Branch news | ICS
Institute’s message as relevant today as yesteryear
Going through past copies of The Shipbroker magazine at the time when Roger
Hasdell took over as editor threw up this quote from Bill Cameron, President
at the time of the winter 1988 edition: “A company is only as good as
its current employee. By engaging a Member or Fellow of the Institute of Chartered
Shipbrokers, an employer can feel confident he is taking on an individual with
proven ability to absorb, retain and disseminate knowledge whilst at the same
time being a person with a good broad understanding of the many skills called
upon by the professional shipbroker/agent/manager in his day-to day work.”
Liverpool Branch
Branch Chairman Seb Gardiner began his speech at the 39th annual dinner by welcoming
everybody to what he felt was the best and most successful UK shipping dinner.
It was his second major speech that month. The first was at his wedding but
he claimed it was more scary to stand in front of his peers than in front of
his mother-in-law.
“The North West shipping community is going from strength to strength,”
said Mr Gardiner. The Mersey Docks & Harbour Company is investing heavily
in modernising the waterfronts, both in Liverpool and Birkenhead. The Port of
Liverpool has grown into one of the major container ports with new deep-sea
services having been introduced recently by MSC, ACL, Cast, Maersk and CMA.
This year we have also seen the launch of Mersey Maritime which is helping to
bring together a lot of the local shipping companies, agents, haulage companies,
stevedores and so on under one umbrella. “The aim is to market and develop
education and training in all aspects of the shipping industry,” he said.
Madras Branch
The establishment of a live video telephone conference link with Dubai, to be
able to join in their International Seminar in Shipping: Meeting the Challenge,
on 26 April 2003, was a major breakthrough for the Madras Branch.
In excess of 50 senior shipping managers met at the Le Royal Meridien Hotel
in Chennai to interact live with the speakers in Dubai. This is the first time
such an attempt has been made to telenet Shipping Conferences through live video
techniques. After the successful completion of the first day’s Video Conferencing,
a ICS United Arab Emirates branch spokesperson said: “ICS Chennai has
real guts to try something like this. Inviting 50 top managers from the Shipping
Industry, playing with odds, such as the telephone infrastructure, needs a lot
of determination. Only with such determination can we create history. No-one
here, nor any of our guests, had heard of anything like this happening in the
shipping business before! Isn’t that history?”
VELS-IMC, a joint-venture Maritime Education and Training Enterprise, between
Vel’s Academy of Maritime Studies and Indian Maritime College, was the
sponsor for the event and complete technical support was arranged through their
sister company Elektronik Lab for the interactive video conferencing.
Cyprus branch
ICS Director General Alan Phillips gained a personal insight of the Cyprus Branch
and its activities during his short visit in May, designed to further promote
ICS aims and to forge closer links to the Branches abroad. Escorted by one of
the committee members, he visited several shipmanagement companies and the Cyprus
Shipping Council in Limassol and was impressed by the expertise and volume of
activities conducted.
During the members meeting, Mr Phillips presented a medal to past branch Chairman
Soterios Karantonis.
Scottish Branch
The Scottish Branch continues to be in good health with a membership of approximately
80 and although it is spread over a large area it has a strong base to support
its activities. The branch is in the process of updating its database, and is
keen to receive updates and news from its membership.
Mike Abram, past Chairman of the Scottish Branch, takes over as Chairman of
the Institute at the Controlling Council Meeting in October this year. The Scottish
branch congratulates him on his appointment and is confident he will serve the
Institute well. Scottish branch secretary Jim Fotheringham is preparing for
next year’s dinner, lining up pipers, raffles, tartans of all colours,
to bring together in an excellent venue. The dinner will be held at the Sheraton
Hotel, Edinburgh on the 2 April 2004.
Tees branch
Following the Branch’s recent AGM it feels ready to face the fray on local
branch, port or Institute issues. However, before accepting the business as
usual approach, the local management team addressed a very important question:
“What do you do with 50 shippingagency staff wanting a night out?”
The answer it came up with was: “You send them on a River Trip.”
Apart from offering a voyage of discovery on the Teesside Princess from the
ancient port of Stocktonon- Tees up to the even older port of Yarm, a barbecue
meal, music and refreshments were also on offer. The Tees branch is also looking
forward to its annual dinner. This year’s event will take place on 14
November at the Tall Trees Hotel where the Branch expects to entertain around
450 members and guests.
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