“I’d like to take this opportunity to reflect on the significant milestones OCIMF reached in 2024."
Director's Log
As we approach a new year, I’d like to take this opportunity to reflect on the significant milestones OCIMF reached in 2024.
This year, we delivered SIRE 2.0 after a careful and thorough transition period. I am thankful for the commitment of our SIRE, BIRE and OVID inspectors, whose support underpins our programmes and mission.
OCIMF’s engagement at the IMO continues to be central to our work. Along with our engagement with industry and military stakeholders to ensure maritime safety in areas of ongoing conflict, specifically in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
A focus on inland barging safety has produced updates to the Barge Inspection Questionnaire and progress on the Global Barge Guide. OCIMF has also published several information papers this year, covering the risks associated with engine power limitation, control of drugs and alcohol onboard ships, cyber security and conversion of tank-barges to closed cargo operations. The Ship to Ship Transfer Guide has been comprehensively revised and is due to be published in 2025.
I would like to acknowledge our members who are engaged in the work of OCIMF’s committees, expert groups and working groups, without whom none of the outputs would be possible.
Finally, a big thank you to the Secretariat and staff for their steadfast dedication and collaboration, and who remain focused on our collective objectives. Together, we have met this year’s challenges with clear insights, demonstrating our ability to adapt, learn and lead in a changing environment.
I'm looking forward to working with you all in 2025.
Karen Davis
Director OCIMF
IMCA Global Summit debates solutions
OCIMF's Aaron Cooper, Darron Biddle and Karen Davis with Saipem and IMCA President Luca Gentill.
OCIMF was pleased to represent and attend the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) Global Summit in Utrecht, the Netherlands earlier this month.
This two-day summit had been designed to bring industry together to explore current issues, share best practice and debate possible solutions. The programme was an engaging mix of interactive panel discussions, keynote speeches and presentations with subjects ranging from an analysis of future energy markets, the future demand for offshore vessels and sustainability. Day 2 focused heavily on the human element, including engaging talks by Todd Conklin on Human and Organisational Principals (HOP) and an impactful final keynote ‘Last Breath’ by Chris Lemons, the saturation diver who survived on the seabed without oxygen for half an hour following a severed umbilical.
Thank you to IMCA for hosting this engaging event and we look forward to further collaboration on these important industry initiatives.
Aramco Terminals Customer Symposium
OCIMF participated in a stakeholder event hosted by Aramco to foster open dialogue with Aramco Terminals stakeholders, focusing on identifying pain points and exploring opportunities for improvement.
The event, held in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, on 25 November 2024, featured two key panel discussions:
- Terminals ship/shore interface: covering topics such as jetties, pilotage, anchorage areas, and ship scheduling.
- Tanker vetting post-SIRE 2.0: addressing challenges and opportunities in the context of the updated inspection framework.
The presenters shared their insights and experience with the SIRE 2.0 programme, emphasising the value of the SIRE 2.0 Question Library and benefits from participating in phase 3 during the transition period.
Fahmi Tarmizi, OCIMF’s Programmes Technical Manager (pictured above left), actively engaged with tanker industry stakeholders throughout the event and addressed questions from the floor during the panel session. His contributions helped bridge understanding between industry participants and fostered meaningful dialogue on addressing opportunities and challenges with the programme.
OCIMF would like to thank Aramco for hosting this insightful event and facilitating collaboration to advance safety and efficiency across the maritime sector.
For more information, contact Fahmi Tarmizi, OCIMF Programmes Technical Manager, このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。.
European Sustainable Shipping Forum
OCIMF’s Publications and Advocacy Director Darron Biddle attended the 18th Plenary meeting of the European Sustainable Shipping Forum (ESSF), held in Brussels on 5 December.
Topics covered during the meeting included Sustainable Alternative Power for Shipping (SAPS); ship energy efficiency; waste from ships as well as EU Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) and Emissions Trading System (ETS) implementation. Deployment of sustainable maritime liquid fuels and Onshore Power Supply (OPS) were also covered.
The meeting demonstrated the complexity of emerging risks and the importance of industry collaboration.
For more information, contact Darron Biddle, OCIMF Publications and Advocacy Director, このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。.
OCIMF attends lively Human Factors Symposium
OCIMF’s Nautical Adviser Kevin Coelho was invited to speak about human centric design for mooring decks at the third annual International Maritime Human Factors Symposium (IMHFS), held at the IMO in London on 28–29 November.
The symposium is a unique opportunity to explore cutting-edge research and best practices to strengthen our maritime industry, with human factors at its heart.
Kevin explained that there is broad guidance on human centric design in SOLAS (Reg II-1/3-8 and MSC.1/Circ 1619) and OCIMF’s Mooring Equipment Guidelines (MEG 4), and that there is an opportunity for owners, shipyards and classification societies to make mooring operations safer by implementing human centric design on mooring decks.
IMHFS ran over two days, with presentations and discussions on topics including wellbeing and mental health, human factors and alternative fuels, risk and human reliability, autonomy and automation, safety management, safety learning, and building competencies for the future. The symposium was well attended and interactive. The next event will be held in November 2025.
For further information, contact Kevin Coelho, OCIMF Nautical Adviser, このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。.
OCIMF highlights the challenge of enclosed space fatalities
OCIMF highlighted concerns about enclosed space fatalities onboard ships at the UK Chamber of Shipping’s Safety Day on 4 December.
