Shipping Events

Exclusive ISM lecture for WISTA-UK Members

Joanna Meadows a WISTA-UK member and a Solicitor from the City firm of Middleton Potts hosted our first WISTA meeting of the year.

On February 3rd, at 7 p.m. my firm welcomed WISTA-UK members to an evening of talks on the ISM Code and on Safe Berths & Safe Ports. It was an opportunity to meet old and new friends. When I was asked to organise a talk on the ISM Code, I thought it was going to be just for a small group. However, some news about WISTA and also the talk we were organising appeared in the Shipping press. The telephone did not stop ringing, and instead we had to hire a hall to give the talk and welcome over 50 colleagues and new members.

The ISM lecture was given by Russell Ridley, a partner of Middleton Potts, with many years’ experience in the shipping field. I gave the second talk on Safe Berths and Safe Ports. This lecture was based on a previous one I had prepared for the Middleton Potts Annual Maritime Lectures given every autumn at our offices. After both talks we had a Q & A session and also organised a small working group to study the ISM Code and any ramifications.

You will find in this issue some articles produced by the group.

IMO CELEBRATES THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

International Women's Day 1998 was celebrated at IMO on Monday 9 March, following the launch of IMO's 50th anniversary celebrations on 6 March.

The IMO Women's Association marked the day by inviting staff to attend a presentation and a luncheon buffet. The chair of the IWA, Kathie de Lore, introduced the Secretary-General, and the keynote speaker, Capt. Wendy Maughan, and other specially invited guests and extended a warm welcome to staff members. The Secretary-General spoke briefly about IMO's interest in advancing the cause of women in the maritime sector.

Capt. Wendy Maughan, gave a talk about her experiences and how she started a wonderful career at sea. She went on to explain that her time spent at sea was remarkable, hard work and different to the time most women who normally develop a shipping career on shore

Those present were entertained by a show of slides taken by Capt. Wendy Maughan, during her days at sea. It included one of a wonderful little Christmas tree she had in her cabin during her first Christmas at sea.

(Do not miss our next issue with a full account of the ceremony at the IMO London Headquarters in a article written by Miriam Blugh, a WISTA-UK member working at the IMO).

1998 Lloyd’s List Awards for Youth and Training

Catherine Bloomfield a WISTA-UK member went to the 1998 Lloyd’s List Awards for Youth and Training.

In March this year I joined an excited huddle of, it has to be said, mainly men, at Tower Pier for the journey down river to the Royal Naval College at Greenwich in a very smart cruiser with a mellow jazz band and well stocked bar on board. The reason for this excursion? - the Maritime Industry Salute to Youth and Training organised by Lloyd’s List. After a grand dinner in the Painted Hall, the Rt. Hon. Neil Kinnock and the Rt. Hon., the Lord Sterling of Plaistow presented awards to companies and organisations who have continued to provide quality training within the maritime industry during the difficult years of recession and have thereby continued to invest in the future of the industry.

Although this was the inaugural event, tickets were sold out in a trice. Even more impressive was the fact that there were 57 entries from all over the world from Hong Kong to Newfoundland - from Cyprus to South Africa.

Entries came from engineering, shipbroking, naval architecture, shipping companies, managers and port operators, to name but a few.

Ultimately the ceremony was, it seemed to me, about hope - hope in the future of our industry. It was also about confidence, investment and quality. We need to invest in the future if the maritime industry is to be competitive and profitable. We cannot stay with the old ways of doing things. In almost all areas of the business, change is afoot – with the ISM Code, the development of IT, changing economic patterns and much more. What, I wonder, does it hold for that specific group which could perhaps do with some support and encouragement – women in shipping.

Having attended the Lloyd’s List ceremony it occurs to me that WISTA could perhaps promote an awards ceremony for women who have, in some way, contributed to excellence in the shipping business. This might well attract an excited huddle of people to travel along the Thames to some exotic location for a dinner at which those of our members and others who have been successful in what is still, after all, a man’s world, could be given the recognition they deserve.

Catherine Bloomfield,
Solicitor Ince & Co,
catherine.bloomfield@ince.co.uk

First Annual Memorial Lecture of Professor Cadwallader

On March 26th, Dr. Aleka Mandaraka-Sheppard, from the London Shipping Law Centre and a Member of WISTA-UK welcomed over 300 guests to the First Annual Memorial Lecture of Professor Cadwaller. The event was hosted by SHELL INTERNATIONAL TRADING & SHIPPING CO LTD and LLP Limited at the spacious SHELL-MEX Building in The Strand in London.

The welcoming words were given by Mr. Richard Wiseman of SHELL UK Limited, followed by The Rt. Hon. Lord Donaldson of Lymington whose talk was "The ISM Code: The Road to Discovery?". The concluding remarks were made by Mr. Norman Palmer.

Lord Donaldson pointed out that the ISM Code had been "designed to discover both substandard ships and shipowners". He also mentioned the role of Flag States and FOC, the importance of implementation by the different Administrations, the STCW, Port State Control and the Paris MOU. He talked about the loss of over 100 fully loaded bulk carriers in the last 18 years and the factors considered when targeting vessels for inspection in UK ports. The in-depth lecture was very interesting, with a unique style, covering the wide and varied elements of the shipping world. His lecture gave plenty of food for thought and showed us that the ISM Code was a "system to record the failures of the safety systems ...leading us to the Road of Discovery and identification of substandard ships"...The annual memorial lecture gives an opportunity to remember the memory and work of a brilliant man and educator in the shipping world.