Our Seminar on the 14th October combined two separate topics but with contemporary themes and was extremely well received due in large part to the excellence of all our speakers.

The first topic was the ISPS code and its impact from both a Port Authority and Shipowners viewpoint.

John Fairley, Security Officer for Dublin Port, traced the development of the Code from 9/11 when Governments realized that if airplanes could be used as missiles so could ships with the potential for disastrous consequences. Given the traditional manner in which international Shipping legislation normally takes decades to be agreed the speed with which this Code was agreed reflected the urgency which all considered it as a worldwide threat. John then outlined in detail the steps that required to be taken and the investment made to comply with the requirements of the Code. This then requires constant monitoring and upgrading and is subject to checking by the Dept of Transport. Continuous liaison with all customers within the Port is also necessary Of course overall a byproduct for customers is the increased vigilance all around the port.

John was followed by Dave Elliott Operations Manager with Arklow Shipping who is responsible for ensuring that all of their fleet are firstly equipped to meet the demands of the Code and secondly that there is continuous monitoring so that the vessels can adequately respond to any instructions at any time.

The particular interest for us as Shipbrokers and Agents was to become more fully aware of the significant impact and expense to both Ports and Shipowners of this International development which has added a new and very significant dimension to the traditional operation of vessels.

The second topic while different in style will also have a dramatic impact, when successful, in which the traditional paperwork involved in the movement of cargo worldwide is organized.

The presentation was by Marina Comninos, General Counsel from Effective Shipping Solutions a company set up 8 years ago to develop a paperless system for documentation in the industry.

We are all familiar with the very traditional manner in which documentation is required from B/L onwards and whilst in many industries IT has transformed the way business is handled very many hurdles,including legal, needed to be overcome to apply this technology to shipping documentation.

ESS by starting with the Oil Industry which more readily could be capable of adopting this change has achieved considerable success. A number of Oil Terminals in the UK have commenced using their system and they are confident that there will be continuous progress in the Oil Industry. She also showed some practical illustrations as to how the system operated. The next stage will likely apply to the major bulk cargo movements followed by the containerized trade.

It was a fascinating presentation very well delivered and a real portent of things to come but difficult to put a realistic time scale for general application. It was however clear that ESS are committed to the whole concept and of course once they have one major line or trade the rest will tend to follow.