This article discusses the role, objectives and recent activities of the Institution of Civil Engineers' Maritime Board and Associated Societies: International Navigation Association, Central Dredging Association and Offshore Engineering Society. In particular, key initiatives and recent issues addressed by the Maritime Board and Associated Societies are highlighted including responding on behalf of the Institution and its members to government consultations including the Marine Bill Consultation, the Transport Committee's Inquiry into the UK Ports Industry and Port Policy Directive. Further, the Board and Associated Societies engage in learned society activities including hosting conferences, lectures and setting up expert groups to exchange technical information. Finally, initiatives to inform members better of the Board's activities and disseminate relevant information to the maritime community are outlined.
1. WHAT IS THE ICE'S MARITIME BOARD?
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an international organisation with close to 80 000 members, ranging from professional engineers to students, a fifth of whom live outside the UK in some 140 countries. It is an educational and qualifying body, and is an effective public voice for the profession. Within the structure of the ICE, the Engineering Boards cover the main divisions of civil engineering. These are divided between Sector Boards, with delivery to a particular end-use sector, and Application Boards, in which reside particular skills. They are divided as follows.
Sector Boards: Association of Municipal Engineers; Energy; Maritime; Structural & Building; Transports; Water; Waste Management.
Application Boards: Environment & Sustainability; British Geotechnical Association; Geospatial; Health & Safety; Management.
The Institution provides the secretariat for 14 independent associated societies, some of which are British sections of international and/or European bodies or are affiliated to such bodies. Three of these are associated with the Maritime Board: Central Dredging Association (CEDA; British section); International Navigation Association (PIANC; British section); and Offshore Engineering Society (OES).
2. MARITIME BOARD ACTIVITIES
2.1. Objectives of the Maritime Board
Learned society activities: written papers, meetings and discussions, all for the purpose of enhancing and disseminating knowledge.
Building in the eyes of the profession, the industry, Government and the wider world the Institution's reputation and authority within its areas of competence.
Representing the ICE and its membership, within its areas of technical competence, in all dealings with the profession and the industry, and with government.
Responding on behalf of the ICE to the wider world in all live matters of interest bearing upon civil engineering.
2.2. Membership of the Maritime Board
Bill Schlegel–Chairman (Jacobs)
William Allsop–Chairman, Coastal Engineering Advisory
Panel (HR Wallingford)
Jan Brooke (Environmental Consultant)
John Chaplin (Port of Bristol)
Michael Costaras–CEDA representative (Port of London Authority)
Robert Freer (Consultant)
Robert Hennessy–PIANC representative (Royal Haskoning)
Derek Kent (Edmund Nuttall)
Steve McFarland (Canterbury City Council)
Mike Preston (Ministry of Defence)
Alex Schofield–Graduate and Student representative (Black & Veatch)
George Steele (Associated British Ports)
2.3. Meetings of the Maritime Board
The Board has three to four meetings each year, one outside London when the Board visits members of a region.
2.4. Recent actions of the Maritime Board
Conference: Coastlines, Structures and Breakwaters conference.
Open meeting: The Indian Ocean tsunami–lessons to be learned and the engineer's response.
Lecture: The marine energy resource–constraints and opportunities.
Responding to Government consultations.
Participation in Environmental Agency workshop, ‘A better marine and coastal environment’.
Establishment of Ports, Navigation and Dredging Sector Group (with PIANC and CEDA).
Liaison with Regional Coastal groups of England and Wales
Contribution to ICE's State of the Nation report.
Hosting offshore wind farm e-forum (with OES and Energy Board).
Leader on two ICE cross-cutting themes: renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure development.
Working with regions to set up maritime special interest groups.
2.5. Recent issues addressed by the Maritime Board
2.5.1. Water Framework Directive/Marine Bill/Consultations
The Board had been actively engaging with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on the development of the Marine Bill, with a consultation document having been drafted and published in March 2006. In June 2006, the Maritime Board submitted a Marine Bill Consultation response to DEFRA in conjunction with the ICE Policy Team.
Currently, the Maritime Board is jointly producing a response to the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI)'s Port Policy Directive with PIANC. The deadline for the consultation response is 1 September 2006, when ICE regions and other relevant ICE Boards will be consulted and invited to contribute to the final response.
Also, the Maritime Board will be responding to the Transport Committee's inquiry into the UK ports industry.
2.5.2. Ports, Navigation and Dredging Sector Group
With PIANC and CEDA, the Maritime Board has set up the Ports, Navigation and Dredging Sector Group. The Group recently met on 28 June 2006, so that representatives of the industry (for example, the UK Major Ports Group, British Ports Association and the British Marine Federation) and senior officials from DEFRA (also presenting the views of the Environment Agency), the Department for Transport and DTI, could participate in a productive and engaging meeting. The main aim of the Group is to monitor and influence the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in the UK and also to start to address other forthcoming legislation, in particular from the Environmental Liability Directive and the European Union's Marine Framework. The next meeting will be held in September 2006.
2.5.3. Conferences
The Marine Renewable Energy Conference will take place on 27 September 2006, with Water Board and Maritime Board support. The Board has also approved the proposal to bid to host the International Conference on Coastal Engineering in 2012 in London.
CEDA/IADC (the International Association of Dredging Companies) is sponsoring a dredging conference to be held on 13–14 October 2006 at the London Hilton Docklands. For further information, please contact Ms Dayle Long, ICE Conferences Office at conferences@ice.org.uk.
First announcement and call for conference papers: International Conference on Coastal Management, 31 October–2 November 2007. ICE welcomes prospective authors, delegates and exhibitors to the International Coastal Management Conference to be held at Cardiff from 31 October to 2 November 2007.
Prospective authors of papers supporting the key topics are invited to submit an abstract of up to 500 words by 1 September 2006. Interested authors are asked to refer to the conference website at www.coastalmanagement2007.com for instruction on the abstract format or contact vidya.gunapala@ice.org.uk for more information.
2.5.4. Improving communication with members
The Board is looking to improve its communication with members of the maritime community. This will build on work to date in the following areas.
Website development. The Board is undertaking further development of its web page in order to improve the dissemination of its activities to the maritime community. The web page has been updated with more information regarding the Board's purpose and activities, as well as posting forthcoming maritime-related meetings from associated societies such as CEDA, OES and PIANC.
MyICE newsletter. It has been suggested by the Maritime Board secretary that an update of the Board's activities will be included as a news article in the MyICE newsletter, which is sent to all ICE members. Members will have a better understanding of the Board's activities and this will demonstrate that it is actively working to raise the profile of the ICE and influence policy.
