19th IMPA CONGRESS BANGKOK (4th – 6th August 2008)

December 9th, 2008 by JCB
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19th IMPA Congress

Bangkok 4th - 6th August 2008

Note that papers are available on the IMPA & UKMPA web sites at

http://www.impahq.org/ & http://www.ukmpa.org/

I attended the congress as part of the UK delegation accompanied by Joe Wilson

John Pretswell and fellow executive member John Pearn (Milford Haven).

Former IMPA president and retired Tees pilot, Geoff Taylor, also attended.

With the underlying theme of “PILOTS – MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER” The event was hosted by the Thai pilots.

Delegates numbered 176 from 41 countries accompanied by 96 guests (spouses, partners etc.) the largest contingent being from Canada who formed a party of 18 pilots.

Unfortunately, IMPA President Michael Watson (USA) was unable to attend owing to a prolonged illness which at short notice ultimately prevented him from undertaking the necessary long flight to Bangkok. It is pleasing to report that he is on the road to recovery. Senior Vice President Otavio Fragoso (Brasil) was thus placed in

the challenging position (with little warning) of having to conduct proceedings. A task, which it was acknowledged at conference close, he performed admirably.

Day 1

Commenced with the traditional opening ceremony and a number of opening addresses, significantly that from Honorary President HRH King Juan Carlos of Spain which was read by his envoy, Manuel Nogueira, head of the Spanish delegation to the IMO. The rest of the day was spent with presentations on The Regulation and Use of Portable Pilot Units and environmental issues and their impact on various aspects of pilotage.

Day 2

Started with reports on the external work of IMPA. Secretary General, Nick Cutmore reported on various matters including our work at IMO http://www.ukmpa.org/active/file/423/10._Report_of_Secretary_General_on_IMO.doc

Vice President Rodolphe Striga (France) reported on his work with IALA and e-navigation and I presented a report on my work with PIANC.

The rest of the morning was spent on aspects of Pilots’ personal safety. A variety of papers were presented, some it has to be said left a lot to be be improved on. However, one of important significance was presented by Yeong Sig Choi, (S. Korea) on the urgent need for IMO regulation of Pilot Ladder stowage reels, their construction, maintenance and location. http://www.ukmpa.org/active/file/424/13._Capt_Choi_Presentation.doc

This is work which will be taken forward by IMPA at IMO as the recently debated paper on Pilot Ladders presented by IMPA at NAV54 is progressed.

After lunch, the first of three closed sessions of conference was held. Strategic planning and IMPA values, beliefs and goals were the themes. It was a constructive afternoon with some valuable discussion.

Perhaps as may have been expected to arise at some stage during the week, the Cosco Busan incident reared its head. It would be inappropriate to elaborate now since the whole case is still sub-judicae however, to summarise, the USA delegation expressed their displeasure with a letter published in Lloyds list earlier this year from the Australian Pilots’ Association (re-published in the latest UK Pilot magazine) which criticised certain aspects of the USA Pilots’ Association’s actions in dealing with the incident and its implications. (As a matter of interest, John Cota the San Francisco pilot involved was present at congress but not as a part of the USA Pilots’ Association delegation). The final part of the closed session concerned a report to congress

on the completed review of membership application criteria and the process to be followed by the Secretariat and Executive in dealing with applications for membership and the collection of subscriptions.

Day 4,

Followed a lay-day excursion out of the city, commenced with a technical session during which papers were presented a diversity of subjects including the Master Pilot Exchange, Port State Control in Thailand and VTMIS developments. Again, some of the papers being presented were a little challenging. The high-spot of this session though was an excellent presentation by Dirk Vaels (Belgium) on the joint training project being undertaken with the Panama Canal pilots as part of the Canal expansion project. After coffee, the session titled Modernisation-the Human Element included a variety of papers on the often overlooked but important aspects of pilotage not involving navigation or ship handling. Notably amongst these papers was a presentation by Ravi Nijjer – a highly respected Australian marine consultant on the various aspects of modernising pilotage.

The afternoon was again a closed session, this time concentrating on competition in pilotage with the experiences of various countries concerning the impact it has had on safety and efficiency. This was followed by what was probably the most useful of all the sessions, Pilot Associations and their relationships with Government. Of particular note were the French paper presented by Jacques Sauban and the Candian paper by Simon Pelletier. The French paper gave an illustration of the actual cost of running a national association. Effectively, the 340 self employed pilots make individual contributions of 0.9% of a pilot station’s income which provides a staff of two full time off roster pilots, a legal adviser and 2 secretarial staff. Not cheap but very effective! The Canadian example was similar.

In simple terms, one gets what one pays for!

Day 5.

As usual, the last day was a complete closed session, in effect the IMPA AGM. Following the Secretary General’s address wherein he explained the day to day working of the IMPA secretariat, the election of the executive officers was held. There were three routine vice president vacancies to be filled with 7 candidates. I and others feel that IMPA needs to address the manner in which it handles the whole process of these elections and the presentation of candidates. I’m not sure that they would have met with the full approval of an independent observer! The Cosco Busan issue earlier in the week clearly influenced the electoral process creating a significant political rift of two camps within the assembly. Other factors were also prevalent which it would be improper to comment on in this report. The end result was the re-election of Steve Pelecanos (Australia) into post with election of the Canadian Simon Pelletier and Stig Thomsen

(Denmark). The ballot is secret with the vote count remaining confidential. I have no real idea as to how near (or far) my electoral nomination was to success. I can honestly report though that there were a significant number of delegates who expressed to me open surprise and disappointment at the result.

The same session also approved a resolution which resolved that “IMPA urges all members to investigate low CO2 output buildings, plant, service craft ad service vehicles as a matter of priority”.

The day was rounded off with a number of national reports and presentations regarding the 20th Congress (Brisbane) October 2010, 21st (London) 2012, 22nd (Panama) 2014 and 23rd (Seoul) 2016 congresses followed by various votes of thanks etc.

Don Cockrill (London) UKMPA’s IMPA representative