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We welcome two new hires to the Secretariat

Alongside the recent appointment of Lee Billingham, IMCA is pleased to share news of two new hires in the Secretariat, with Jennifer Evans joining the Marine team, and Lou Bendall joining as Head of People Experience. Jennifer Evans, Technical Adviser – Marine Jennifer started as a BP engineer cadet and qualified with an HNC in Engineering and a Combined Engine & Steam Class 4 Certificate of Competency. She was promoted up the ranks before gaining her Chief Engineer’s Class 1 Motor certificate of competency. She has a strong background in Marine and Dynamic Positioning having worked with a range of

New Director of Strategy and Energy Transition at IMCA

IMCA has appointed a new Director of Strategy and Energy Transition, Lee Billingham. Lee has over 20 years’ experience in the energy sector, most recently at Innovateer which supported businesses with strategy development, on scaling sustainable technology, and in developing and commercialising new products and services. Prior to this, he worked for bp in a range of leadership roles. This included working on early concept engineering for major projects and as a Subsea Technical Authority where he oversaw the introduction of new technology, including the company’s first AUV pipeline inspection. He also represented the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) at

New President and Vice President for IMCA 

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) announces a new President, Luca Gentili of Saipem.   He replaces Jonathan Tame of Subsea7 who previously held the role and who, in accordance with IMCA’s constitution, came to the end of his two-year term. Hugo Bouvy of Deme Offshore is appointed as new Vice President.  Luca Gentili, Head of Assets, Fabrication and Project Services in Saipem, and new IMCA President said: “I’m delighted to be appointed President of IMCA and I am looking forward to continuing to work with the board, as well as with our CEO Iain Grainger.  IMCA has a key role to

New Diving lead announced at IMCA

Bill Chilton has been announced as the new Diving Manager at IMCA. Bill joined IMCA in November 2021 and has 25 years of experience in the commercial diving industry, including 12 years at the Health & Safety Executive in the UK regulating the safety of divers working in the offshore energy and other sectors of the diving industry. During his time at the HSE, Bill also worked as a decommissioning specialist. Prior to this Bill worked as an air and saturation diver on a wide range of diving projects and also held a variety of topside positions, including project engineer

New colleagues welcomed boosting skills and capacity

IMCA is delighted to welcome two new colleagues to the team to boost skills and capacity in strategic areas for the Secretariat. John Kingston – Technical Document Assurance Co-ordinator John will support the delivery of IMCA’s Technical Library and work with the team of Technical Advisers to ensure greater consistency across IMCA’s technical documents. As a Technical Writer, John has worked continuously in the marine oil and gas sector since 2011, when he joined the team revising BP Shipping’s fleet operating management system, with new documentation being approved by the Plain English Campaign before issue. He then worked as a

Bryan McGlinchy set to retire as diving lead

After almost 12 years leading diving at IMCA, and more than 40 years working in the sector, Bryan McGlinchy will be retiring at the end of the year. Throughout his time with IMCA as Diving Manager, Bryan has had a huge impact on its Diving output and, through his work with IMCA and previously at the HSE in the UK, a positive impact on offshore performance and diving safety across the industry. IMCA Contact Iain Grainger CEO Contact Error: Contact form not found. Commenting on Bryan’s retirement, Iain Grainger, IMCA CEO said: “I’m sure everyone in the industry will join

International Maritime club Awards celebrates sector in prestigious event

This week IMCA was named Best Maritime Compliance Organisation at the third International Maritime Club (IMC) Golden Shield Excellence Awards. The Golden Shield Excellence Awards recognise organisations who have earned national or international prominence in the marine, energy, cargo, oil & gas and offshore industries. They focus on leadership, statutory, regulatory compliance, innovation, management and administration, and trade and export services where the recipients have demonstrated the highest level of professionalism and served as a role model for current and future organisations. IMCA was nominated for our commitment to safety over more than 50 years. Sir Sohan Roy, President of

A busy summer of Member and stakeholder engagement

Following an extensive programme of speaking events and individual engagements with Committee and Board members, recently appointed CEO Iain Grainger has been meeting a number of external stakeholders. In late July, Iain and Technical Director Jim Cullen visited the Oil Companies International Marine Forum’s (OCIMF) London office to meet with Managing Director Karen Davis and Offshore Advisor Graham Coles. In August, Iain visited the Kincardine floating wind farm project located 15 km off the coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Joining him on the trip was our Director for Client Engagement – Europe & Africa David Bloom. The pair were shown around

IMCA welcomes two new members to the Secretariat

Two new additions to IMCA’s Secretariat will further enhance the team. Roger Moore has joined as a Technical Adviser for Remote Systems and Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Offshore Survey. Roger has been working in the ROV sector for over 27 years having previously held positions offshore, ranging from Trainee Pilot Technician to OPM, and onshore as an ROV Operations Manager and Technical Authority. Prior to this, Roger served in the British Army for the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers working on Chieftain Main battle tanks and receiving electrical, mechanical and hydraulics trade training. He has written several training programmes

Iain Grainger announced as new CEO of IMCA

Following an extensive executive search process overseen by its Board of Directors, IMCA announces that Iain Grainger will succeed Allen Leatt as CEO when he retires at the end of May 2023. Iain has over three decades of experience in offshore marine construction, with his early career at Brown & Root where he was engaged in the engineering and project management of major offshore projects. He then moved into commercial, strategy, and regional leadership roles with tier-one contractors, including Acergy, Subsea 7, and McDermott International. Iain was previously an IMCA Board Member. More recently, he has represented the heavy fabrication

