Maurice Pickles, a UK based eCMID AVI and marine
surveyor writes, “Earlier this year I wrote an article in which I shared my experience of a consultancy company wishing to engage my services as a surveyor, but who refused to support my requirements for the protection of myself and the vessel crew against the potential for COVID-19 transmission during survey. They simply removed me from the job. As a further demonstration of their ethics, when they became aware of my article, without any explanation they closed my email and dropbox accounts. I am pleased to report that for me this was a one-off isolated event and other consultancy companies I have worked for have been fully supportive and proactive to ensure the safety of surveyors. Most companies have their own COVID risk assessments and procedures that are well received by vessel operators.
On the positive side I am grateful for the support of the IIMS and MSA, the Nautical Institute and Nautilus. Each of them has published and shared details of the incident within their respective membership. The cross-industry efforts of the above and others has, in my opinion, been excellent and made a considerable contribution to the wellbeing of seafarers and surveyors/inspectors who attend vessels.
What has changed? I work primarily in the offshore oil, gas and renewables sector in The North Sea and local waters around the UK. Since the onset of the pandemic, I have conducted eCMID and OVID inspections, Marine Warranty suitability surveys, on- hire condition surveys and client specific inspections on vessels as
small as a windfarm crew boat to offshore emergency response vessels and such like. Many vessel operators and oil/gas/renewable companies already have strict safety requirements and procedures. In the case of inspections, in every case
a component of the inspection is now conducted remotely. Checklists have been prepared that include details of required information, depending on the requirements of the inspection format to be conducted. Previous inspection reports, ISM audits, details of statutory and trading certificates are a must, together with dates of some of the more important drills and tests. Crew competence matrices are requested with due regard to data protection. An up-to-date class status report is also extremely helpful. In the case of specialist vessels where there may be supplements appropriate to the vessels industrial mission, it is very helpful to obtain as much information as possible. Once this information is received it does provide a credible snapshot of the vessel management and compliance and can assist with planning the time spent on board.
Prior to gaining access to a vessel I have experienced a number of regimes. One client required me to self-isolate for a period of 48 hours prior to attending the vessel. This was “time on the clock” (chargeable) and required me to attend a private COVID-19 test and maintain a temperature log every 6 hours. In other cases, I have arrived at vessels and been met by a vessel superintendent and had my temperature taken. In every case I have been issued with minimum standards and expectations of the acceptable PPE required and my conduct and interaction should take place with the crew on board. The only concern I have had was when one vessel operator required an inspector to wear a facemask and a visor while on board. I raised this as a safety observation because the visor would become steamed up whilst wearing the mask, making
it difficult to move around the vessel and negotiate stairways. The vessel operator was co- operative and agreed.
In the case of surveys, the approach is similar with the exception that any remote information gathering is limited. As we all know surveys are about what you see on board, so an attendance must be conducted taking the time required to obtain the required information to satisfy the client brief. I have experienced only positive interaction with vessel masters, officers and crews during inspections, including full adherence to PPE and social distancing.
20/20 - interesting as this generally implies good sight. Personally, it feels more like 20/200 vision! We were blind to the impact of COVID-19. Stay safe.
Reporting in from Australia,
Mick Dyer says, “COVID 19 has changed the world in many ways, but I think I operate in one of the luckiest locations on the planet at the moment and feel privileged to do so. I operate from South Australia which has been very lucky to escape major infection numbers and has had lock down restrictions lifted since early August.
During heavy restriction periods, my workload decreased minimally as I was still allowed to travel to my office as well as inspect vessels in a safe manner. I conducted these inspections safely by ensuring the owner kept personal on site at time of inspection to a minimum and keeping well clear of those on site. If possible, the vessel was inspected with no one on board and I dialled up the owner or owner’s rep to discuss any items requiring an explanation.
The Report • December 2020 • Issue 94 | 47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116
