IMCA five year plan turns vision into action
Published on 7 November 2013
Anticipating the future needs of members, and setting high level aspirations and goals for that future, while continuing to respond and to deliver to the current needs of the industry are vital for a proactive trade association such as the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) which represents the interests of around 950 members in more than 60 countries.
“It is a salutary thought that investigations indicate the collective annual turnover of IMCA members is in excess of $150bn per year, and that they directly employ almost 350,000 staff across the planet,” explains IMCA’s Chief Executive, Chris Charman.”The fleet of specialist vessels operated by those members account for some 4% of the world’s shipping tonnage.”
For this reason IMCA’s Council has undertaken a strategic review of the association’s direction, and developed ‘over the horizon planning’ which involved taking opinion and inputs from a wide section of the membership (primarily those contributing through committees and workgroups) to provide feedback on IMCA’s current activities and looking forward to the future.
As IMCA’s President, Massimo Fontolan of Saipem explained to delegates at IMCA’s Annual Seminar today (6 November) in Singapore”We have conducted workshops to develop and define our aspirations into a ‘vision’ for the future. The process has then been focused to consolidate those outputs into a working document, re-defining our core values and principles in order that they can be communicated to our members, our business partners, our clients and the general public; thus raising the public profile of IMCA and building up pride in being part of it.
“This work has resulted in us refining IMCA’s primary and core purpose to be ‘Improving performance in the marine contracting industry’,” he explained.”In brief, we are looking at four core activities – championing better regulation; enhancing operational integrity; engaging and developing members and stakeholders; and developing our people and organisation.
“We have deliberately chosen highly aspirational goals to be attached to each of these core activities, primarily to ensure that we aim as high as we possibly can; we continue to stretch ourselves; and we maintain a risk culture that reflects our stated desire for zero incidents. Delegates at the Annual Seminar received fuller information in document form; and these are available on the IMCA website at legacy.imca-int.com.”
IMCA has taken this opportunity to announce a change in the way that members are represented. ‘In addition to the International Contractor (ICO) membership a new membership category aimed at the larger contractors active on a regional or international basis across the globe will be set up.
Massimo Fontolan also announced that IMCA is at the early stage of establishing an initiative to develop an IMCA educational foundation aimed at providing educational and training support and opportunities for underprivileged or disadvantaged children across the world, allowing them to develop the skills they need and to give them the opportunity to change their lives and futures by pursuing a positive, worthwhile and fulfilling career in the marine contracting industry.
Further information on IMCA’s activities on behalf of its global membership are at legacy.imca-int.com and available from IMCA at 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7824 5520; Fax: +44 (0)20 7824 5521; Email: imca@legacy.imca-int.com