EDITOR’S LETTER Dear Colleague
Welcome to the new look Report Magazine, edition 106, December 2023, which recognizes the end of another busy shipping and boating year for the marine surveying industry and maritime world in general.
This is a special edition for me as I reach a personal milestone. In January 2024 I will have been CEO of IIMS for ten years and what a rollercoaster of a decade it has been. You can read my personal reflections of this decade on page 138. So, by my reckoning using simple math, this is the 40th
edition I have edited. We have come a long way.
I make no apologies for leading with the subject of lithium-ion batteries, for this has been one of the hottest topics challenging the marine sector this year. The reality is that we know far more now about this technology and its dangers since we did this time last year. As a consequence, I have pulled together a major feature which is a compilation of many articles written and published over the year. This technology is around all of us and it is important to understand the challenges. See the article entitled ‘What we have learned about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries and fires’ on page 62.
In the latter part of this year, I have been travelling extensively both at home and abroad. My trip to attend the one day conference in Chattogram to celebrate 30 years of the Marine Surveying Association of Bangladesh was a highlight. I have persuaded Capt Fasihur Rahman, a member of both organisations, to be the featured surveyor in this edition’s ‘A Day in the Life of’ feature. Our two day workshop in Baltimore was a success, although a number of us contracted covid afterwards! A trip to co-host a stand with Peter Broad at the major KORMARINE exhibition in Busan, South Korea completed the busy autumn travel schedule.
Closer to home, we have been busy training a large number of members at events in Scotland, Southampton and Lyme Regis, Dorset in the last quarter. There is a report on this activity elsewhere in this publication.
Safety is a subject dear to every marine surveyor’s heart. With that firmly in the back of our minds, there are a number of safety related articles in this edition. ‘Cargo packing matters’ on page 55, ‘Checklists for the inspection of accommodation ladders and gangways’ (page 86) and on page 118 ‘Supramax detention in Immingham Port: A PSC case study’ are just three such articles that focus sharply on critical safety issues and make for absorbing reading.
On a lighter note, the article entitled ‘The depth of Lake Huron reveals a secret hidden for over a century’ (page 101) charts the remarkable story of two documentary filmmakers who accidentally discovered a long lost steamship.
The article ‘What a surveyor should comment on’ (see page 60) has been written in response to a specific question from a small craft member. At first glance it seems obvious, but as we know that is not always the case!
As has become traditional at the end of each year, I once again present a detailed overview of life at IIMS over the past year on page 32. It has been a progressive and successful year with no let-up in our workload.
In conclusion, I’d like to thank you for continuing to read The Report Magazine and to engage with the Institute. If you participate in Christmas, then I’d like to wish you Season’s Greetings for the impending Yuletide celebrations.
Wishing you a successful 2024. Regards
Mike Schwarz Chief Executive Officer
4 | ISSUE 106 | DEC 2023 | THE REPORT
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