Michael Kane, Marine Manager North America reports on Total Lubmarine North America’s latest shipping community meeting that brought together shipowners, OEMs, journalists and Total Lubmarine management for a day of collaborative discussion in New York.
We held a shipping community meeting at the United Nations on 17 November in New York with approximately 35 attendees representing 10 different shipowners. Following presentations from Total Lubmarine global marketing manager Serge Dal Farra and technical director Jean-Philippe Roman, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) gave presentations related to their respective organizations.
USCG assistant chief of vessel inspections, LT Elizabeth Newton, provided a presentation related to the USCG role at the IMO. ABS VP of the USA Eastern Region, Stephen Gumpel, discussed ABS and class societies’ roles working with shipowners to address technical and regulatory issues.
Finally a Q&A panel was conducted with ABS, USCG and two shipowners, Mike Elbers, technical manager of Apex Bulk Carriers and Ed Seoane, purchasing director of LMS Shipmanagement. The discussion centred around environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs), vessel inspections and engine issues. Owners present were also able to share their experiences of dealing with the complexity of various regulatory and technical issues.
The conference session was followed with a lunch and tour of the famous United Nations building. Unfortunately, the UN Security Council room was unavailable for the tour as the council was in session!