mark. As I write, we are perilously close to it and once the applications that are being processed currently are sorted, I hope to be able to tell you we have surpassed it! And that feels like a significant milestone.


The surge in new membership applications necessitated adding some new surveyors to the Professional Assessment Committee (PAC) which we have successfully achieved. The PAC has met a couple of times this year. The big piece of work that has been undertaken by the committee is the review of surveyor specialisations. That process is ongoing and our aim is to connect and engage with every member to ensure that individual specialisms are correct. It is many years since we reviewed the available categories and many new specialisms have been added. We want this to be a positive experience for members, but I would remind you that whilst we are happy to consider adding new experiences at no charge, the person making the application must be able to back up their claim with objective evidence of their skills in that particular area.


It is about this time of year that we send out the annual membership invoices and, if you have already received yours, I hope you will notice it is the same as last year. Members voted at the AGM in June to keep the membership fees at the same level. I believe the fees continue to provide excellent value for money as the resources the Institute offers continue to grow.


It is worth commenting briefly on the value of the IIMS network of members, which is really coming into its own during the pandemic. A number of members have told me they are increasingly reaching out to other members to help when they receive an enquiry but are unable to travel or fulfil the requirement themselves. This I find is a very positive thing indeed and in these troubled times, the IIMS surveying family and community should stick together and make use of the international network.


CERTIFYING AUTHORITY


The most challenging part of the business this year in revenue terms has been the Certifying Authority (CA). The IIMS CA is a small player in terms of the total UK fleet of commercially coded vessels with less than 300 vessels. Put bluntly, our revenues went off a cliff edge in April and May as the pandemic set in and the effects were felt. Commercial operators, in many cases, suddenly had no passengers or demand for their vessels. Inevitably this led to the lapsation of certificates and examinations. Whilst there has been a recovery, the ongoing uncertainty in the charter and commercial sector means this area remains a threat well into 2021. I am grateful that it is only a small part of the Institute’s revenue stream and I certainly have concerns for other UK Authorities who have far larger fleets and are therefore more financially exposed.


IIMS has been leading the work to develop a certification scheme for coding examiners in association with all other CAs, developing a common standard for those who carry out this work. This was well advanced when COVID-19 appeared, and we have had to park the programme for the time being until calmer waters lie ahead. But we remain committed to developing and rolling out this scheme when it is appropriate so to do.


This year we have welcomed four new coding examiners into the CA. Each individual is subject to an in depth and searching interview with two of the committee before being accepted.


In recent weeks, we have reassessed how we train coding examiners. For many years, we pursued a rigid training policy, requiring an examiner to attend one of the two days real-time training that has been arranged annually. This concept now seems somewhat outdated and inflexible.


Furthermore, asking


an examiner whose specialism is coding


motorboats to sit through a presentation on workboats and


cranes at a training day is not a great use of anyone’s time, unless it has direct relevance of course!


It has always been a requirement as part of the CA’s contract with the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) that our coding examiners are continually assessed, which includes attending training. And at MCA audit the CA is asked to provide evidence that this has happened.


The new-look CA training strategy aims to be more targeted towards various specific aspects of the Codes. So instead of full days of training covering a variety of topics, the CA is planning a series of succinct, tailored presentations that last for a much shorter time for a modest fee, all broadcast via Zoom whilst the pandemic continues. It is expected that coding examiners will have attended two training sessions in one full calendar year. A series of training dates and topics for 2021 will be published soon.


ONLINE SEMINARS


Making the most of the ability to broadcast training online has become a strong feature in 2020 and how I wish I had shares in the Zoom platform! Although face to face meetings offer much more by way of networking opportunities, worldwide events have changed the landscape.


In early March we ramped up our plan to deliver a series of specialist seminars on specific areas of marine surveying, each presented by someone knowledgeable in their subject. Over the coming months, we organised and delivered fourteen sessions, some of which were very memorable, and we were rewarded for our initiative by some strong attendances.


The Report • December 2020 • Issue 94 | 39


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