"April marked the beginning of a period of change in the staffing of the Secretariat. After Easter we welcomed Jeremy Hudson (Shell) who arrived to begin a handover from Pierre Karsenti as Deputy Director and Chief Representative to the IMO."
Director’s Log
April has seen the completion of the first series of Committee meetings with both the Ports and Terminals Committee (PTC) and the Legal Committee holding meetings.
I attended both events and was greatly encouraged by the large number of members attending and the quality and depth of debate. The PTC in particular are engaged with seeking solutions to several complex issues that have been contributing factors to marine terminal incidents both on and offshore. It was a great illustration of what OCIMF is all about – early identification of issues, bring the required technical expertise together, and seek effective solutions to stop the problem reoccurring.
The Legal Committee also met in the final week of the month providing diligent oversight to the actions and activities of the forum to ensure the technical work undertaken by our Committees and working groups is always sound and beyond reproach.
At the IMO the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Funds met. It is a good performance indicator for the industry in that there now remains only a very small number of open cases with no new ones being added. The changing industry, in particular the growth of offshore oil exploration and production, has led to the development of new technologies including ship-shaped vessels whose purpose falls beyond the customary use of ships. This had led to a very complex debate at IOPC Funds to define what a ship is and does in today’s industry.
In Europe, joint-working groups of organisations engaged in the transport of hydrocarbons commenced work on a revision of the International Safety Guide for Inland Navigation Tank-Barges and Terminals (ISGINTT). As one of the founding organisations of the guide OCIMF will be involved and closely monitoring the objectives of the proposed revision. Closer to home, the Barge working group, held their inaugural meeting at the request of the General Purposes Committee (GPC). The high-level objective of this group is to identify ways to harmonise the barge standards, to set an international expectation and improve the safety and environmental track record of the sector. The aim of the first meeting was to define the scope and order of work required.
April marked the beginning of a period of change in the staffing of the Secretariat. After Easter we welcomed Jeremy Hudson (Shell) who arrived to begin a handover from Pierre Karsenti as Deputy Director and Chief Representative to the IMO. Handover complete we bade a fond farewell to Pierre last week, who returns to his parent company Total and retirement. All staff will join me in wishing Pierre and his wife Anne the very best for the future.
We have operated with temporary administration cover for much of the last twelve months; May will see the return of Rebecca Harrison from maternity leave. We will also see the arrival of Joe Megeed from ConocoPhillips to begin a handover from Chris Brown as Technical Adviser Engineering and Andrew Cassels from BP to begin a handover from myself. Andrew will take the helm as OCIMF Director at Excom 75 on 10 June.
Captain David Cotterell
Ports and Terminals Committee
The Ports and Terminals Committee (PTC) met on the 14-15 April 2015 for its 82nd meeting at the St. Regis Hotel in Houston.
30 participants from 19 member companies participated in the meeting, and the activities discussed included the four new working groups that have been initiated:
- Single Point Mooring station keeping and suitability of towing vessels (Information Paper).
- Insulating flange and gasket kit testing and equipment (Information Paper).
- Management of offshore terminal flush water (IMO submission).
- Marine Breakaway coupling (update of Information Paper).
Since the 81st meeting of the Ports and Terminals Committee in October 2014, the following documents have been released:
- Competency Assessment Guidelines for Mooring, Loading and Lightering Masters (January 2015).
The 83rd meeting of the Ports and Terminals Committee will be held in London on the 13-14 October 2015.
PTC in the flesh
Bottom row - left to right: Eric Vincent (Hess Corporation), Sterling Camp (Conoco Phillips), Eduardo Gallegos (PMI), David Cotterell (OCIMF), Bill Crabbs - Phillips 66 (Chairman), Michael Sitts (Chevron), Will Doolittle (BP) and Raj Shetty (OCIMF).
Middle Row - left to right: Steve Carr (Nustar), William Asante (Exxon Mobil), Juan Baltazar (PMI), Deb Cobb (Tesoro), Imran Khan (Excelerate), Arjan Maijenburg (Shell), Syed Ali (ENOC), Salvatore Bianca (ENI) and Joe Megeed (Conoco Phillips).
Top row - left to right: Ted Bradfield (Phillips 66), Tony Pollock (Ineos), Derek Thompson (Phillips 66), Patrick Vatenat (Total), Luciano Maldonado (Petrobras), Andrew Dogherty (BG), Frank-Jan Thijssen (Vopak), Andy Glass - BP (Vice Chairman), Alex Van Dusen (OCIMF), Kevan McGregor (Shell) and Daniel Hughey (IMT/Sea River).
SIRE North America Cat 3 new inspector/refresher course
SIRE North America Cat 3 New Inspectors and refresher course for existing inspectors was held in Houston from 7-9 April 2015.
Six new inspectors and eighteen Cat 3 existing inspectors attended the course. On the second day the course was combined for new and existing inspectors as a refresher. Inspectors were brought up to date with matters of changes and improvements implemented to the SIRE CAT3 inspection process. An extensive presentation and discussion were held relating to the quality of SIRE inspection reports and feedback system and inspection ethic and behaviour matters.
New Deputy Director/Chief Representative to the IMO
Jeremy Hudson joined OCIMF as Deputy Director and Chief Representative to the IMO in April 2015.
Prior to joining OCIMF, Jeremy started his career at sea with Reardon Smith Line and between 1978 and 1988 Jeremy served in the ranks of Deck Cadet to Master on a variety of ship types, including General Cargo, geared and non-geared Bulk Carriers, Ro-Ro’s, PCC’s, container ships and heavy lift vessels.
Jeremy then joined Shell serving on Crude and product tankers. Since 1992 he has been working ashore in various operational, commercial and project roles, including Fleet Manager for Shell’s Argentinean fleet, Fleet manager of Shell’s international oil fleet, Regional Marine manager for Latin America & Caribbean and team lead for Crude freight operations, cargo / shipping claims and cargo documentation. Most recently he has acted as business lead for implementing Shell’s new maritime standard including the design, development and implementation of a new Global Maritime Assurance System.
As well as being a Master Mariner, Jeremy became a chartered Shipbroker in 1997. Jeremy is also a RYA accredited and active senior sailing instructor for dinghies and powerboats as well as being an executive officer of Guildford Junior Ice Hockey Club.
New IT Systems & Products Contracts Manager
Fabiano Dias joined OCIMF as the IT Systems & Products Contracts Manager in April 2015.
Fabiano will be managing the service contracts for Internal IT Systems, including all outsourced services, as well as the service contracts for TMSA and MTIS and the structural content. He will also manage access permissions for OCIMF’s SharePoint extranet site.
2015 OVID Training Schedule
Offshore Vessel Inspection Database (OVID) new inspector courses
- 6-8 October in Abu Dhabi venue to be announced.
- 2-4 November in Singapore venue to be announced.
As a reminder if you would like to attend New Inspector Course, we will not accept inspector applications directly. You will need to apply via one of our Member Companies, who will then sponsor your application.
OVID refresher courses
- New Orleans – 24-25 June - still seats available for this course. To be held at the Royal Omni Orleans Hotel
- Singapore - 16-17 September
- London – 17-18 November
To register for these courses please send an email to
To be eligible to attend a 2015 OVID refresher course you must meet the following criteria:
- You must already be an existing OVID inspector.
- Within the last 12 months prior to your accreditation expiry date.
- Must be in compliance with the annual minimum inspection requirement.
Regional Panels: Dates for your diary
