To re-cap on other events from 2023. We had a marvellous hybrid Annual Conference last June and we plan to use a similar format and location for next year (2024). Gone are the days of hosting big events in London. These are not cost-effective for us as an organisation and we have so many resources available at and near our lovely HQ building, Murrills House at Porchester, on the UK South Coast near Portsmouth. We encourage Members to visit HQ and meet our great head office team.
After the Annual Conference in June, Mike took the head office team for a Team Building ‘retreat’ which was not only fun but was used to brainstorm and prepare targeted plans for the future of IIMS. The use of SWOT analysis has shown many strengths that already exist within our organisation and highlighted growth opportunities, both internally and externally. The areas that need to be addressed are the business weaknesses and threats. Many of these are external and will affect all businesses, but two which seem to be repeated through the organisation and the general media are ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) which will impact both on jobs as well as methods of providing our educational and training material in the future. Elon Musk has said recently in a conversation with British PM Rishi Sunak that he considers all jobs will be done by AI, even ‘humanoid robots’ in the future and humans may work if they want to for their own ‘personal satisfaction’. AI is already having a massive impact on the global shipping and boating industry with Autonomous Ships becoming a reality. This all seems too Sci-fi to me as a sceptic and a practical hands- on engineer and surveyor, but it is already happening and will continue to advance exponentially as these machines become more self-aware and learn from themselves. There have been several excellent articles on AI in previous editions of the Report Magazine by Nick Parkyn and others through 2023.
The other problem that we are all facing in the marine surveying industry and particularly at IIMS as an organization, is an ageing population, which means losing key members, assessors, markers, tutors and board members. The need for succession planning has never been more acute.
The great news is that the IIMS shared team values are all positive and to list a few adjectives used here to highlight this: “integrity, trust, supportive, motivated, family, recognition, ambition, professional, results and purpose- driven, and the need and desire for success”. These demonstrate very positive leadership and a happy working environment at IIMS HQ.
So, while there are other marine surveying membership organizations around the world and other companies providing marine surveyor training material the IIMS and our members can hold our heads high and be proud of our achievements, our integrity and professionalism.
To demonstrate our high standards, the IIMS recently had an external audit by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency as a ‘Certifying Authority’ under the ‘Small Craft Codes’ for commercial vessels up to 24 meters in length. The audit showed that the IIMS runs the Certifying Authority efficiently and there were NO deficiencies and only minor observations. Well done to all involved at HQ and Fraser Noble, Chairman of the IIMS Certifying Authority.
I will close by mentioning again the President’s Charity for 2023 to 2024.
The Tall Ships Youth Trust. (
www.tallships.org). We have all been talking about continuity planning and where the next generation of surveyors is coming from. There are great opportunities presented for a ‘career pathway’ through the Tall Ships Youth Trust. Please consider supporting our charity by donating through this link:
www.tallships.org/make-a-donation/. I know that purse strings are tight, especially as we near the end of the year, but a donation of £100 could pay for a lifejacket and tether lines for a young person. Or join one of their winter- sun sailing voyage programme which are open to ‘adult’ participants.
It has certainly been a busy year for IIMS and many of our members. I hope to meet more members face-to-face in 2024 as well as online too. May I wish you all Season’s Greetings and a safe and prosperous 2024.
Stay safe. Peter Broad
CEng, CMarEng, FIIMS, FIMarEST President IIMS
President: Mr Peter Broad (FIIMS)
Chief Executive Officer: Mr Mike Schwarz Immediate Past President: Mr Geoff Waddington (HonFIIMS) Head Office Team
Mrs Camella Robertson .Membership Secretary & Office Manager Mr David Parsons............ Certifying Authority Administrator Miss Rosie Webb
..............Office & Web Administrator Mrs Vicki Loizides............ Education Co-ordinator Mr Craig Williams........... Graphic Designer
Miss Jen Argent
...............Management Accountant Miss Elly Bryant ............... Accounts Support Administrator Mrs Hilary Excell.............. Marine Surveying Academy Business Manager Mrs Pui Si Chung
............MSA Accreditation Scheme Administrator Mrs Sharon Holland
.......MSA Events & Course Co-ordinator
Tel: +44 (0) 23 9238 5223 | Email:
info@iims.org.uk | IIMS, Murrills House, 48 East Street, Portchester, Hampshire, PO16 9XS, UK |
www.iims.org.uk © The International Institute of Marine Surveying 2023 - The Institute and authors accept no responsibility for any opinions, statements or errors made in any article, feature or letter published in this Magazine.
Vice President: Capt Ruchin Dayal (FIIMS) Deputy Vice President: Mike Proudlove (FIIMS)
6 | ISSUE 106 | DEC 2023 | THE REPORT
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