Sea Cadets from London, Kent and Essex had an amazing opportunity to tour casualty ship RFA Argus at the start of Seafarers Awareness Week (24-30 June), the annual campaign coordinated by maritime charity Seafarers UK.

100 young people and volunteers from Sea Cadets units in Beckenham and Penge, Bexley and Lewisham, Orpington, Southwark, Sutton, Chelmsford, Maldon and District and Thurrock visited the vessel moored at Greenwich on Monday 26 June.

Argus is the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s ‘Primary Casualty Receiving Ship’ and those on board enjoyed a tour of all areas of the ship, including the bridge, flight deck and armoury, as well as learning about her role in delivering cutting-edge medical treatment while afloat.

The outing was one of a number of events promoted by Seafarers UK to mark Seafarers Awareness Week, which aims to raise public awareness of the UK’s ongoing dependence on seafarers and the contribution they make to the UK as an island nation. The week’s two themes this year are ‘Maritime Jobs at Sea and Ashore’ and ‘Sea Ports for Prosperity’.

Youth charity Sea Cadets, which offers nautical-themed adventure to 14,000 10-18 year olds across the country, is backing the event, which coincides with the UK’s Armed Forces Day on 24 June and the International Maritime Organization’s global Day of the Seafarer on 25 June.

Bill Collier, Senior Events Officer at Sea Cadets, said: ‘This was an exciting opportunity for young people and volunteers at Sea Cadets, and gave them an interesting insight into what life is like for those working in challenging conditions at sea. Sea Cadets is proud to support Seafarers Awareness Week and honoured to have been part of the celebrations.’

Commodore Barry Bryant, Director General of Seafarers UK, added: ‘This visit was a great opportunity for Seafarers UK to work with two of our closest partners in the UK maritime world during Seafarers Awareness Week. We not only support the Sea Cadets with facilities and training but also point out the many career openings available at sea and ashore, while the civilian-manned Royal Fleet Auxiliary shows the Merchant Navy at its best, working alongside the Royal Navy in peace and conflict.’

Two of the world’s leading maritime events – London International Shipping Week and the Southampton Boat Show – have partnered to highlight and celebrate the two weeks of high-profile maritime activity created by their back-to-back events.

The partnership will see attendees to LISW17 (11-15 Sept) encouraged to visit the Boat Show (15-24) and LISW17 promoted to the world of the superyacht and mega yacht. 

David Dingle, Chairman of Maritime UK said:

“The UK is the world’s maritime centre, offering a complete package for global maritime business.

“This September sees global industry leaders coming to the UK, and I’m delighted that two of our world-leading events are collaborating to highlight the strength and breadth of the UK’s maritime offer.

“Both LISW and the Boat Show have their respective primary markets, but equally are key parts of our maritime sector. Together, they will provide visitors to the UK with a fantastic taste of what we have to offer global maritime business”.

LISW17 will be the ‘must attend’ event of 2017, offering over 160 industry functions and unique networking opportunities for leaders across all sectors of the international shipping industry – regulators, charterers, ship owners, ship managers, bunker suppliers, lawyers, ship brokers, bankers, insurers, insurance brokers, commodity traders and brokers, ship suppliers, port operators, shipping service providers and many more.

The Southampton Boat Show is a spectacular world class annual event held in September and attracts visitors, exhibitors and investors from all over the world. 

An on-water show boasting one of Europe’s largest purpose built marina located in Southampton, the cruise and boating capital of the UK, the Show started in 1969 and is held annually in September.

An important sales platform for both national and international businesses attracting over 110,000 visitors, the Show attracts high net worth individuals from the UK and around the world. The Southampton Boat Show is one of Southampton’s biggest events and takes over the City for a 10 day period, whilst people of all walks of life discover what the leisure marine industry has to offer them.

The programme for the flagship London International Shipping Week 2017 (LISW17) conference to be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane, on Thursday 14th September has been published on the official LISW17 website, please click here

To be moderated by Emily Maitlis, Broadcaster, Journalist and Presenter of BBC Newsnight, the conference brings together thought leaders from the world of government, finance, international trade, shipowning and insurance as well as artificial intelligence innovation and technology.

The internationally-acclaimed journalist and broadcaster will bring her forthright and engaging style to the industry-leading conference. With a career spanning almost three decades, Emily began as a documentary maker in Cambodia and China, before developing her career as a journalist with the BBC, NBC Asia, Channel 4 News and Sky. She is a regular presenter of Newsnight.

