Starting this quarter’s trip from the helm in London, IMarEST HQ’s has had a number of successful events. The annual Conversazione and Dance held on 18 December 2009 was its usual lively and well attended affair, which saw over a hundred regular beneficiaries of the Guild of Benevolence each receiving Christmas Box payments of £100 thanks in part to funds raised on the tombola and raffle. The evening was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London and was dedicated to embracing excellent company, festive entertainment, good food and wine.
David Cusdin CEng HonFIMarEST and Chairman of the Guild said: ‘We would like to thank organisations and individuals for their generous support of the Conversazione, and also for the prizes they donated which encouraged guests at the function to dig deep!’
Donations were received from: All Energy 2010; American Bureau of Shipping; Mr & Mrs B K Batten; BDO; BIMCO; BP Shipping Limited; Britannia Aggregates Ltd; Brookes Bell LLP; Mr & Mrs P M Buckton; Castrol Marine UK; ClassNK; Mr David B Cobb CBE; Dr J Cowley CBE FREng HonFIMarEST & Mrs Cowley; Mr D R Cusdin HonFIMarEST & Mrs Cusdin; Mr R Duncan; Mr F M Everard CBE; Sir Robert Hill KBE FREng HonFIMarEST & Lady Hill; The Grosvenor House; Harris Pye; Hovertravel Ltd; INTECSEA (UK) Ltd; Dr M Jones; KRAL; Mr & Mrs J Lazaras; Mr & Mrs P M Low; Mr D L P Lutyens HonFIMarEST; Marathon International Petroleum Ltd; Eur Ing G J McKenzie; Mr & Mrs G S Mole; Mr & Mrs F Mungo; Nauticalia Ltd; P & O Ferries Holdings Ltd; Plymouth Marine Laboratory; Mr J E Sloggett OBE HonFIMarEST & Mrs Sloggett; SpecTec; Mr S Speed; Mr D Starr; Ms K Starr; St Kitts and Nevis International Ship Registry; Trinity House; Westminster Dredging Co Ltd; Robin A Williams & Co Ltd; Mr J C Woodhead.
December bore witness to a riveting Lord Kelvin lecture at HQ given by Lloyd’s Register’s Vaughan Pomeroy, on ‘Living with zero tolerance’. The talk gave an insight into the growing and potentially conflicting challenges facing the shipping industry as trade increases while environmental and safety standards become more stringent.
The HKIMT and HKJB held its Annual Ball in November at the Shangri-La Hotel. A total of 206 guests were there to hear speeches from the chairman of the HKIMT and HKJB and the Guest of Honour, Mr. Roger Tupper, the Director of Marine. Other VIP guests included the Hon. Ms. Miriam Lau, Ir. Dr. Hon. Raymond Ho Chung-tai, Mr. Hu Guo Liang, President of GDSNAME, as well as guests from the Macau Marine Authority.
The Wellington Branch Annual Meeting and Dinner was held in November, where members and their partners assembled in the engine room of the ‘Tugboat on the Bay’. The Chair was taken by Don Skinner. The meeting culminated with the Christmas Dinner on the Upper Deck where toasts were made to 120 years of the Institute and 40 years of the Wellington Branch. The Pakistan JB held its 22nd Annual Dinner in November at Defence Beach View Club in Karachi. The dinner was well attended by members, guests and their families.
Lectures
Members of the Dublin Branch enjoyed an interesting lecture on the history of the Irish Lighthouse Services. Actually held at the Irish Lights building in DunLaoghaire on the outskirts of Dublin, Nigel Teggin and Captain Dermot Gray spoke comprehensively on the subject. Captain Gray also talked about the design process and the building of the M.V. Granuaile, the successful purpose built ship for the Service.
The Pakistan JB had a technical meeting in October, covering the subject of the ‘Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT) - Its capacity, equipment, systems & Operation’. The speaker was Mr Sharique Siddiqui, Director of PICT. While around 25 students from HKU, HKUST and HKPU together with other marine professionals gathered in November for a seminar on career opportunities in the maritime industry. Experts in the field gave speeches about the route to becoming a marine engineer right through to preparing yourself to go aboard an ocean vessel.
Achievements and Certificates
Commandant Engr Sajid Hussain IMarEST Fellow, Sajid Hussain, now heads up the Marine Academy in Bangladesh. As a Fellow & Chartered Marine Technologist, Sajid has been appointed as the 25th Commandant of the Marine Academy. He is the first Merchant Marine Engineer to be the Commandant of the Academy since it was established in 1962, taking over the office on 7 January 2010. He brings with him 15 years maritime education management experience and 15 years sea-experience, five of which was as a Chief Engineer.
Two IMarEST Fellows received awards in the New Year Honours list this year. Dr David Price, CE of the Chemring Group is now a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) and Professor Ed Hill, Director, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
After the Wellington Branch’s Annual Meeting and Dinner, Don Skinner presented a number of members with their 60 yr membership certificates. The first certificate was for Commodore Fred Bland, OBE. Cdre. Bland and Don Skinner
John Notman, one of the founding members of the Wellington Branch in 1969 and a member of the original committee also received his 60yr membership certificate from Don.
John Notman and Don Skinner
On his travels to Australia in January, John Wills presented 45yr membership certificates to Alan Gooch and Ken Reah at the Western Australia branch meeting in January.
L-R: Branch Chairman Harry Arnold; Alan Good; Ken Reah and John Wills
And here is the latest picture taken from the engine room of the Guild of Benevolence. It gives a glimpse of the warm and friendly Guild team, and was taken after another year of dedicated work on behalf of the beneficiaries of the Guild.
Back row, L-R: David Cusdin, Chairman; Peter Low, Hon. Treasurer; Front row, L-R: Cliff Woodhead, Deputy Chairman; Karen Starr, Administrative Officer