CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

My first year as Chairman of the Association has been dominated by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the consequential cancellation of the regular annual events. My second term as Chairman started with the same pattern of a cancelled General Assembly of the AMD in Oslo and the US & Canadian Association annual meeting/dinner in New York, but the end of the Pandemic is in sight with the worldwide vaccine programme being rolled out. I am confident that by the end of my second term we will meet in person again at the AAA annual dinner in May 2022. What is more disturbing is that the Association’s 150th anniversary celebration had to be postponed from May 2020 to October 2020, then to May 2021 and subsequently to October 2021. Under the continued COVID-19 restrictions, the decision has been taken to cancel the October 2021 dinner and to celebrate this historic anniversary on a scaled down basis at the annual dinner in May 2022. I am grateful that my predecessor Richard Cornah issued a special edition to mark the 150th anniversary of the Association in his Annual Report last year. I would like to thank the members who donated the cancelled dinner proportion of their subscription to the Seafarers Covid-19 Emergency Appeal. The charity, Seafarers UK, was delighted with the generous donation from the Association, which was very welcome due to the reduction in fundraising income usually raised at events such as the London Marathon; with of course the increased demand for help in assisting seafarers and their families impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Pandemic did not only affect our personal lives, but also left its mark on the worldwide economy and in particular the shipping market. Due to the stringent coronavirus restrictions in Chinese ports, large quantities of containers were stuck in China which led to a disruption of the supply chain in containers and record congestion in Chinese ports. The freight for carrying a container from China to Europe increased by tenfold in a year. The shipping market was further disturbed by the 6 day blockage of the Suez Canal after m.v. Ever Given had run aground in a narrow part of the Canal in March 2021. This well published and unusual grounding inspired me for my Address in the Annual Report hereafter. Despite its old age, the Association proved to be very efficient in adopting the new virtual world created by COVID-19 and continued its business via Committee of Management meetings and the Annual General Meetings on Zoom. All credit goes out to Ann Waite for arranging the Association’s jump into the virtual world so smoothly. Scheduled seminars were all cancelled but were replaced by a joint webinar with the Young CMI. The A1 and A2 modules were examined via an online platform organised by TestReach. The other modules were examined in the traditional way but under the applicable COVID-19 regulations in the various locations worldwide. The success of our examination program has produced 2 new Fellows, 3 Senior Associates and 20 Associate members. The new Rules of Practice 2020 were adopted and earned their own tab on our website. The digest of legal cases under the Resources tab has been updated as from the year 2000. The list of articles of interest to the membership has been limited to articles published by Fellows only. I am grateful to my Vice-Chair Burkhard Fischer, the Officers and Committee members of the Association, the Secretariat Charles Taylor Insurance Services and our Secretary Ann Waite for their continued diligent work. As Chairman, I would like to thank all Fellows for their continued contribution, dedication and participation in the work of the Association and look forward to seeing you virtually in the near future and hopefully in person towards the end of my second term.

Michiel Starmans