New venue for the annual prize-giving awards ceremony marks the first of many rationalisations, Director Alan Phillips reports
 Our prize-winners proudly accepted their awards at the Awards luncheon. |
For many years, the annual ICS awards ceremony has been held at Draper’s Hall. However, this year the venue was changed to Trinity House, overlooking the river Thames, underlining the strong relations between the ICS and Trinity House.
Over a number of years, both organisations have had a very close liaison and through its Company Members, the ICS has the contract to issue light dues certificates for ships entering ports in the United Kingdom. Marking another first this year, this year’s prizewinners were presented with Award Certificates to mark their achievements, in addition to their prizes. Education and Training Committee (ETC) thanks go to Hillary Barclay for the excellent design work.
The ICS has also rationalised the prize list and, where appropriate, the criteria for gaining a prize has been given an international flavour. Additionally, a number of the prizes that would more appropriately be presented at a Branch Awards dinner have been reallocated and the trustees of the Institute’s Education Fund have approved the “President’s” Prize (£1,000) for the best overall candidate in the Professional Qualifying Examinations (PQE). The first winner of this prestigious award is Mr A Rakshit of Eagle Shipmanagement Pte Ltd.
As a further part of the rationalisation process, the Baltic Exchange prize for the candidate who has demonstrated the most commitment in the completion of the PQE has been deleted from the prize list. As members will no doubt appreciate it was proving incredibly difficult for the Examinations sub-committee to determine not only the criteria for “commitment” but also which of the 1,000 plus candidates had been the most committed. In its place, the Baltic has awarded a scholarship/bursary to the successful applicant for assistance in preparing for their ICS examinations. The award covers the cost of a TutorShip course plus the cost of registering and entering for the examination.
The ETC wish to place on record its thanks to all the donors for their ongoing generosity and support. It is very much appreciated and is an outward demonstration of commitment to the Institute’s education objectives.
United in a common goal
The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and BIMCO enjoy a longstanding relationship, both caring strongly about the importance of education. A major part of BIMCO’s core activity is its worldwide courses, conferences, workshops and summer schools for which it frequently receives assistance from branches of the ICS, providing local expertise and identifying local needs. Delivering an address to ICS prize-winners at the ceremony last month, principal guest Knud Pontoppidan, BIMCO president and executive vice president of AP Møller-Mærsk, said: “The shipowner and the shipbroker have a natural and mutual attraction, so it can be no surprise that we have a considerable shared membership. “We cooperate on a range of issues, a co-operation we have much appreciated as we in BIMCO have endeavoured to expand our own educational programmes.” He added that education and training are today “more important than they have ever been. We are operating in an industry where accuracy is non-negotiable, where precision is presumed and speed is pre-eminent.” A full version of his address is on the ICS website at www.ics.org.uk.
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