The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT), and The Hydrographic Society UK and Ireland (THS: UK&I) Scotland Branch are jointly holding their well-respected joint industry seminar on 10 November 2022 in Aberdeen, UK. This year the seminar has a highly topical theme – ‘The Energy Field of the Future’.

In April 2019 the International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA’s) Marine Division Management Committee set up a workgroup to focus on developing a code of practice for offshore pipelines and umbilical installation systems. Bringing together world-leading pipelaying contractors, Allseas, Subsea 7, McDermott, Saipem and TechnipFMC, the workgroup came together to share knowledge and best practice in order to establish a standard for the industry. This has resulted in the publication of the new ‘Code of Practice for Offshore Pipeline and Umbilical Installation Systems’ (IMCA M 253).

Ahead of a Summit on 9 July shipowners and port operators are encouraging vessel masters to sound their ship’s whistle on 8 July at 12.00hrs.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) continues to play a key role in an Industry Group lobbying governments and maritime authorities on a global basis to gain support of an IMO a recommendation for authorities to facilitate the movement of offshore energy sector personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is playing a key role in two industry groups lobbying the IMO to support a recommendation for Governments and national authorities to facilitate the movement of offshore energy sector personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is designed to ensure they are considered ‘key workers’, essentially to enable ease of movement during mobilisation and demobilisation for offshore sector crew changes.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is supporting the call to action to recognise the significant efforts being made by seafarers and offshore workers globally during these challenging times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mark de Barr has joined the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) as Technical Adviser – Marine specialising in Dynamic Positioning (DP) and vessel assurance.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) continues to add to its dedicated COVID webpage a variety of information and links to be of use to its membership.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is part of a COVID-19 Industry Group which has collaborated with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labor Organization (ILO) to develop a preliminary list of recommendations for Governments and relevant national authorities on the facilitation of maritime trade during the pandemic

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is being represented by Peter Sieniewicz, IMCA Technical Adviser – Diving at this year’s Underwater Intervention (UI) on 5 February 2020.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has announced the appointment of Andre Rose as Technical Adviser - Competence & Training, Remote Systems and ROV.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has long collected information both on personnel working on remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and also on the types of ROV in operation. There has now been a thorough reassessment of the original reported data going back to 2010 in order to identify long-term trends.

Significant opportunities and challenges face the subsea industry - increasingly strident requirements to satisfy environmental legislation is one; the challenges of ROV utilisation in the growing renewables sector is another. The need to recruit and retain properly trained, competent people remains vital. These challenges and opportunities have led the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) to organise an ROV Seminar, with the theme ‘The future for remote systems and ROVs in the offshore construction industry’. Chaired by Graham Duncan of TechnipFMC, the IMCA ROV Committee Chairman, it will be held Tuesday 30 - Wednesday 31 May at Oceaneering International’s facility in Stavanger, Norway. The free-to-attend seminar is open to IMCA members and invited guests

Corporate governance has been a topical subject in the commercial world for many years. Now the association world is catching up. One that has seized it with enthusiasm is the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) with the result that from New Year’s Day 2017 IMCA will have in place a new legal structure, a new operational structure, and new governance arrangements for running its committee structure. The new legal structure sees the formation of a new holding company limited by guarantee, the board of which becomes the governing body of the association, replacing the Council and Overall Management Committee.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has published ‘ADCI/IOGP/IMCA Diving Terms’ as IMCA D 057. “This invaluable document has been prepared as a joint industry project (JIP) involving representatives from IMCA, the Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) in the United States, and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) Diving Industry Work Group (DIWG),” explains Richard Benzie.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has published ‘Guidance on drug & alcohol policies and testing’ (SEL 040). It is downloadable free of charge to members and non-members alike at www.imca-int.com/media/252259/imcasel040.pdf. Within its 28 pages there are sections on ‘Who should be tested? - Reasons for testing’; ‘Tests for drug and alcohol abuse’; ‘Urine testing’; ‘Breath testing’; ‘Record keeping’; ‘Problems with testing’; and ‘Cut-off levels’ as well as a useful glossary of terms and guidance on further information.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has been invited to assist with the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) working group on the revision of ‘Mooring Equipment Guidelines’, the third edition - MEG3 - which was published in 2008.

The rise of ‘ROV DP’, the capability to hold an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) stationary in the water column, has led to an increase in the sharing of ROV-mounted sensors, for ROV positioning, imaging and survey purposes. A workshop, organised by the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) during Oceanology International 2016 (OI2016), will discuss the opportunities and challenges arising from this shared use of sensors and consider the future for this developing field of technologies.