IFSMA Monthly Logs

IFSMA attended the Diplomatic Conference on the Revision of the SUA Treaties held on the 10-14 October 2005. This was concluded successfully.

Overseas:  The Secretary General attended Command Seminars in Mumbai   October 6^th and 7th and in Singapore 13^th October, and presented a paper at the Ship Management conference in Hong Kong on the 14^th October.

The Secretary General also attended a meeting which was held in Long Beach, California with representative of CAMM to formalise the arrangements for the joint IFSMA and CAMM Annual General Assembly in California on the 8^th and 9^th of May 2006.

Command Seminars

Mumbai

The Mumbai Command Seminar was very well attended with over 150 delegates who included both seagoing and shore-based mariners. All attendees contributed to a very successful meeting discussing the direction for the future of command at sea.

The Chairman and Managing Director of the Shipping Corporation of India, Shri S Hazra, was the Chief Guest chaired the first session. However the first event was the fascinating opening ceremony of the traditional lighting of the lamp, embodying the principle, 'Lead us from darkness to light' and this got the seminar off to an excellent start.

Captain NA Hiranandani, the Master of the  Company of Master Mariners , India who invited the delegates  to think about the various leadership and management challenges that face us as an industry and examine what we are doing towards building up leadership and management abilities in seafarers. He said the theme of the seminar did not just address the master but was applicable for all personnel in the shipping industry. We all possess the leadership and management abilities, he said; we just change roles during our progress in life.

Some key topics at Mumbai were:

• A call for the licensing of ship managers over and above the mandatory compliance required by ISM; professional indemnity insurance; and a full-time chartered accountant for each company. Companies should realign employment on a full-time basis with social benefits and a commitment to continuous training both on board and ashore. given by John Bowering, MD of ASP Ship Management
• Warsash is carrying out Bridge Resource Management and three speakers explained the way behaviour patterns could identify the style of leadership and how this can affect how teams react in emergencies.
• Captain K N Deboo, Principal of Anglo Eastern Maritime Training Centre, gave a presentation on the prevention of accidents and incidents. He enumerated the various steps which could be taken for creating a good safety culture.
• Captain S Bhardwaj, CEO of AMET, then took the audience through an enthralling presentation on sustainahle shipping. He created the world vision of 2015 and listed targets for 5 April 2010. He enumerated the various steps which should be taken now to ensure that the vision of 2015 is achieved. 'When our resources become scarce, we fight over them. In managing our resources and in sustainable development, we plant the seeds of peace,' he said, quoting Wangari Mathai's speech when accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
• Command learning, training and teaching was the subject of the next presentation, by Captain Subash Deshpande of the Tolani Maritime Institute. The ISM code promoted a learning environment and he urged professionals to accept change, prepare to learn, make teaching a part of their lives - and learn how to ask questions.
• Captain Subramaniam, who is also General Manager and Principal of the Eurasia Centre for Advanced Learning was one of many speakers who gave excellent presentations on leadership style and its effect on performance at sea. Various leadership styles were discussed stressing the need for situational leadership. On board it would appear that a combination of democratic, affiliatory and coaching style might be most suitable, for normal operations, with a commanding autocratic style in some situations.
• On the subject of teamwork, we then had a sailing master Captain S D Shanker and Captain R K Singh, Vice President (Shipping), Reliance Industries Limited give us a clear picture of shipboard and shore thinking – and clearly there was a difference in the process. 

Overall all the papers were of an excellent quality and after group discussion the proceedings were  concluded with a final summary of action points from Captain Hiranadani and Philip Wake,

• To raise the profile of the marine industry.
•  Ensure practising seafarers have a strong voice in professional organisations ashore.
• Ensure  the  prerequisites  or qualifications of a ship manager.
• Distinguish between good and bad leadership practices on board.
• Examine and ensure adequacy for various certificates of competency.
• Develop a maritime industry safety culture.
• Create onboard mentoring, by the employer  and  by  a  professional organisation.
• Leadership and management training for mariners.
• Reducing paperwork and harmonising inspections.
• Promote and educate to build an integrated management team
• Promulgate best practices through Seaways and command seminars.

I think its worth reflecting on the words of Dr Phil Anderson who stressed that this seminar should not be treated just as a two-day event, and he appealed to participants to take away and share the results within our areas of influence, putting them Into effective practice in the future.

Singapore

This Command Seminar was attended by more than 50 leading nautical delegates who represented many sectors of the maritime community in Singapore. The seminar was opened by the Presidents of both the Singapore Nautical Institute, Captain Gopala Krishnan, and The Nautical Institute, Dr Phil Anderson.

The Chief Guest was the Executive Director of the Singapore Maritime Foundation, Mr Teh Kong Leong.

As your Secretary General had to leave early to present a paper at the Ship Management Conference in Hong Kong he presented the key note address on the Criminalisation of Ship Masters.

Therefore the conclusions of the many excellent papers and discussions that followed are taken from the report from Philip Wake of the Nautical Institute.:

• Innovations in education and training. A number of excellent innovations in delivery methods were discussed which have the potential to lead to more efficient use of college time as well as being beneficial for use onboard. Incentives for students to make use of new training methods were being introduced. There was discussion as to whether these should be necessary andwhat role the employers should take in seafarers' professional development. These innovations would support the desired increase in sea time requirements for STCW certificates as the current mandatory periods were considered too short.
• Continuing the education and training theme: There was general agreement that situational awareness needs to be improved through the promotion of simulation courses, use of computer based training (CBT) on board and leadership training courses.
• Criminalisation of mariners: Much concern was caressed about the current increasing trend of criminal. Using mariners, particularly the master, for accidentalincidents of pollution or other, often minor, infringements of regulations,
• The maritime Industry. It was agreed that the profile and respect (image) of the industry urgently needed to be raised to ensure that it was properly valued for its tremendous contribution to world economy and so that the next generation of employees would be attracted into it to sustain world trade.

Hong Kong,  October 14^th 2005

The Secretary General presented a paper to the attendees at the Ship Management Conference strongly urging them to consider addressing the fatigue issues facing ship’s officers and to examine whether or not minimum safe manning levels were, in reality, adequate to meet the needs of safe shipping and cleaner oceans.

Rodger MacDonald