Following an opening Welcome Session, discussion during Session Two of the conference, held under the opening theme of ‘Tomorrow’s Maritime World’, will focus on the emotive issues of shifting trade patterns, new technologies and disruption to business models. 

Kitack Lim, International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General, will underline the role of the IMO in the free flow of trade while Willem Buiter, Chief Economist at Citi, will ask: “What are the forecasts for new potentially disruptive technologies; what are the future funding models and what impact might they have on shipping? Andreas Sohmen-Pao, Chairman of BW Group, will outline what the maritime industry needs to do to respond to future trends before Dr Martin Stopford, President of Clarkson Research, looks at how shipping will alter in the future.

Major UK and international political speakers will also contribute to what will be a highly stimulating opening session.  

Session Three, entitled ‘Tomorrow’s Needs’, will concentrate on the changing business environment and what this means for skills and people. Sarah Kenny, Managing Director – Maritime, Qinetiq, will question why autonomy is a good thing for society and for business, while Inga Beale, Chief Executive Officer of Lloyd’s of London, will discuss how risk can be managed and responsibility attributed in a dramatically changing safety environment.  

Legal commentator and honorary QC Joshua Rozenberg, will talk about the long-term evolution of the legal environment in response to rapid changes in technologies (eg automated, driverless ships), changing environmental legislation and evolving consumer expectations, before handing over to Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO Maritime, DNV GL and incoming Chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), who will ask whether regulations can be adapted quickly enough in the face of disruptive change. 

The session would not be complete without drawing on the views of the world’s ship owners and employees, provided by Esben Poulsson, Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping, and Mark Dickinson, Board Advisor, ITF. 

Session Four of the conference will look at ‘Tomorrow’s Business Solutions’ and ask pertinent questions about how an efficient and innovative maritime business sector will solve tomorrow’s known and unknown challenges. Speakers will include Rupert Pearce, Chief Executive Officer, Inmarsat; Niclas Mårtensson, Chief Executive Officer, Stena Line; and Mikael Mäkinen, President – Marine, Rolls Royce. 

The LISW17 conference will be followed on the Thursday evening by the official LISW17 Gala Dinner, also to be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London.  

Taking place from September 11 to 15, LISW17 will be the must-attend event of the global maritime calendar with more than 140 industry functions and unique networking opportunities. The events will be organised either by the industry at large through the various LISW17 Supporting Organisations or by Sponsoring Companies of LISW17.  

Further information about LISW17 can be found on the dedicated event website: www.londoninternationalshippingweek.com or follow us on Twitter @LISW17. To register, please visit www.londoninternationalshippingweek.com or download the LISW17 app by searching for LISW at the Google Play Store or London International Shipping Week at the App Store. 

The International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA) has expanded its membership criteria so that Single Window Operators can now enjoy the benefits of becoming members. This is an important step forward, recognising the common ground between Port Community Associations (PCSs) and Single Window Operators in trade facilitation.

As part of this move, IPCSA has led the way in issuing a clear definition of a Single Window Operator.

“To date, our membership has included air and sea Port Community System operators together with air and sea port authorities, and our associate members include regional and international organisations and associations,” said Richard Morton, secretary general of IPCSA.

“However, as IPCSA has grown, it has become clear that some of our members are also Single Window Operators. Port Community Systems (PCSs) and Single Windows have a lot in common; it is all about electronic exchange and re-use of information. As such, we considered it was time for IPCSA to expand its criteria for membership to include Single Window Operators.”

The decision to expand membership in this way threw up a new challenge for IPCSA – the lack of any established definition of a Single Window Operator.

Hans Rook, chairman of IPCSA, said: “As an international association, IPCSA has stepped out in front with its clear definition of a Single Window Operator.”  Read more

London has been voted the world’s leading financial maritime city, according to a report published by Menon Economics.

The report’s authors said London had a “special position in the financial industry globally and was in 2017 again ranked as the leading financial city in the world.”

According to the report, launched today (Apr 26) in Singapore, London is number one for both law-related services and marine insurance. “The city is home to world leading institutions such as Lloyd’s for insurance, and English law is the most widely applied in shipping disputes.”

The report’s authors assessed the performance of 30 maritime cities against five categories: Shipping; Finance and Law; Maritime Technology; Ports & Logistics; as well as Attractiveness and Competitiveness. Together with heading the Finance and Law category, London was voted by the report as one of the world’s top five maritime cities, after falling to sixth place two years ago.