Chris Charman
The Middle East & India Section of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) will hold one of its regular section meetings in Dubai at the Jebel Ali Shooting Club, Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa on Monday 3 February, members and non-members alike are welcome to the meeting which will include three enlightening presentations. The morning meeting is followed by a networking lunch and the presentations follow this. Registration at events@imca-int.com ahead of the event is essential.
The first presentation by Russell Harper of DCN Global LLC looks at ‘Rescue of personnel from sunken vessel’ which includes the story of the rescue of the cook on board the Jascon 4, which sank off the coast of Nigeria. He was trapped in an air pocket in a still intact compartment. After 62 hours trapped in the air pocket, he was brought to the surface safe and well, by the divers from DCN.
In November 2013 IMCA unveiled its five year vision and strategy, and so the meeting will include a short overview of this and the objectives for 2014.
“It is a salutary thought that investigations indicate the collective annual turnover of IMCA members is in excess of $150bn per year and that they directly employ almost 350, 000 staff across the planet, ” IMCA’s Chief Executive, Chris Charman explains. “Indeed, the fleet of specialist vessels operated by those members account for some 4% of the world’s shipping tonnage. Yes, collectively our members are a big player!
“Set against these facts, IMCA’s Council undertook a strategic review of the association’s direction, and developed ‘over the horizon planning’ which involved taking opinion and inputs from a wide section of the membership to provide feedback on IMCA’s current activities and to look forward to the future.
“It is this vision of the future that Nick Hough at the section meeting. It will see us raising the public profile of IMCA, refining our primary and core purpose to be ‘improving performance in the marine contracting industry’ and looking at four core activities – championing better regulation; enhancing operational integrity; engaging and developing members and stakeholders; and developing our people and organisations. We are proud of all that has been achieved and will continue to build on it, working with our members to set and achieve high level aspirations and goals for the future, while continuing to respond and deliver globally to the current needs of the industry.”
The final presentation by M.S. Kushwaha of DNV GL is on ‘Energy saving and environment considerations: Offshore support vessels perspective’.
The morning meeting will include a general update on IMCA and its activities, including recently published guidance; reports on IMCA’s Competence & Training, and Safety, Environment & Legislation activities; reports from the four technical divisions – Diving, Marine, Offshore Survey, and Remote Systems & ROV.
The Middle East & India Section is one of five IMCA sections, the others being Asia-Pacific; Central & North America; Europe & Africa; and South America.
About IMCA
- IMCA is an international association with some 950 members in over 60 countries representing offshore, marine and underwater engineering companies. IMCA has four technical divisions, covering marine/specialist vessel operations, offshore diving, hydrographic survey and remote systems and ROVs, plus geographic sections for the Asia-Pacific, Central & North America, Europe & Africa, Middle East & India and South America regions. As well as a core focus on safety, the environment, competence and training, IMCA seeks to promote its members’ common interests, to resolve industry-wide issues and to provide an authoritative voice for its members.
- IMCA Vision & Strategy. As a result of work and collective input in 2013, IMCA has redefined its stated core purpose to be “Improving performance in the marine contracting industry”. To achieve this goal, IMCA’s Vision & Strategy has been devised with two elements in mind: Core activities and ways of working. Targets and objectives against which the association will measure progress in 2014 have been established. Note to Editors: We are more than happy to expand on this in tailor-made articles – just put us to the test, email judithpatten@jppr.uk.com or phone her on+44(0)20 8241 1912 to explain what you would like covered, length, and deadline.
- IMCA publishes some 200 guidance notes and technical reports – many are available for free downloading by members and non-members alike. These have been developed over the years and are extensively distributed. They are a definition of what IMCA stands for, including widely recognised diving and ROV codes of practice, DP documentation, marine good practice guidance, the Common Marine Inspection Document (CMID) – now available electronically as eCMID, safety recommendations, outline training syllabi and the IMCA competence scheme guidance. In addition to the range of printed guidance documents, IMCA also produces safety promotional materials, circulates information notes and distributes safety flashes.
