"I was reading an article last week that mentioned in June 1920, the US Postal Service ruled that children could not be sent by mail! It struck me as very strange that anyone could possibly have mailed their children, but it actually happened several times – once for a distance of 720 miles."
Managing Director's Log
June has come and gone already and with it, the first of the two annual Executive Committee meetings.
This one was a particularly successful meeting with ExCom approving the Strategy review (you will be hearing more of what this means in future newsletters – watch this space). We also secured approval for an additional temporary resource for the Vessel Inspection Programme project as well as for a permanent position assisting at IMO.
I was reading an article last week that mentioned in June 1920, the US Postal Service ruled that children could not be sent by mail! It struck me as very strange that anyone could possibly have mailed their children, but it actually happened several times – once for a distance of 720 miles. People tried to mail all sorts of things to test the service including eggs, snakes and in one case a whole bank. Of course no one thought that people would mail such things but, without strict rules, some people push the boundaries. I mention this because we have found certain similarities in the growth of SIRE, whereby the original concept did not predict the use of inspection companies or third party vetting companies, submitting member roles have diversified (or at least become hazy in some cases) and we even see a small minority of vessel operators attempting to game the system. All of these issues are being considered within the Vessel Inspection Programme project, but we are also taking steps in the interim to address some of these gaps through developing improved rules and governance. Watch out for more updates on this topic over the next year.
I wish you a happy, safe and healthy July.
Rob Drysdale
Director OCIMF
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OCIMF Europe and Africa Regional Marine Forum 2019
OCIMF’s second Europe and Africa Regional Marine Forum took place in Athen on 25 June 2019.
The event was very well attended with over 120 participants made up of OCIMF members, the European Commission, Classification Societies, ship, barge and terminal operators and inspectors and other industry organisations.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the speakers from the European Commission, Interstream Barging, European Barge Unie, Coral Marine, MIS Marine, Motor Oil Hellas, Maran Tankers and DNV, as well as the Europe and Africa Regional Marine Champion Bob Brook from Chevron and Stefanos Stylianos and Athina Kolaki from Minerva Marine for their help organising the event.
Registration for OCIMF's Middle East Regional Marine Forum is now open!
OCIMF will be holding their third Middle East Regional Marine Forum alongside the ENOC Marine Conference in Dubai on 10-11 September.
The draft agenda is available on the registration site and speakers will be announced as and when they are secured. Agenda highlights include:
- Artificial Intelligence, Situation Awareness and Collision Avoidance.
- An update on the International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals, Sixth Edition (ISGOTT6) and the Vessel Inspection Programme project.
- Digitisation and Cyber Resilience.
- Updates from OCIMF and a regional legislator on the 2020 Sulphur cap.
- Global and Regional Security Concerns.
The Middle East Regional Marine Forum was very popular last year. To secure yourself a place at the 2019 event, please register as soon as possible.
Register for the Middle East Regional Marine Forum
International Workshop on Learned Lessons in the Operation of Marine Oil Terminals
12-13 June 2019, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (hosted by Transpetro)
Senior Technical Adviser Dave Wall attended the International Workshop on Learned Lessons in the Operation of Marine Oil Terminals and made a presentation on OCIMF’s recently published information paper Sharing Lessons Learned from Incidents and briefed the audience on the upcoming release of the accident database.
The workshop was very well attended and several important action items were identified for future action by the Sociedad Latinoamericana de Operadores de Terminales Maritimo Petroleros y Monoboyas (SLOM).
MSc Oil and Gas Management programme students visit OCIMF
Students from GSM London’s MSc Oil and Gas Management students visited our offices this month.
Our Director Rob Drysdale, Deputy Director Sam Megwa and Legal counsel Phil Pascoe spoke to the students on a range of topics including our history, publications, programmes and advocacy. After lunch Sam Megwa accompanied the students on a tour at IMO.
Ann-Marie Laffey, the Programme Leader MSc Oil and Gas Management, GSM London said it was, “An incredible day. My MSc Oil and Gas Management students gained so much from our visit to OCIMF and the tour of the IMO, in terms of knowledge and insight. It was very motivational experience. Thanks again to Rob Drysdale and his team. We hope to come back again next year!"
