Minutes of the General Meeting held May 17th, 2006

The Mission to Seafarers, Vancouver, B.C.

 

 

In Attendance:

 

Capt. Ieuan Lampshire-Jones

Capt. Don Tranter

Capt. Tom McLean

George Patterson

Laurie Langill

Richard Smith

Roy Sluyter

Cecil Noronha

 

Guest:

 

Capt. Mohan Vashist

 

Apologies:

 

Alistair Beaton

Capt. Ralph D’Rozario

David Smiley

George McHugh

Ken Rorison

Pat Haliburton

Pat Patrick

Philip Oldham

Tim Amy

 

1) Call to Order:

 

Richard Smith called the meeting to order at 19:05 hours.

 

2) Agenda:

 

The Agenda for the Meeting was read by Richard Smith. He then asked the Members present if they had any items to add. No items were added to the Agenda.

 

The motion to accept the Agenda was proposed by Capt. Don Tranter, accepted by Roy Sluyter and all present voted in favour.

 

3) Minutes of Previous Meeting:

 

The minutes of the previous General Meeting held on March 15th, 2006 were read by Richard Smith. The motion to accept the minutes as presented was proposed by Cecil Noronha, seconded by Roy Sluyter and all members voted in favour.

 

4) Old Business/Matters arising from the last General Meeting:

 

Cell Phone:

Members were informed that the AMSBC cell phone account had been closed which lessened the expenses of the Association.

 

Points System:

Richard Smith informed the Members that he had received a phone call from an out station Member who expressed dissatisfaction about the reinstatement of the Points System as he felt that outstation members could not attend all the Meetings.

 

This matter was discussed by all present and it was generally agreed that the Points System had been reinstated by majority vote and should be implemented accordingly. Some of the points reiterated in favour of the Points System were as follows:

·         The system encourages professional development and gives credibility to the Association.

·         It is a self administered system and is nowhere as stringent as the requirement of other professional Associations.

·         Members had sufficient opportunity to accumulate the minimum requirement of 10 points over 24 months.

Members are also encouraged to access the website and review the content of the Points System by clicking on “Rules” in the links section.

 

It was suggested that the Board should consider awarding points for participation via e-mail from Members who sent in their views and opinions on matters discussed at the General Meetings.  

 

President’s Letter to Chamber of Shipping:

Alistair Beaton had informed the Board that he would be unable to attend this Meeting and it was proposed that he should be reminded of the above matter. The Members should be informed when the letter had been sent.

 

Affiliation of AMSBC/NOA:

Alistair Beaton had informed the Naval Officers Association of the AMSBC Members approval to the proposal to attend functions organized by either Association.

 

Capt. Tom McLean stated that he had a presentation on Port Security which could be used at the proposed Seminar for the NOA on activities of Marine Surveyors in BC ports.

 

Roy Sluyter stated that membership cards had been made and sent out along with the receipts to those Members who had paid their annual dues.

 

Misuse of AMSBC stamp:

Alistair Beaton’s letter of May 2nd 2006 to the Members was read out and Members were asked for their comments.

 

Ken Rorison had responded by e-mail and his letter was also read out to the Members.

 

After some discussion, the Members reached the following conclusions –

·         A standard letter should be prepared and sent out to the Member who was not in good standing.

·         The letter should be sent by registered mail and a copy retained for the record.

·         If the defaulting Member is subsequently reinstated then the required correspondence should again be via registered mail with copies retained for the record.

·         If the defaulting Member decides to part ways with the Association and does not return the Stamp and Certificate; the AMSBC should publish the details in relevant publications.

 

Issue of AMSBC Stamp:

The Membership Director was unable to attend the General Meeting and had conveyed his regrets. He had also conveyed the information that the stamps for the new Member and Honorary Members were “on the way”.

 

5) Executive Highlights / Director’s Reports:

 

·         Directors Report – IT and Website:

 

Richard Smith informed the Members that there had been a query about improving the AMSBC website to respond to certain key words typed into search engines on the Web. While this could be done by increasing the word list in the “Meta” tags of the web page, the success of finding the website through a search engine was directly related to the number of “hits” recorded. To this end, Members were encouraged to visit the web site www.amsbc.org more often.

 

The website would be further improved by providing links to varied and specialized categories for small boat surveys, ship surveys (hull and machinery) and cargo surveys with Members’ contact information and websites posted accoringly.

 

·         Membership Director’s Report:

 

The Membership Director was unable to attend and sent his regrets.

 

·         Treasurer’s Report:

 

Roy Sluyter reported that as of May 17th 2006, the balance of funds in the ING Direct account is $5,034.97 and the balance in the chequing account is $4,108.93.

 

David Trickett has paid his dues for 2005 and also 2006. There are 6 Members who have yet to pay their dues for 2006.

 

On May 7th 2006, the AMSBC laid a wreath at Sailor’s Point to commemorate the Battle of the Atlantic and a donation of $80.00 was made to the Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Fund.

 

Capt. Lampshire-Jones had arranged for a joint wreath with the Company of Master Mariners.

 

6) New Business/Any Other Business:

 

Current Status of Membership with VMAA:

The AMSBC membership dues to the VMAA (Vancouver Maritime Arbitrators Association) had been mailed and we should be back on their website from which we have been temporarily excluded.

 

Annual Boat Cruise:

Richard Smith proposed that Alistair Beaton should arrange this year’s Boat Cruise and the Members should be informed accordingly. This was seconded by Capt. Tom McLean and was voted in favour by all present.

 

Mission to Seafarers - Events:

The Manager of the Vancouver Branch of the Mission to Seafarers has invited the Members to attend the functions planned by the Mission during the celebration of their 150th Anniversary. Details of upcoming events can be obtained from their website www.flyingangel.ca or from the Manager, Mr. Bernard Besseling.

 

7) Adjournment:

 

 The meeting was adjourned at 20:05 hours.

 

NOTICE

 

A General Meeting of the Association of Marine Surveyors of British Columbia will be held at the Mission to Seafarers on September 20th, 2006 at 19:00 hours.

 

The Mission to Seafarers (Flying Angel Club) is located at 401 East Waterfront Road, which is the port services road south of Vanterm (container terminal). Access is via the railroad overpass at the north end of Main Street. At the ‘T’ junction at the north side of the overpass, turn left (east) and the Mission to Seafarers is on the left (400 yds)