The United Kingdom Chamber of Shipping has established a specialist Harbour Towage Panel to foster closer working with the British Tugowners Association (BTA).
The new panel will be the foremost industry forum for the development of policy on all port towage issues.
All of the current members of the BTA will be invited to join the Panel, along with any members of the Chamber of Shipping with an interest in this area.
The Harbour Towage Panel will also see a change in secretariat services, which have been provided for the BTA by the Chamber of Shipping. For the last nine years David Asprey, Head of Policy at the Chamber has filled the role. He has now retired and master mariner Captain Saurabh Sachdeva has been appointed as the new secretary.
The Panel will be chaired by the current BTA Chairman Mark Malone and it will offer all BTA members direct access to the Chamber's support, expertise and lobbying activities. Key topics moving forward will be overcoming the challenges of towage endorsements, MLC implementation, and training requirements and capitalization for offshore renewable installations.
"The BTA will continue to operate as an independent body, under the current constitution, with a separate Board, President and the Chairman. However, the establishment of the new panel will enable closer collaborative working between the two organisations which will benefit both our memberships," said Chairman Mark Malone.
