Seaways – May 2019

32   | Seaways | May 2019 Read Seaways online at http://www.nautinst.org/seaways

A round-up of news and events from NI branches across the world.

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Branch activities

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US WEST COAST

Î The NI Cadet Club at the California State

University Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime)

started up in November 2016 as part of a

West Coast US branch effort to sponsor

cadet AMNIs – matching Chevron Shipping’s

sponsorship of the cadets they accepted into

their internship programme.

After a few false starts we signed up

around 35 cadets who were interested in the

NI. Of these, 14 came to the first organising

meetings in October-November 2017. In the

early part of 2018 the student government

body, Associated Students of California

Maritime Academy, finally approved the club,

and the first official membership roster grew

to include the 15 cadets whose memberships

were signed at Council in April 2018.

All the cadet members were provided

with copies of the NI Shiphandling Logbook,

and they went off on their summer training

cruises in 2018. On their return we met again

and started organising local field trips. In late

2018, cadet members attended a talk at the

International Maritime Center (formerly the

Stella Maris/Apostleship of the Sea Seamans’

Center) at the port of Oakland, and a few

subsequently volunteered to help with some

grounds work there. We also volunteered

to help the IMC staff stuff Christmas bags for

seafarers visiting the port.

The cadets organised a visit to Pier 9, the

operations base for the San Francisco Bar

Pilots; several cadet members and myself

were asked to accompany the bar pilots to the

formal Maritime Ball at the Palace Hotel in San

Francisco. This ball is the gala fundraising event

for the SF Maritime National Park Association,

which helps support the maritime museum

here; it is attended by all the major players in

the regional maritime industry. As the year

drew to a close and the semester ended, the

cadets were in the process of organising a visit

to the Chevron Long Wharf.

In January 2019, club president Flora van der

Schoot AMNI was the second keynote speaker

at our Branch technical seminar and dinner

(Seaways, March 2019). This was really well

attended by mariners and cadets and yielded

new recruits for the club and the branch. Today

we have 20 cadet AMNIs in good standing and

the existence of the club has inspired some new

regular members from among the seagoing

faculty and reinvigorated a few long-term but

inactive members here as well.

On 30 March, Flora, club vice-president Noah

Frey AMNI and I travelled to LA to meet NI

The NI Cadet Club

BRITISH COLUMBIA BRANCH

Technical seminar ‘What Canadian NI members are doing today’

Î The Nautical Institute’s British Columbia
Branch held an afternoon technical seminar
open to both Nautical Institute members
and interested non-members to learn more
about the variety of work done by members
of the Branch. The event showcased the wide
range of members’ expertise in such areas as
hydrography, chemical tanker operations and
Arctic navigation.
The afternoon began with a talk from Mr
Mark Leblanc, Manager, Navigational Programs
and Services with the Canadian Hydrographic
Services Pacific Region, on his work to update
and enhance chart coverage on Canada’s Pacific
and Arctic coasts. Mr Leblanc also spoke about
some interesting emerging technologies being
used to support hydrographic survey work, and
the department’s future direction.
After a brief round of questions for Mr
Leblanc, the group welcomed Capt Stan Bowles
FNI, General Manager, MOL Chemical Tankers,
to speak on the chemical tanker operations on
the West Coast of North America. Capt Bowles’

information on product trade routes and port

operations was well received by all.

After a brief break for refreshments, a group

of Branch members involved in different

aspects of Canadian Arctic operations provided

information on their work and answered

questions as a panel.

Capt David ‘Duke’ Snider FNI, Principal

Consultant at Martech Polar Consulting, told

the audience about his involvement with

the NI Ice Navigator Programme and the

international adoption of that scheme. RAdm

Nigel Greenwood FNI, of Greenwood Maritime,

shared his experiences as an ice navigator on

commercial cargo and Arctic research vessels.

Capt Richard Marriott AFNI, Chief Officer on the

Icebreaker Sir Wilfrid Laurier with the Canadian

Coast Guard (CCG), focused on CCG operations

in the western Arctic and the ship’s work in the

search for Sir John Franklin’s HMS Erebus and

HMS Terror.

There was insufficient time for the panel

to answer all the questions that arose, but

attendees were encouraged to attend NIBC’s

‘Arctic Shipping Challenges’ Conference (22-24

May 2019; nibcconference2019.com) for an in-

depth exploration of this unique field.

Finally, Mr Philip Woodcock MNI, of

Wyndward Maritime, gave an enthusiastic and

very informative presentation on small vessel

work in major civil construction projects. Mr

Woodcock’s experience and expertise in this

field gave attendees a better understanding of

the scale and scope of proposed developments

on the BC coast and the changes to the

management of small domestic vessels that will

be needed to maintain the standards of major

international groups.

The Branch would like to thank presenters,

organisers and attendees of this event for

their time and contributions to its success. We

look forward to continuing to provide these

seminars for the benefit of Branch members

and the wider western Canadian maritime

community.

R. Andresen MNI

President Capt Nick Nash FNI aboard Royal

Princess. The cadets’ travel expenses were

sponsored by the Cal Maritime Edwards

Leadership Development Program (ELDP),

an endowment that has come to recognise

how the membership of an organisation like

The Nautical Institute adds value to a cadet’s

growth and development. I hope to continue

our relationship with the ELDP to our mutual

benefit.

I can’t say enough about Flora, Noah,

Mia and the other officers and persistent

cadets who have launched and maintained

the club so far. They were canny enough

to recognise the importance of recruiting

members early in their four-year programme

at Cal Maritime so we have a good spread of

cadets now over their first, second, third and

fourth years. Once they leave Cal Maritime

I hope they retain their memberships and

quickly recognise the benefits that come

from being part of the 6,000+ international

members of The Nautical Institute. The cadets’

perspectives on club membership are, of

course, the most important ones, and I’ll

continue to encourage them to voice them

whenever possible.

Dr Colin Dewey AFNI