1. OCIMF launches barge inspection programme
2. Recording angel
3. Gold standard
4. Flipped
1. OCIMF launches barge inspection programme
THE Oil Companies International Maritime Forum has announced that its ship inspection and reporting programme (SIRE) is to be extended to cover barge inspections from October this year. The new system will cover all vessels that are used to carry oil, chemical and gas cargoes, including those carrying road tankers and packaged containers.
There are approximately 20,000 barges worldwide carrying petroleum, chemicals and liquid gases in ports and inland waterways that will now be covered by the new programme. SIRE will also now allow a greater number of parties to submit and receive reports. In general, this will extend to those companies that charter vessels on a regular basis or receive vessels at their terminals. The now greatly expanded coverage of SIRE should assist responsible charterers in their continuing goal to improve safety and prevent pollution during the waterborne transport of oil, chemical and gas cargoes, says Jan Kopernicki, Chairman of OCIMF.
www.ocimf.com
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2. Recording angel
IN the light of several cases where companies have been prosecuted for vast sums of money for not filling in oil record books correctly, Intertanko has published a guide to doing just that. It explains what needs to go where, and shows samples of correctly filled out sections for the entire form. There is also a rundown of MARPOL regulations, a list of all operations to be recorded, and an explanation of common errors. Probably useful not only to those working onboard ship, but also to lawyers looking to find out exactly where the strengths or weaknesses in their clients’ defence lies.
Like all Intertanko publications, this does not come cheap, but at $100 to non-members, it is a snip compared to the six-figure fines that can be the alternative.
A Guide for correct entries in the Oil Record book can be ordered online from Intertanko.
www.intertanko.com
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3. Gold standard
BEN Ainslie’s Olympic gold medal for sailing was a matter of celebration for most people in the UK, particularly for sponsors Collyer Bristow. But there will be at least one who watched the medal ceremony with a certain amount of chagrin. Richards Butler sponsored Mark Buckley and Leigh McMillan in the Tornado class. Both law firms were so confident of their teams’ success that they agreed the senior partner of whichever sponsor came lowest in the rankings would spend a day as postboy in the other firm. Unfortunately for Roger Parker, managing partner at Richards Butler, Buckley and McMillan didn’t do quite so well. So at some point in the next two weeks, Parker will be heading off to Collyer Bristow’s mailroom for the day.
Richards Butler have taken it in good part, though. “Buckley and McMillan came 13th,” admits a Richards Butler spokesman. “That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room.”
www.richardsbutler.co.uk
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4. Flipped
YOUR correspondent was interested to read of an art exhibition in South Africa, appropriately called Flip, where all the paintings have been hung back to front. It turns out this is not a move to deter thieves by making it difficult to tell which painting is which, but an initiative to “challenge people’s preconceptions about art”. Whilst there are some paintings that probably deserve to be hung face to the wall, this was an exhibition of Dutch old masters.
At the Maritime Advocate, we have always believed that art is meant to be looked at. But we are obviously wrong. “I am trying to refigure the notion of what a museum is all about,” says curator Andre Lamprecht. In this case, the answer may be to go straight to the cafe.
wizard@merlinco.com
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Questions of the Week
Why is it that, no matter what colour bubble bath you use, the bubbles are always white?
Why do people keep going to the fridge in the hope that something new to eat will have materialised?
Why do people keep running over a piece of cotton a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give their vacuum one more chance?
In winter, why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end you first try?
Why do we never hear any father-in-law jokes?
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Cat headline of the week
US cat losses down – Catastrophe Risk Management
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Wildlife headlines of the week
Zebra battery earns its stripes – Lloyds List
New charger for Wolf – Motorship
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Unlikely statistic of the week
The unlovely Trabant is now the third-most stolen vehicle in Germany