The IMarEST East of England Branch is the youngest branch in the British Isles and was only founded in 2001.  Although it covers a large area - Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and North Essex - the membership is relatively small at approx. 280.  Our working members include seagoing engineers, shipping company superintendents, surveyors and inspectors.  Main areas of marine activity in this region include commercial shipping and ro-ro ferries at Ipswich, Felixstowe & Harwich.  Harwich is also a base for Trinity House tenders and lightvessels, while Cambridge is home to British Antarctic Survey.  Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth are bases for offshore supply vessels serving the southern North Sea and Lowestoft is also the headquarters of Cefas.  In addition, there are several small shiprepair yards in our region, plus two major tug owning firms. 

 

Our technical year runs from September to June, during which time we have eight technical meetings and one site visit.  Our meetings cover a variety technical subjects and we normally include one marine scientific meeting at Cefas, plus one meeting of historical interest.  Our site visit this year was to the former Paxman works at Colchester, which is now run by MAN Diesel Ltd.  Our only social event was a Spring Luncheon on board the floating restaurant 'il Punto' at Ipswich, which was attended by the Institute President, Michael Everard.