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News & Views - The TMI-BITS DLC Newsletter

August 2006 Issue 03/2006

Editor's Note

The earth still takes 365 days to go around the sun and 24 hours to rotate about its own axis. But technology has not remained dormant. It is advancing rapidly. Many hypothesis and theories of yesterday are no longer valid today. New materials and newer applications are being discovered every day and put into practice.

TMI, Mumbai is no exception to this phenomenon and committed to the Continuous Professional Development (CPD). Towards this end, Capt P. S. Barve, the Course Co-ordinator with the active support and help of Mr. S Venkiteswaran, Senior Advocate, Mr. R. S. Cooper, Ex President of Federation of Bombay Steamer Agents’ Association, Mr Robin Sathaye of Crow Boda and Dr. K V Hariharan, Maritime Expert and Adjunct Faculty of this Institute has designed and developed a Distance learning Course on “P & I and Risk Management Course” of six month’s duration.

Objectives of the course are:

To develop a clear understanding of risk management and loss prevention and the role-played by the general insurance industry in this respect amongst the personnel in the marine industry.
To understand the ways the P&I clubs work and the processes of mutuality that they practice.
To understand how the marine industry other than ship owning industry, (intermediaries) in general, receives the benefit of the insurance arrangements provided by the insurance providing companies and underwriters through fixed as well as mutual premiums insurance.
To understand the legal provisions that supports the various provisions relating to Insurance, Civil Liability, Pollution Liabilities, and Carriage of Cargoes on Board Ships, Multimodal Transport etc.
To understand how risk management and loss prevention benefits the industry in general and how it would help the safety and security on board the ship as well as ashore.

The course was formally inaugurated on 17 Aug 06 by Dr N P Tolani, Chairman of Tolani Education Foundation and Dr Mrs. Sujata Naik, Vice Chairperson Governing Council of TMI at the Royal Bombay Yachts Club, Mumbai. A large number of Dignitaries from the industry attended the function. The First batch of 35 students consisting of Master Mariners, Chief Engineers, Commercial Managers, Educationist & Surveyors, who have enrolled for the course also attended this function.

The next course will commence from 4th November 2006 for which admission is now open. For further details and information please click here to read about the course on this website.

– Editor

Treatment of Persons Rescued at Sea - New Regime enters into Force

On 1st July 2006 amendments to two IMO Conventions entered into force. The amendments, concerning the treatment of persons rescued at sea, are particularly timely in view of several recent incidents involving migrants and refugees unwittingly involved in accidents at sea.

The amendments also add a new regulation concerning a ship master's discretion, which states that "the owner, the charterer, the company operating the ship… or any other person shall not prevent or restrict the master of the ship from taking or executing any decision which, in the master's professional judgement, is necessary for safety of life at sea and protection of the marine environment."
Related Guidelines on the treatment of persons rescued at sea, also adopted in May 2004, provide guidance with regard to humanitarian obligations and obligations under the relevant international law.

The timeliness of the entry into force of the new IMO amendments has been emphasized by the rising death toll among migrants and asylum seekers attempting sea passages, often in unseaworthy and overcrowded vessels.

Every year, thousands of migrants and asylum seekers undertake perilous journeys at sea in search of safety, refuge from persecution, or simply better economic conditions. IMO's prime concern with respect to the rescue of those involved in incidents during such journeys was that, unless the matter was considered in all its aspects and appropriate action was taken, there might be a negative impact on the integrity of the global search and rescue system which the Organization had put in place.

New menace

A couple of years back a mate on the bridge became so occupied on a radio call to his mother-in-law that he let the ship run aground on an island in the Great Barrier Reef. The ship's owners had to foot a hefty fine, the mate himself was convicted in a local court, and the vessel's repairs attracted a bill of over a million dollars.

But now a fresh menace has surfaced. The personal phone.

It has been reported that a lengthy text messaging session by a ship's officer sufficiently distracted him from watch keeping duty that his container vessel ran aground.

An investigation was carried out by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), which is aware of other incidents & accidents related to mobile phone use. The MAIB has been critical of poor watch keeping and navigational practices that had developed on the vessel, with neither the master nor company having a policy on the use of mobile phones on the bridge.

Measures to Prevent Accidents with Lifeboats

The Maritime Safety Committee, had considered the issue of the unacceptably high number of accidents with lifeboats in which crew were being injured, sometimes fatally, while participating in lifeboat drills and/or inspections, and noted that most accidents fell under the following categories:

Failure of on-load release mechanism;
Inadvertent operation of on-load release mechanism;
Inadequate maintenance of lifeboats, davits and launching equipment;
Communication failures;
Lack of familiarity with lifeboats, davits, equipment and associated controls;
Unsafe practices during lifeboat drills and inspections; and
Design faults other than on-load release mechanisms.

