Capt. John Noble HonFIIMS and Graham Finch had invited me to speak at the monthly lunch of the TSS (Tuesday Shipping Society) held at the splendid East India Club in St James Square, London. TSS was formed in Singapore in 1973 and, therefore, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023. It was an honour and pleasure to be able to address a group of individuals after lunch, most now retired, who had all been high achievers in their maritime careers. When I introduced the topic of the year, lithium-ion battery fires, this was not lost on them and caused more than a few raised eyebrows.


Our first online Australian seminar was scheduled for mid-September and more than 80 people registered for the event, which I hosted from the UK. The seminar was recorded and the content is freely available on the IIMS YouTube channel for anyone wishing to view it – go to https://bit.ly/3LxrmeA. My thanks to those who helped to organize the event and also to those who spoke, including a welcome and introduction from IIMS President, Peter Broad. Lorien and Adam from the Australian regulator AMSA delivered presentations on lithium-ion batteries and an update and overview of the National System. Thanks also to Nick Parkyn for speaking about masts and rigs, followed by a presentation on AI. Mick Uberti handled the subject of surveyor recruitment and training. And John Kavanagh spoke eloquently on the topic of Australian Consumer Law and how it affects marine surveyors. Watch out for details of future seminars.


Incidentally, if you have not visited the Institute’s YouTube channel recently, I would encourage you to do so. It boasts well over 300 videos recorded at various locations over the years and has approaching 2,000 subscribers. It’s free - just go to YouTube and search for ‘IIMS Marine Surveying’.


The big event of the month for me personally came when I accepted an invitation to attend the 30th anniversary conference of the Marine Surveyors Association of Bangladesh (MSAB) as Guest of Honour, which was held at Hotel Agrabad, Chittagong on Saturday 16th September. Admittedly, it was a long way to travel for a one day event, but I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the work of our members and other surveyors and shipping industry personnel in the area and to understand that importance of the extensive port of Chittagong to Bangladesh. The event attracted an audience of well over one hundred delegates and it was certainly an adventure and an experience. I am most grateful to the MSAB President and Committee, my hosts, for making me feel so welcome and for looking after me during my short visit. Importantly, I also had the opportunity to chat openly over breakfast at a private meeting with Commodore Maksud Alam, Bangladesh Director General of Shipping. We discussed the importance of raising surveying standards in the region and educating the next generation of surveyors. I am grateful to him for his support and openness to facilitate our future education plans in Bangladesh with the backing of his department.


There is a longer report on this event elsewhere in this bulletin. The December Report magazine will contain an even more detailed article including comment from the MSAB President of the proceedings along with a selection of some of the many excellent photos that were taken on the day.


And finally, the IIMS six month promotional campaign with the YachtMarket, the online portal for selling boats and yachts boasting an inventory of 30,000 vessels for sale, is coming to an end. I plan to renew it. You may recall that we purchased a button which appears on every vessel listed for sale. Once clicked, the button takes the potential purchaser to the IIMS Marine Surveyor Search App where they can search for a surveyor and discuss a pre-purchase survey. Analysing the data, over 3,000 clicks have been recorded from a variety of countries, most notably the USA, UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Turkey, France, Spain and Canada.


Onwards. Survey well.


Mike Schwarz Chief Executive Officer


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