to travel and continue working to do so, although not immune of course. Between March and June the lock down effectively brought a halt to many surveying activities leaving surveyors such as myself with no income and no government assistance. Our head office had to close, but fortunately our office team continued to work from home, returning when the restrictions were eased. The result of their efforts was that the IIMS continued to perform its many functions effectively. Membership and Professional Qualifications applications actually increased noticeably during this period and surveyors, both members maintaining their CPD and non-members, improving their knowledge. Many took the opportunity to log into the IIMS on-line training seminar program arranged by Camella Robertson, the IIMS office manager, all of which has brought in valuable income to help keep the Institute afloat and ahead of budget.
The continued success of the Institute’s financial status and the generosity of those who have donated funds has allowed us to also progress with the most exciting development of this year, which is, of course, the purchase of Murrills House. As I write this column we are poised to complete and by the time that this is published we will be the proud owners of our own office building. Murrills House is a quite imposing
structure of grand design in what is without doubt a perfect location for a marine business. The work now starts in restoring this Grade II listed historic building back to its former glory.
Currently, the IIMS is the only UK organisation permitted by contract by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) to train Tonnage Surveyors. The Institute has approached the MCA with a proposal to produce an on-line and remote training programme for tonnage surveyors, which would be an extension to our current contract agreement. The MCA has responded favourably and Mike is preparing a detailed proposal to roll out an on-line tonnage training and assessment for acceptance by the MCA, prior to implementation. This is in addition to our present involvement, chairing the professional standards committee which will eventually implement and set the standards for MCA coding examiners.
This leads me on to the subject of the Marine Surveyor Accreditation scheme, which we are developing under the branding of the Accredited Marine Surveying Practitioner. We are taking our time to get the scheme right before launch. This is something which is very close to my heart, especially when I become involved in insurance claims and litigation involving small craft surveyors. It is clear many simply do not have the
skills and knowledge to conduct a satisfactory survey and produce a suitably detailed technical report of survey on completion. Unless the IIMS can achieve a recognised and consistent standard for surveyors the industry will continue to be plagued by unqualified, often retired people conducting surveys to boost their pension. In some instances I have heard treating a small craft survey as a family outing.
As I have mentioned in my opening paragraph I have inherited my predecessor’s initiatives for greater effort in Internationalizing the IIMS with twice yearly on line meetings with Regional Directors. To this end myself and the Vice President, Peter Broad, and Deputy Vice President, Capt Ruchin Dayal, have agreed meetings every quarter in an effort to discuss the various and potentially diverse issues in our industry from around the world.
Given that you will be reading this in the September issue of the Report Magazine, I am hopeful there may be a glimmer of light at the end on the tunnel with regards to the current pandemic and that it’s not just an oncoming, never-ending train.
My very best wishes to you all.
Geoff Waddington
I.Eng;
IMarEng.M.I.Mar.EST; F.I.I.M.S. (President IIMS)
6 | The Report • September 2020 • Issue 93
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