IACS / Industry Technical Meeting in London
Senior Technical Adviser Dave Wall and Technical Adviser (Engineering) Ricardo Martinez represented OCIMF at the IACS / Industry Technical Meeting in London, UK
Tripartite brings together industry associations representing shipowners, shipyards and Classification Societies to discuss the design, construction and operation of new and future ships. These discussions on issues of mutual interest to the different stakeholders lead to cooperative work in the form of Joint Working Groups (JWGs) focused on providing tangible outputs.
This meeting serves as an update on work items progress made by Working Groups in advance of the Annual Tripartite event in the autumn. High level agenda items include decarbonization, human-centred design, design safety and digitalisation. There was good progress on completion of several work items with a view to forming new JWGs on anchoring equipment and ballast water management systems in the near future.
The next Tripartite forum will be in Japan in autumn 2019.
Contact Ricardo Martinez, Technical Adviser (Engineering) with any questions.
OCIMF repository for PSC reports
Six months after the launch of the OCIMF repository for Port State Control (PSC) reports within the SIRE database we are pleased to report that almost 4,000 reports have already been uploaded.
The repository allows operators to upload PSC inspection reports and documents relating to any follow-up actions that may have been taken on deficiencies or detentions.
OCIMF members and vessel operators recognise that the availability of PSC Ship Inspection Reports adds transparency and efficiency to the vessel evaluation and clearance process.
While the primary purpose of the repository is to fulfil the marine assurance needs of OCIMF members, we should recognise the acceptance that this initiative has had with operators.
Ship operators have, since the repository was launched, been uploading details of PSC inspections that have occurred on board their vessels together with the follow-up actions that they have taken.
The repository is a convenient way for ship operators to disseminate details related to PSC Inspections on board their vessels to allow any OCIMF member, SIRE recipient member, members of registered port state entities who participate in the SIRE system to view all these documents. Records show that the majority of the inspections uploaded have been in the Paris MOU, Tokyo MOU and the USCG region and this spread is also reflected in the make up the types of PSC inspections.
Ship operators are encouraged to continue to support and use the repository to upload their PSC inspection reports and to do so accurately.
Any Port State Control Inspection information entered by vessel operators will be available to SIRE member organisations directly from their SIRE accounts, or via OCIMF WebServices.
Detailed instructions are available in the latest version of the user guide which is available to members and operators using their access to the resources area of the SIRE platform.
If you have any enquiries, please contact OCIMF’s Programmes Helpdesk Support.
PSC Reports Published
Spread of Inspections by MOU
Welcome Sach Sharma
Sach Sharma joined OCIMF this month as Compliance Officer, a new role at OCIMF.
Sach Sharma is responsible for helping the Compliance Manager monitor OCIMF programme participants and stakeholder compliance within the terms and conditions governing their participation in the programmes.
With over 30 years’ experience in the marine industry, Sach began his career at sea in 1988 as a cadet, after completing a bachelor’s degree in Physics. While at sea, he sailed on oil and chemical tankers, Oil Bulk Ore carriers (OBO), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and ethylene carriers, while working his way up to the rank of Master Mariner.
In 2005, Sach moved ashore and completed an Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, then joined the Norwegian Hydrographic office, where he was involved in managing the PRIMAR Regional Electronic Navigation Chart Coordinating Centre.
Sach joined Statoil in 2010 in the role of Principal Consultant, Vetting. At Statoil/Equinor, he was responsible for Equinor’s marine risk management activities, including vessel clearance, marine terminal assurance, Ship Inspection Report Programme (SIRE) inspections, shuttle tanker offshore loading inspections, Tanker Management and Self Assessment (TMSA) verification audits and performance reviews of the time charter fleet. In 2014, Sach moved to Equinor’s Stamford, USA office, where he represented Equinor Vetting in the USA in a standalone role. In 2016, Sach moved back to Stavanger, Norway, where his role was expanded to include managing Equinor’s inspection contractors as well as streamlining Equinor’s shipping policy and marine assurance procedures. He has also actively participated in several OCIMF committees and working groups, such as the SIRE Focus Group, Navigation and Routeing Sub-committee and TMSA3 working group. Sach also currently represents Equinor on the Vessel Inspection Programme (VIP) project working groups.
We are also pleased to announce that Patrick McGroggan’s secondment to the role of Compliance Manager is being extended for a further three years.