IMCA backs Fugro ROV introductory training course

  Fugro’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) introductory training course has received IMCA approval.   Allen Leatt, IMCA CEO, attended the opening ceremony for Fugro’s ROV Training Centre of Excellence, part of the Fugro Academy Training Centre in Plymouth, UK, on Friday 21 April 2023. He experienced first-hand how Fugro’s comprehensive training programme is designed to provide participants with a strong foundation in the ROV industry.   Meeting IMCA requirements, all new trainees must have a suitable educational background and a minimum of three years’ work experience in a relevant field before joining the course. This ensures that participants have a strong foundation

IMCA appoints environmental sustainability lead

We are pleased to welcome a new environmental sustainability lead, Mary Ntamark.Mary began her career in the oil and gas industry developing, implementing, and managing environmental management programmes on sites across the globe for projects in Angola, Egypt, Turkey, the Middle East and the UK. Most recently she has been involved in the development and application of net zero sustainability strategies and the application ESG frameworks on major projects in the UK. As well as oil and gas, Mary has a wealth of environmental project management experience gained across the construction, rail, aviation and landscape industries, including the Front End

New Technical Director for IMCA, Jim Cullen

IMCA is pleased to welcome Jim Cullen as its new Technical Director. Jim has around 30 years’ experience in the marine contracting industry as an engineer, project manager, and project director and HSEQ director. This included working internationally on projects in the UK, South Korea, Canada, Azerbaijan, and Angola. He joined the Brown & Root graduate engineer development scheme in 1990, advancing through the organisation and working on onshore and offshore projects. In 2006, Jim joined Subsea 7 in their London office as part of the core team establishing a new engineering and project management centre. In the subsequent 10-year

IMCA welcomes new communications lead

IMCA welcomes a new communications lead, James Ketchell. James joins as head of communications and marketing and has around two decades of experience working in a variety of sectors, most recently with membership associations in the UK.He was previously head of communications at the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) which represents the companies which design, deliver, and manage the UK’s built environment and national infrastructure. Alongside this, he also led activity for its sister organisation, the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) which represents companies working in environmental technology and services. Separately, he has held a role as national media manager

IMCA CEO Allen Leatt to retire in 2023

After 46 years working in the industry, Allen Leatt, CEO of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), is retiring in 2023. As a result, he will be stepping down from his position. The work to find his successor is already underway with a small nomination committee of the board overseeing the process and making recommendations to the full board. A specialist third party executive search company has been retained to conduct the search process on IMCA’s behalf. The process will be finalised later in the year once a suitable successor has been identified. More details will be shared with IMCA

Award for IMCA’s Andy Goldsmith

A delighted, and surprised, Captain Andy Goldsmith, Marine Technical Adviser at the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) was presented with the Honourable Mention Award 2021 last week at the  Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference, Exhibition & Awards by Edwin Lampert, Executive Editor & Head of Business Relations, Riviera Maritime Media. The citation read: ‘Thank you for your onshore and offshore support. On behalf of a grateful industry and with very best wishes on your retirement, we’re delighted to make this presentation” Andy Goldsmith will not retire until the spring of 2022, but this is the last Riviera/OSJ conference at which he

IMCA Diving Experience Enhanced

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is pleased to announce that Phil Towers has joined the team as Technical Adviser – Diving. Phil Towers has extensive experience in the subsea construction industry having held diving roles with operators BP, ExxonMobil, Qatargas and Repsol Sinopec. A major part of his career was spent with what is now known as TechnipFMC as a discipline expert in their Diving and Operations Support Group, sharing project information and lessons learned, providing assurance to clients in the safe planning and best practice execution of projects. Phil was a working diver for 18 years working on

IMCA in the Asia-Pacific Region

IMCA is pleased to announce that Darren Brunton will be assisting the Association’s member and client engagement programme in Asia-Pacific from January 2020. This builds upon the success of a network of highly experienced oilfield executives assisting IMCA on a part-time basis by engaging with oil companies, wind energy companies, and member companies in North America, Europe & Africa, and the Middle East and India regions. Darren knows IMCA extremely well by virtue of his close contact with various committees of the Association. In particular, his contribution over the years to the Diving Division Management Committee. Allen Leatt, IMCA CEO,

IMCA Diving Technical Team Expanded

Ali Macleod has joined the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) as Technical Adviser – Diving, having spent over six months with the association as Diving Training Provider Auditor. Prior to this he was the Diver Training Manager at The Underwater Centre in Fort William for over 20 years. IMCA’s Diving Manager, Bryan McGlinchy stated: “We are delighted to welcome Ali to the technical team. He has a passion and a reputation in the diving industry for delivering high quality training to members of the diving community. “He is a qualified Air and Closed bell Diver, a Dive Supervisor and highly

IMCA Appoints Electrical Specialist To Technical Team

Reza Yaghoobi has joined the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) as Technical Adviser – Marine specialising in DP electrical, control and automation. He has joined the global trade association from London Energy where he was Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering Manager. He has previously worked for Berry Plastics Corporation, GNEC, Braemar Shipping and Monenco. Mark Ford, Technical Director, IMCA stated “We are delighted to welcome Reza to the technical team he is IMCA’s first Technical Adviser with specialist electrical knowledge. His career spans three decades and includes experience working both onshore and offshore in the renewables, conventional and worldwide energy industries.