The meeting began by marking the 100th meeting of the National Maritime Occupational Health and Safety Committee. This was followed by presentations from the UK Chamber of Shipping, Together in Safety and OCIMF's Nautical Adviser Kevin Coelho.
Kevin presented OCIMF's ongoing work to facilitate the Joint Industry Group on the risks associated with enclosed space entry. He went through the latest statistics from InterManager and highlighted the main challenges that the shipping industry faces.
For further information, contact Kevin Coelho, OCIMF Nautical Adviser, このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。.
Security snippets
Maritime Security Committee
The Maritime Security Committee held its last meeting of 2024 on 18 December, rounding off a tense but successful year. Members shared operational experiences across the globe and received an update on activity in the Red Sea from officials in Bahrain. The committee also said goodbye to Jose Parejo (CEPSA) who stood down after three years with the group. Sarah Thompson (Chevron) assumed the role of Chair and will be supported by Vice Chairs Hemant Berry (AMPOL) and Eric Berger (TotalEnergies).
SHADE
The 52nd meeting of SHADE, jointly hosted by Vice Admiral Wikoff USN and Vice Admiral Villanueva SN, was held in Bahrain on 16-17 December, attracting over 100 participants. The event was a much-needed reset of industry/military interface, providing a great opportunity to share experiences and develop new procedures across three work strands – information sharing, intelligence and operations. Industry associations are pictured above with the hosts.
For more information, contact Russell Pegg, OCIMF Security Adviser, このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。.
EU Emission Trading System sub-group
Environmental Adviser Martin Young represented OCIMF at the European Commission Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV)/Emission Trading System (ETS) sub-group's final meeting of 2024 on 3 December.
The sub-group had been set up to advise on aligning the data reporting requirements for the EU ETS and the Fuel EU Maritime (FEUM) but has been meeting monthly looking at FEUM guidance notes.
The latest meeting learnt of a new offshore workstream beginning in 2025, which OCIMF is considering joining. There was also an update on the revised guidance notes GD3 for verification and accreditation bodies.
With the FEUM coming into force from January 2025 and with a potential overlap with another workstream on fuel certification also considering data reporting requirements, the European Commission’s plans for this sub-group going forward are undecided.
For more information, contact Martin Young, OCIMF Environmental Adviser, このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。.
Inland barging news
The regional barge working groups have completed their projects in the last two months of 2024.
The revision of the Barge Inspection Questionnaire (BIQ) for North America was completed at a week-long meeting hosted by Shell in Houston, USA in November. The draft BIQ for South America was completed in October, with virtual meetings held to finalise the work. The European working group completed the first draft of an information paper on the use of Track Guidance Assistants for Inland Navigation (TGAIN), hosted by INEOS at its office in Dormagen, Germany in December.
OCIMF thanks the members for hosting the meetings and all the members of the working groups for doing all the hard work.
For more information, contact Ton Mol, OCIMF Barge Adviser, このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。.
IMO news
IMO Awards Ceremony
The Captain and crew of oil tanker Marlin Luanda and tugboat Pemex Maya were recognised with the 2024 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. Captain Avhilash Rawat, who successfully led fire-fighting efforts on board Marlin Luanda when it was struck by a missile while laden with naphtha cargo, received the award on behalf of the crew. Captain Jorge Fernando Galaviz Fuentes, who received the award on behalf of the crew of Pemex Maya, successfully led a rescue operation off Mexico’s Pacific Coast during hurricane Otis, rescuing six shipwrecked persons.
OCIMF applauds the courage shown by the officers and crew of both Marlin Luanda and Pemex Maya, as well as the actions of many other nominees who were recognised by the IMO during the ceremony for acts of courage at sea.
Captain Ian Finlay, Permanent Representative of the Cook Islands, was presented with the International Maritime Prize for 2023 in recognition of his long association with the IMO and contributions towards the development of IMO instruments.
109th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 109)
MSC 109 took place at the IMO headquarters from 2 to 6 December with the following developments taking place.
Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS)
- Steady development of the non-mandatory draft MASS Code with chapters finalised on risk assessment, connectivity and remote operations.
- Revised roadmap notes target finalisation of non-mandatory Code by 2026, followed by an experience-building phase before the planned adoption of a statutory Code in 2030.
Gas Codes and the safe delivery of IMO GHG reduction strategy
- Addition of 'swappable traction lithium-ion battery containers' to the list of new technologies being considered by the IMO towards global decarbonisation efforts.
- Agreement that the International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or Other Low-flashpoint fuels (IGF Code) applied also to 'gaseous fuels', as defined.
- Adoption of amendments to the International Code of the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGC Code) to allow toxic cargo ammonia as fuel.
- Approval of the interim guidelines for the safe use of ammonia as fuel on board ships.
Other safety and security matters
- Approval of draft revision of SOLAS Regulation V/23 on pilot transfer arrangements and related performance standards. Voluntary early implementation of amendments was recommended.
- Recognition that cybersecurity standards for port facilities needed to be addressed alongside existing ship-based cybersecurity guidance.
- Gola-based new ship construction standards - IACS to revise Rec.34/Rev.2 Standard Wave Data in response to audit recommendations and seek industry consultation ahead of implementation of rules and standards.
A summary report for MSC 109 will be issued to members in due course. For enquiries regarding IMO matters, contact Abhijit Aul, OCIMF Risk and Regulatory Affairs Adviser, このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。.