Press Release /10

MARINE OPERATIONS – SELF-REGULATION AND STANDARDIZATION

Safety and efficiency in marine operations are of paramount importance. With this in mind, and as a follow up to its successful annual Safety Seminar, held in Houston in March 2009, the International Marine Contractors (IMCA) is holding a one day seminar on 'Marine Operations – Self-Regulation and Standardization' in Houston on 21 April 2010.

"Both self-regulation and standardization are important corner-stones for our members, and on 21 April we look forward to discussing them with members of the marine contracting industry, their clients and non-members who would like to find out more about the broad work programme of IMCA's Marine Division," explains Hugh Williams, Chief Executive of IMCA. Through presentations, delegate participation and workshops we aim to improve dialogue and understanding between the parties.

"Trade associations such as IMCA do not regulate in the same way as legislators," he explains. “They provide members with guidance, allowing them to 'self-regulate' rather than look to clients or governments for setting rules and procedures.

While governments legislate on a range of issues in the public interest, they cannot produce legislation for every part of an industry's operations - nor may that be desirable. For example, legislation may cover the requirements for the overall safe operation of a vessel but is unlikely to provide details for DP operations on the wide variety of vessel types described in IMCA guidelines.

"A key benefit of industry guidance is that it can be implemented and updated more quickly than legislation - vital in an industry with rapidly advancing technology," he adds. "IMCA prides itself on providing guidance which is a proper reflection of world-wide good practice in the offshore marine contracting sector."

The seminar programme
Alan Allred of Aker Marine Contractors, Chairman of IMCA’s North American Section will open proceedings with an overview of the day’s planned activities.

Topics coming under the seminar spotlight include safe lifting operations offshore; SIMOPS – case study; vessel assurance; the IMCA Common Marine Inspection Document (CMID) as well as use of the e-CMID application and an overview of the CMID database website; DP proving and annual trials; DP incident reporting; and the Cascade and Chinook project. A series of workshops on the theme ‘Contractors and clients working together in a marine environment’ will take place in the afternoon, and the day will end with cocktails.

There is no charge for attending the seminar and interested parties from the marine construction industry should register by sending their name, company and contact details to Parul Patel at IMCA – Email: events@imca-int.com; Tel: +44 (0)20 7824 5520; or Fax: +44 (0)20 7824 5521.

Further information on IMCA’s work for, and on behalf of, members is available at www.imca-int.com, from imca@imca-int.com and from IMCA at 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0AU, UK.