Pending further consideration of the problem, the Committee recommended that:

On-load release equipment used on ships flying their flag is in full compliance with the requirements of IMO Circ. MSC.1/circ 1206.
All appropriate documentation for the maintenance and adjustment of lifeboats, launching appliances and associated equipment is available on board.
Personnel undertaking inspections, maintenance and adjustment of lifeboats, launching appliances and associated equipment are fully trained and familiar with these duties.
Maintenance of lifeboats, launching appliances and associated equipment is carried out in accordance with approved established procedures.
Lifeboat drills are conducted in accordance with SOLAS regulation III/19.3.3 to ensure that ship’s personnel will be able to safely embark and launch the lifeboats in an emergency.
Personnel undertaking maintenance and repair activities are appropriately qualified.
Hanging-off pennants should only be used for maintenance purposes and not during training exercises.
All tests required for the design and approval of life-saving appliances are conducted rigorously, according to the guidelines developed.
The equipment is easily accessible for inspections and maintenance and is proven durable in harsh operational conditions.

lessons in Logic

Never put off the work till tomorrow
What you can put off today.
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The more you learn, the more you know,
The more you know, the more you forget,
The more you forget, the less you know
So…. Why learn???
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Every man should marry.
After all, happiness is not only thing in life.
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“Work fascinates me”
I can look at it for hours.
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Shipboard Structured Training Programme

As per the revised instructions, all the cadets presently undergoing Shipboard Structured Training Programme are now required to adhere to the following procedures while writing of CRB Tasks and getting the Cadet Record Book scrutinised by this Institute:

CRB Tasks

Cadets have to complete CRB Tasks from sections 1,2,3,4,5 and 9 in all respects (including explanation in journals) on board the ship only and obtain signature of STO/Master of the ship together with the date on which they have completed. Tasks, which cannot be done in practice on board the ship, are to be done theoretically and the signature of STO/CTO should be obtained in the Cadet Record Book against each such task.
All 16--familiarisation tasks of Cadet Record Book are to be marked in the Quarterly Report as and when completed. Same are to be repeated subsequently on every ship he serves and marked accordingly in the Quarterly Report of the respective quarter and signature of STO obtained in the Cadet Record Book against each task. If such tasks are either not marked in the Quarterly Report or not done on every ship and not obtained signatures of STO against each of the above tasks in Cadet Record Book, the Quarterly Reports are liable to be rejected which may ultimately create difficulties in endorsement of SSTP certificate.

CRB Quarterly Report:

CRB Quarterly Reports to be sent at the end of each completed quarter of sea service duly signed by STO/Master to this Institute for verification and for onward transmission to the Assessment Centre, LBS CAMSAR

Submission of Cadet Record Book to the Institute for Scrutiny

On submission of all Journals and Test Papers of Semester C, a cadet should submit duly completed Cadet Record Book to this Institute for scrutiny along with Sea Service Certificate, an extract of CDC containing sea service record, photocopy of INDos certificate or receipt and DD for Rs. 500/- if already not remitted.
Once the CRB is found to be in order, the Institute will prepare the SSTP certificate in triplicate, each of which is required to be signed by the cadet and his photograph affixed on it. On completion of this, certificates will be sent to Assessment Centre, LBS CAMSAR for endorsement, which takes about three week’s time to return the duly endorsed SSTP certificate to this Institute.

Time is not the issue, Priority is.

What a waste of time! The most common phrase at the tip of everyone’s tongue. Life is a simple series of all the difficult choices we make. Making a choice is nothing but deciding to devote our time, energy and mind to a certain cause. This is where the word ‘priority’ comes into the picture. Choosing something over another is giving something priority, giving something importance, giving something a part of our life.

Often we may think, ‘Oh! I don’t have time for that.’ This is a trap we set for ourselves. We push ourselves into thinking ourselves as inadequate whereas we are inadequate only in one aspect: ‘Perspective.’

By perspective, I mean, we don’t prioritize with vision. We fail to think in the long-term point of view. Short-term benefits seem more appealing, more attractive. This is where we have to draw the line and say this is more important to my life and me.

Be it your career or family or social life, only a no to something will yield a positive result elsewhere. For example, a busy jet setting executive father of four children may decide to cut down his job responsibilities to devote more time to his children’s development. Here he prioritizes smartly. He decides that his family is more important to him than his job and money.
In the same way it could be anyone of us at any time of our life. We can apply this simple axiom to every sphere of our life. Even God Almighty gives us just 24 hours to manage all our tasks and responsibilities. To put it simply how many of us give up our hobbies and interests to make way for our increasing responsibilities. Here we draw the line between leisure and work.
But all this is what we do for our growth, to satisfy our tastes. There is one more factor to consider in each person’s life and that is what we do for our society. Every person at some time in his life must think and introspect as to what he or she has done in return for what the society has given us. This should be one of the top most priorities in a person’s life. If we save up all the few minutes we have to spare in a day, we have the time to volunteer for community work. It’s basically the feeling of being part of the society and the desire to do something for its betterment that counts.

So the bottom line is, Time is never the issue, Priority is!!!!!!!!

So Plan, Prioritize and make the situation a

Win-Win situation.

Research Programme Methodology

As per the curriculum of the Degree in Nautical Sciences programme, all students are required to attend the Research Methodology Programme before they commence their Semester H. This Institute depending on the availability of the students generally conducts the programme once in a quarter.

The next programme is scheduled to be conducted at this institute from 27 to 29 Sep ‘06. All students presently studying in Semester D, E, F and G are eligible to attend. Students are therefore advised to confirm their availability to attend this programme at the earliest.

In case a student is not able to attend the programme as per above schedule, he is advised to indicate his time availability to attend the same to enable us plan the next programme in November 2006.

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