World Bunkering > News > Summer 2011 > Chairman's Introduction

Bob Lintott

Amongst my responsibilities as Chairman of IBIA is the writing of the ‘Chairman’s Introduction’ to our publication, World Bunkering. In this task I am carrying on a tradition of being late in meeting the publisher’s deadline! My apologies to my predecessor Mike Ball for immediately failing to meet his aspirations on my behalf!

Anyone not completely at ease giving speeches will be familiar with the hand that grasps ones entrails immediately prior to mounting the rostrum. I can attest that the hand clenches and goes into spasm when you realise that you failed to put your speech notes into your tuxedo pocket. Thankfully, my inaugural effort as Chairman before almost 1,000 members and their guests at the Grosvenor House Hotel was deliberately short. As Thackeray observed, “Dinner was made for eating, not for talking”.

The new venue for our annual dinner is clearly more appropriate now that attendance has reached epic proportions. The socialising and networking segments of the evening were far less fragmented and the additional space at both floor levels was most welcome. The open nature of these areas was slightly confounded by the bottleneck staircases and the ensuing stampede possibly occasioned by the fear of chastisement by our able, if loud, Mistress of Ceremonies. Everyone involved in making the evening a success deserves congratulations, not least our Events Manager, Charlotte Egan.

The theme of my speech was our somewhat lop-sided membership. To be specific, we have rather more members who are on the sales and supply side of our industry together with traders and brokers than we do from the purchasing and consumption side. The Board is a good industry cross section; however, the membership would benefit from having more shipowners and charterers among its number, essential to balance the input we receive from you, our members. We would particularly like to receive input on the practical issues involved in handling the fuels and associated regulations now increasingly mandated for use in ECAs. The more information we have – no matter what the topic – the better the Bunker Industry’s view can be expressed. Ultimately, this accrues to the benefit of all of us.

IBIA is ever more involved in industry and political forums such as IMO and, more recently, the European Union. The Board and IBIA’s Chief Executive Ian Adams and his team devote much time to assessing, formulating and presenting the views and objectives of our membership. Most recently we have addressed issues concerning greenhouse gases and, a proposal to include min-max limits within ISO-8217 and enforce these as part of MARPOL, Annex VI. IBIA is viewed as a respected, well represented and valuable contributor.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your association. It has grown from small beginnings into a recognised and worthwhile organisation; one with reasoned and informed contributions to make in shipping related and political environments. I’m looking forward to my year as Chairman and, in that regard, I’d like to add that your continued support is invaluable. Please, if you have topics you wish to air or concerns you wish to express, your Board wants to hear from you. You can contact us via our Website at www.ibia.net, on Twitter or on Linkedin at http://lnkd.in/xQypyZ. Your opinions are important to your Association being representative.

Our Convention this year will be at the Hotel Juan Carlos 1 in Barcelona from Wednesday, 2-4 November. I issued a challenge at the Annual Dinner to have as many Convention Delegates as we had dinner guests. That’s almost 1,000 and the Hotel could not accommodate that many – but let’s see how close we can get! I look forward to seeing you there.

Finally, I’d like to thank our retiring Chairman Mike Ball for his guidance and leadership during this last year. IBIA’s Board comprises, as I mentioned, a good industry cross section. This can – and does – give rise to spirited debate on occasion. Mike has been able to steer us into making decisions from which IBIA will continue to benefit. I’m happy to say that Mike will continue to be a Board member.

Bob Lintott