Whilst on the topic of training, IIMS is planning to return to the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis twice (subject to demand) for courses later this year. The first event, a new programme, is a 4-day residential practical surveying course giving delegates the opportunity to conduct in depth surveys on a couple of small craft under the instruction and guidance of two experienced surveyors before compiling a survey report for marking and assessment. You can express your interest (without commitment at this stage) in participating in this course by using the simple online form at https://bit.ly/3OalY36.


The second visit is planned for the following month, December. This is the fourth running of the popular 5-day practical materials course at the Academy giving delegates the chance to get their hands dirty as they experiment with and learn about wood and GRP vessel construction. To request further details please email Vicki Loizides at education@iims.org.uk.


It is about this time of the year that IIMS starts to compile the next Safety & Loss Prevention Briefings Compendium - edition 3 - for publication and release at the end of this year. Those of you who follow my writings will know how vexed I get about health and safety lapses and incompetence that leads to the sheer number of avoidable deaths and carnage at sea each day, let alone each year. I had rather hoped there might be fewer cases to publish and bring to your attention this year, but sadly not. The number and scale of tragedies at sea shows little sign of slowing down. And that’s where I believe the role of the surveyor can (and does) really help to make a difference. I am delighted that Peregrine Storrs-Fox, Risk Management Director, TT Club, has agreed to write one of the main introductions to this year’s Compendium.


So many of the incidents and accidents we read about should never have happened or could have been avoided. I accept that ploughing your way through dozens of accident reports is not an easy task and few of us have enough time for that. But hidden in these reports are some nuggets of information and wisdom that can be invaluable to a marine surveyor as he or she goes about their day-to-day work. Perhaps like a busy hull underwriter who simply turns to the Executive Summary in one of your reports to understand the key issues, you should take a leaf out of their book!


Sticking with reports for a moment, there are links in this bulletin to both the recently published Paris MOU and Black Sea Port State Control annual reports. I read the Executive Summaries of both and picked out the key points - the number of detentions, the key deficiencies and so on. If you take a moment to study the reports, you will notice a similarity and common thread between them and the data they present.


By the way, edition 2 of the Compendium, extending to 160 pages, is still freely available to download at https://bit.ly/3GpsbEr. Every surveyor should have a copy in my opinion!


And before I leave this subject, and just to labour the point as if further proof were needed, as you will read in this month’s Marine Incidents and Accident Watch feature in this bulletin, the number of fires at sea, some resulting in loss of life over the past few weeks, seems to be sharply on the increase.


On that note, survey well.


Mike Schwarz Chief Executive Officer


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