MILFORD HAVEN SPECIAL

Milford Haven

MILFORD HAVEN PORT AUTHORITY -

166 miles of coastline 22 miles of waterway; out of 650 ports in the UK of which 120 are commercially active, with the addition of the LNG Terminal Milford Haven becomes the fourth largest in the United Kingdom.

Dear Member,

Since our last issue two major events have occurred which are well worth reporting on. Taking them in reverse order - The second event was a seminar held on Tuesday June 23rd. Preceded by a committee meeting and hosted by Milford Haven Port Authority, including a buffet lunch, it was well attended and deemed a great success.
It was some time in the planning which started way back in 2007 when the Branch Chairman and myself received a visit from Mr. Ted Sangster, the CEO of the MHPA. He expressed a desire
to become more involved with the Branch and we welcomed the approach. In liaison with the UKI Zone, who had been pressing us to put on a seminar and had suggested ‘Psychology of Shipping’ as a subject, which the Branch did not feel would attract too many people, progress was somewhat protracted.

Finally, our Education Officer, Jonathan Challacombe volunteered to speak on ‘The Ballast Water Convention’ and Mr. Sangster offered a speaker on ‘Future Developments at Milford Haven Port’.
A visit to the Port Control Centre plus a tour of the port on the water was also suggested. A date was agreed with the UKI Zone and the Port Authority, June 23rd , and fliers sent out.
I must confess that the resulting response exceeded the committee’s expectations. I have a feeling that the buffet lunch and the port tour on the water whetted more than a few members appetites!

Our numbers were swelled by the initiative of John Iles, MICS, Hon. Secretary of the Docks Company of Pals (DCOP) who, always looking for an interesting outing for his members, hired a coach and recruited some 14 people to make the trip Some of whom were Branch members, some marine engineers and former seafarers. Many thanks John.!

An additional unexpected attraction for those attending the seminar was the docking in Milford Haven on the morning of June 23rd of the VLCC ‘OCANA’ purportedly the eighth largest vessel to dock in the port and by far the largest tanker since 1991 measuring a cool 300,000 DWT.

VLCC Ocana

VLCC ‘OCANA’ (Photo courtesy Jonathan Bowen, OBC Pembroke Dock)

The other event took place on Friday May 8th and was the Branch Annual Dinner. Held once again at the Holland House Hotel in Cardiff it proved to be a most enjoyable evening although not so well attended as recent years. The current ‘credit crunch’ limited numbers to just 300, still a respectable number but 100 down on last year and about 150 down on the one before that.

The speakers this year were Institute Director Alan Phillips, Branch Chairman Stewart Henderson and guest Ian Irving whose email address is ‘topcomic’ He certainly lived up to his name. Unfortunately I was unable to attend due to illness. The first dinner I have missed in 22 years as Branch secretary.

I am grateful to Vice-Chairman Theo Coliandris for the above report.

So, here’s Alan looking very happy, but is he listening to another speaker, or is he saying a quick prayer!!! Probably the former, I suspect.

(Picture by Jeffrey Blum-London Branch Chairman)

Another aspect of the dinner was the presentation of the of the

IMERYS AWARD

Given by Imerys Minerals for the first time last year and won by Noel Challenger it is given to a new recipient each year for a special contribution to the Branch during the previous 12 months.. Theo Coliandris was suggested as the winner this year but for some unaccountable reason the sub-committee awarded it to yours truly. I was very honoured, of course, but also very embarrassed. I get paid for what I do for the Branch which I believe is adequate compensation, whereas others, such as the Hon. Treasurer, Education Officer etc., receive no payment for their contribution, other than an occasional modest expense claim.

SWW dinner Cardiff 08 05 09 As I was unable to be present, Theo received the award on my behalf and the next photo, also taken by Jeffrey Blum (thanks Jeffrey) shows him receiving it from Clive Kessell (Imerys) and Branch Chairman Stewart Henderson
(Apologies for the poor lighting, attempts to improve it have failed)

The Branch Annual Dinner 2010 will be held on Friday 16th April at the Holland House Hotel, Cardiff. Please make a note of the date in your diary and book your tables early.

Education Pic

EDUCATION

The 2010 Institute Examinations will be held from Monday 19th April until Thursday 29th April excluding Friday 24th April
The full timetable is given at the end of this paragraph.
Students should note that there are new entry forms for Foundation Diploma (FD), Professional Qualifying Exams (PQE) and Advanced Diploma (AD). If you are registering for 2010 please do not use the old forms. New ones can be obtained from me or from the Institute direct. The Advanced Diploma now contains an additional subject choice - Marine Insurance.. Examination fees are PQE -£35 per subject, FD £60, one fee for 2 subjects, Introduction to Shipping and one other of your choice and AD - again £60, one fee for 2 subjects, Shipping Business and one other of your choice. Latest date for registration for UK students is 7th February 2010.

Exam Timetable

SICK LIST Regrettably we still have a few members who are far from well. I spoke to Ken Brown on June 24th. He has been far from well for some time now but was quite upbeat
saying you can always find someone worse off. He has outpatients visits from time to time. He lives in Penarth and is able to get out and visit the seafront and the pier for a coffee in company with his wife Barbara.

Another casualty is Alan Morris who is being admitted to hospital in early July for a hip operation. We hope it all goes well and send them both our best wishes.