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Hong Kong Branch Report 2018
A very warm welcome to all the Member and Guest’s at the 2018 AGM of the “Hong Kong branch of the Nautical Institute”.
Vice Chairman Captain Paul, Secretary Captain Amit, our dear Committee members – Welcome to this meeting! As my term in office comes to an end – I would like to thank each one of you’ll for all the support you’ll have given me during these past years. Special thanks to all of you, it has been a pleasure and an honour as well as a learning experience to serve as Chairman of the Nautical Institute.
To give a brief report of the year gone by since our last branch AGM held on 9th June 2017.
In June, long-time committee member Arthur Bowring FNI was awarded the Medal of Honour in the local Bauhinia Awards – Hong Kong’s equivalent to the Honors List in the UK. This prestigious award was in recognition of his excellent service in running the Hong Kong Shipowners Association for many years, and helping to establish Hong Kong as a major maritime center.
In September committee member John Wilson was involved in arranging a Nautical Assessor course in Hong Kong, which was well-attended.
It was decided not to hold any events prior to the Biennial seminar.
In November we held our full-day biennial seminar – the event which raises the funds for us to operate for the next two years and also to make substantial donations to local charities, Mission to Seafarers.
This year’s topic was ‘Safe Manning On Board Ships’ and attracted more than 100 delegates despite the competing events which were also part of HK Maritime Week. The organizing committee lead by John Wilson and Arthur Bowring as Co- Chairs, and including Hans Langsrud, Shiraz Mogul, Suresh Anand, Luca Ferrerio, and Petty Leung. Thank you for your time and effort, it has not gone un-noticed. The organizing committee managed to secure the services of Michael Grey as moderator of the seminar, the highlight of which was probably the debate on the motion ‘This house believes that manning levels should be determined by the IMO’. We were joined by over 20 students from the Hong Kong Maritime Service Training Institute (MSTI).
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the companies and organizations that have traditionally supported us over the years and enabled us to arrange evening presentations and cocktail events free of charge for all. Their support allows us to make donations to the Mission to Seafarers and provide sponsorship for local Hong Kong Cadets. The institute and members are also actively involved in providing support to the local Hong Kong cadets both by way of sponsorships and teaching support.
In other activities, the branch has ordered a number of NIHK plaques for sale to members and we continue to engage with the local community. John Wilson continues to serve on the government’s Pilotage Advisory Committee, and CPD champion Suresh Anand has been actively engaging with local maritime students. Alan Loynd is a CHIRP and MARS ambassador for the region and was recently appointed a Marine Advisor by CHIRP Maritime.
Marso Law continues to run MPPF, a charity which supports local cadets with financial assistance and teaching courses as well as attempting to attract more youngsters to consider a career at sea. Petty Leung and other committee members support him in this work, and the branch makes an annual donation.
A Discussion on the proposal of NI HQ AGM for 2019 was held.
An update was given to the members for the proposal towards the NI HK branch conducting the NI AGM in 2019. It was conveyed that the NI HQ is keen for the branch to conduct the event and the proposals from the NI HQ were shared with the committee members.
As part of the preliminary discussion following have been agreed to be proposed to the NI HQ.
- The dates have been agreed for 30th and 31st May 2019
- The venue has been agreed for Maritime Museum Hong Kong. JW shall block the dates with the museum.
- Members agreed to propose the theme to AB for further discussion amongst the committee member.
- JW shall provide a high level budget for the event to be communicated to the NI HQ.
Following were also proposed
- The NI dinner on the 1st of the AGM to be exclusive for the attendees at the AGM and their partners
- A cocktail was proposed for the 2nd day of the AGM which can be considered to be a bigger event for networking
We are grateful to the American P&I Club for their sponsorship and to Stephenson Harwood for help with the venue. Their support has been invaluable to the NI over the years our sincere thank you.
I wish all Good health – Calm and Safe voyages – to our colleagues at sea.
Capt. Carlos Antao AFNI