented to the NAMS Executive Committee and the Board of Directors who collectively determine, by vote, if any action is warranted or necessary. If a surveyor is found to be at fault, an appropriate penalty will be decided on and may go so far as to withdraw his membership permanently.

Al Westerman, NAMS-CMS
NAMS - East Gulf Regional Vice President

Ed: I should have said "appear to be seldom used as we never hear of any discplinary proceedings. The reference to mediation was between surveyors where one has been insulted. Good to see that people are reading the articles. However, it seems that the only way to get people to write in is to say something wrong or controversial!

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People

We hear that Professor Kevin Cullinane, currently of the Department of Shipping Transport and Logistics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, is to take up the position of Chair Professor in the School of Marine Science & Technology at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in September 2003. We wish him good luck in his new appointment.

When you are next travelling overseas on a job, why not contact Seafacs and let your clients know where you are to increase your chances of obtaining more work and cutting the clients expenses.

SIR Seafacs Information & Research PO Box 317, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6DP telephone: 01707 334192
fax: 01707 324615
email: seafacs@sir.co.uk
web: www.sir.co.uk

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Books

NEW EDITION - NEW EDITION - NEW EDITION - NEW EDITION - NEW EDITION

Published in June 2003
Steel Carriage by Sea
FOURTH EDITION
By: Arthur Sparks

“A standard reference work for steel cargoes. There is no doubt that this book should be held onboard every ship, which is likely to load steel cargoes” Seaways

This book provides advice on:

* How to prevent damage to steel cargoes
* How to deal with subsequent claims

The fourth edition of this important new work has been thoroughly updated to include information on pyramid stowage, incompatible cargoes, cargo plans, CRSS internal and external sweating of steel coils, reinforcing bars, cutting and bending as well as CARES, mill damages, complete re-write of ventilation of steel cargoes, liability and seaworthiness, more on tank top strength, chemistry of steel etc. There is also an appendix with associated useful information.

To order you copy go to:

http://click.cminteractive.com/?58gQ9iIyu=2457716

Or complete and return to:
Sarah John, LLP Professional Publishing, Informa House, 30-32 Mortimer Street, London, W1W 7RE, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 5179 Fax: +44 (0)20 7017 5221 E-mail: sarah.john@informa.com

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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.

www.surveyor.se
Web page for Karlshamn Petroleum Survey, Karlshamn, Sweden

www.friendsreunited.co.uk
Here you can register some personal information, together with your school/college and the year you left to go on to greater things. You can also enter your nickname in school, which class you were in, your mates' names and what you've done since leaving. You may be one day surprised to receive a message out of the blue from an old school chum.

www.marine-society.org
The Marine Society is a worthy marine charity offering many services to mariners.

www.imo.org
International Maritime Organisation web page. Keep up to date with new conventions.

www.lrfairplay.com
Scroll down the home page until you see the heading 'Free Access' appear on the left hand side. Clicking on the words 'shipping sites' takes you to a search function. You can then search either by company name or by category (there is a 'consultants and surveyors' category, for example) or by country. Or by a combination - so you could search for consultants/surveyors in Australia beginning with the letter 'D', for example.

That pulls up a list; if you then click on the word 'free' in the right hand column you are linked through to the relevant website.

If your readers know of any companies with sites that we do not list (or that we have an out-of-date address for) we would like to have details to update the database.

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Conference Reports

None this month.

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Future Events

Some maritime conference web sites for you to keep up to date:

http://www.cconnection.org/
http://www.reedexpo.com/
http://www.grc.uri.edu/
http://www.wholelife.com/
http://www.ship-technology.com/exhibitions/
http://www.apmaritime.com/
http://www.lloydslistevents.com/
http://www.marineexpo.com/
http://www.seaworkexhibition.com
http://www.toc-events.com/

27-29 August 2003, Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore
INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL AND OIL POLLUTION CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2003 (ICOPCE)
Organised by Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Managed by IBC Asia ...
www.ibc-asia.com/ICOPCE.htm

4-8 August 2003. Marine Insurance: Law, Practice & The Markets - 3rd Annual Summer School. Homerton College, Cambridge, UK. See
www.lloydslistevents.com/lm1489

15-17 September 2003. International P&I - Analysing key subjects and hightlighting market developments. De Vere Cavendish Hotel, London. See
www.lloydslistevents.com/lm1498

Seatrade London. 16-18 September 2003, ExCeL, London, UK. For more information contact Seatrade: events@seatrade-global.com

18/19 September 18, 2003 Hull & Machinery Marine Insurance workshop. London.
Contact: http://www.lloydslistevents.com/

28-30 September 2003, NAMS 35th Annual National Conference West. The Westin Bayshore Inn, Vancouver, Canada.
Contact Conference Chairman Mr Roger Robinson
email rrobinson@mclarenstoplis.ca

29/30 September 2003. Port State Control Understanding current developments in Port State Control, including the impact of implementation of the ISPS Code in 2004, UK.Contact: http://www.lloydslistevents.com/

15-18 October 2003, The Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors (SAMS ) will hold their Annual Meeting & Educational Symposia, at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, Norfolk VA. Call 1 800 344-9077 for registration or a copy of their membership roster.or contact Jim Wood at email: Marsurvey@aol.com

17-20 October 2003 SNAME World Maritime Technology Conference and Exposition. The Moscone Center, San Francisco, California, USA.,
Contacts:
Technical Program Chairs
ADM Robert E. Kramek
E-mail: rkramek@eagle.org

Dr. Henry S. Marcus
E-mail: hsmarcus@mit.edu

Conference
Carolyn Marus
E-mail: cmarus@sname.org

Exposition
Susan Giver
E-mail: sgiver@sname.org

Rob Howard
E-mail: howard@marinelink.com


20 & 21 November 2003, 'ISM Yesterday ... ISM & ISPS Today' organised by the Events Department, IMarEST and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, UK. City Conference Centre, 80 Coleman Street, London, UK.Contact:
Yyda Moot at eyda.moot@imarest.org
or see www.imarest.org.

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From the Poop Deck

Top Ten Reasons For Not Going To Sea (in reverse order).

10. Piracy

9. Increased frequency of coastal states ordering a ship to sail from safe to dangerous waters

8. The possibility of no rescue while in distress at sea

7. More opportunities to go to prison for performing job than when working on land

6. Abandonment in a foreign port without pay, sustenance or the means to go home

5. Erosion of legal rights and access to courts to protect those rights

4. The need for an expensive visa to go ashore in the US

3. Difficulty in obtaining an expensive visa from a US consulate

2. Extra security duties without extra pay

1. Expected to protect ship and port security, but not trusted to go ashore

(Source: Doug Stevenson, attorney director of the Centre for Seafarers' Rights, New York, addressing the CMA conference in Connecticut on the state of the maritime industry from a seafarer's point of view)

www.seamenschurch.org

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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: mikewall@so-net.com.hk

 
     
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