Michael Grey News

On Monday 20th of April 2015, Michael Grey of Lloyds List published the article "Name-calling bullies" where he outlined his opposition to the idea of banning beaching and gave reasons why such a decision would be impractical and unethical for the ship recycling industry. In fact, throughout his article he stressed the improvements of safety and environmental standards which have taken place in facilities in the Indian subcontinent and highlighted the fact that these improvements had been witnessed during a fact-finding visit to Alang, India, by a delegation of Japanese industry and government officials organised by GMS. In his article there are few other arguments worth highlighting…

Maritime experts are torn on how to curb the menace of overweight shipping containers, which cause severe accidents at sea and on the roads. The difficulties of resolving false declarations of the weight and content of boxes were underlined during a panel discussion at the WISTA-UK Liverpool Forum. WISTA-UK is encouraging debate on the critical question of container weight. The forum audience was informed that insurers estimate that 20% of containers crossing seas and highways are overweight…

The private ISWAN event on 21 November will take place in an appropriately maritime venue: The Ward Room of the HMS "President", a former Royal Navy warship docked in London and converted to a club and event space. George, the author of the acclaimed book, "Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Brings You 90% of Everything," published in September 2013, is a lecturer and former ship master who received the MBE in 2000 for services to maritime safety. George spent five weeks on a containership while researching "Deep Sea and Foreign Going," which describes the challenging working conditions onboard commercial ships. Her book has received attention both inside and outside the shipping industry for raising awareness of seafarers' welfare.

More than 250 top-level delegates attended trade association Interferry’s 38th annual conference in Malta to debate the major factors affecting ferry operations around the world. Under a new format mixing presentations with panel discussions and audience input, the event underlined the diversity of political, technical, operational and commercial issues challenging the industry. Among several sessions focused on safety, a former airline pilot confirmed the alarming certainty of human error…

A ferry operator’s experience of ‘the fastest ship in the world’ will feature among the cutting-edge initiatives being aired at Interferry’s 38th annual conference in Malta from October 5-9. The trade association event gives South American operator Buquebus a first opportunity to showcase the commercial and technical benefits of its revolutionary newbuild Francisco. Delivered in August from Australian builder Incat Tasmania, the catamaran is the world’s first high speed dual fuel ro-ro to use LNG as its primary fuel. Incat made the “fastest ship” claim after sea trials in June.

The impact of the current financial crisis topped the agenda at the inaugural Seoul International Maritime and Shipbuilding conference held during the week of Nov. 3. Organized by the Korean Register of Shipping and attended by around 150 leading industry representatives from the owning, building and classification sectors, this event was a forum to debate the current issues facing the industry. Conference keynoter, Lee Jae-Gyoon, vice minister at the ministry of land, transport and maritime affairs, admitted that the current economic downturn had hit harder than forecast but that Korea was well prepared to weather the storm. Mr. Lee…

The fourth "Parallel Event" to celebrate World Maritime Day formally and officially outside of the International Maritime Organization's London base was held in Greece on 19 and 20 September, hosted by the Government of the Hellenic Republic. On 19 September, Athens was the location for a seminar and panel discussion on the theme of IMO: 60 years in the service of shipping, in which leading figures from the maritime community took the opportunity to outline, from their perspective, their views on the past, present and future of IMO and the shipping industry. On 20 September, the International Memorial to the Wife of the Seafarer was unveiled in the town of Galaxidi, by the Secretary-General of IMO, Mr. Efthimios E.