Harbour Master
Harbour Masters
Worldwide there are approximately 3,000 merchant ports and the work of the Harbour Master can vary widely from country to country and from port to port even within the same country.

IALA is a non-profit, international technical association. Established in 1957, it gathers together Marine Aids to Navigation authorities, manufacturers, consultants, and, scientific and training institutes from all parts of the world and offers them the opportunity to exchange and compare their experiences and achievements.
IALA encourages its members to work together in a common effort to harmonise Marine Aids to Navigation worldwide and to ensure that the movements of vessels are safe, expeditious and cost-effective while protecting the environment.
Taking into account the needs of mariners, developments in technology and the requirements and constraints of aids to navigation authorities, a number of technical committees have been established bringing together experts from around the world.
The work of these committees is aimed at developing common best practices through the publication of IALA Standards, Guidelines and Recommendations, and Model courses.
We at IHMA are privileged to publish below a number of new IALA Guidelines and Recommendations issued in December 2020 some of which may have an application with members of IHMA.
These documents will be found here: https://www.iala-aism.org/product-category/publications/guidelines/ and here: https://www.iala-aism.org/product-category/publications/recommendations/
IALA Guidelines issued December 2020
G1135 DETERMINATION AND CALCULATION OF EFFECTIVE INTENSITY
G1143 – UNIQUE IDENTIFIERS FOR MARITIME RESOURCES
G1150 – ESTABLISHING, PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING VTS
G1154 – MOBILE ATON
G1155 – THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DESCRIPTION OF A MARITIME SERVICE IN THE CONTEXT OF E-NAVIGATION
G1156 – RECRUITMENT, TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION OF VTS PERSONNEL
G1157 WEB SERVICE BASED S-100 DATA EXCHANGE
G1158 – VDES R-MODE
IALA Recommendations issued December 2020
R0103 (V-103) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION OF VTS PERSONNEL
R0119 – ESTABLISHMENT OF VTS
R1016 – MOBILE MARINE AID TO NAVIGATION (MATON)
R1020 – TERRESTRIAL RADIONAVIGATION SYSTEMS
R1021 – MARINE ATON AWARENESS FOR MARINERS
Photo by Girma Nigusse on Unsplash
The International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF), supported by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, has launched comprehensive guidance for anyone working in search and rescue, on how to ensure that SAR operations can continue safely in the face of challenges posed not only by COVID-19, but also by any future health emergencies.
The Pandemic Response Guidance will support SAR providers in improving their level of preparedness for any forthcoming pandemics and enhances initial materials produced by IMRF members in early 2020, in response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance has been peer reviewed by IMRF members around the world and is free to download from the IMRF website, see here: https://www.international-maritime-rescue.org/news/pandemic-response-guidance-for-maritime-search-and-rescue-organisations-covid?utm_campaign=IMRF%20launches%20Pandemic%20Response%20Guidance%20for%20Maritime%20SAR%20Organisations&utm_source=emailCampaign&utm_content=&utm_medium=email
Theresa Crossley, CEO, IMRF commented: ‘This guidance brings together all the knowledge and experience of our international membership. It’s been developed specifically for the challenges faced in the current global pandemic, but designed in such a way, that it can be used as a basis for operational planning and response in any future pandemics or major health emergencies. All around the world, our members report that their search and rescue services are needed as much as ever. Yet operating conditions are far more challenging and SAR teams face unprecedented new risks.
Green financing concluded for six large container ships on order
Hapag-Lloyd reported in recent weeks that it is breaking new ground in financing by concluding two debut transactions according to the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association (LMA). This has also been verified by an independent expert in the form of a secondary party opinion of the DNV GL.
Both transactions are associated with the financing of six ultra-large 23,500 TEU container ships, which were ordered in December 2020.
The syndicated green loan in the amount of US$ 417 million has a 12-year maturity and will be used to finance three of the six container ships on order. The credit facility is being backed by the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE), and the syndicate consists of eleven banks. KfW IPEX-Bank and BNP Paribas were in charge of structuring and coordinating the transaction.