Captain's Event in Antibes

On Thursday 12th February, we had the opportunity to attend the Captains, Chief Officers and Chief Engineers breakfast hosted by Fairport Global and Northrop & Johnson Crew Services at a lovely location across from Port Vauban in Antibes.

Aside from familiar faces working as senior crew, it was great to connect and meet new people across brokerage, financial services, marine insurance, naval architecture, surveying and yacht management.

The event started with coffee and croissants, followed by an introductory session covered by Hugo Jacquot from Fort Insurance discussing insurance terms for watchkeeping, chase boat operations and social security contributions.

The second session was presented by Kurt Guttridge, director of N.A.S (Naval Architecture Services) and flag surveyor for Transport Malta. Kurt spoke in detail about the IMO's IMDG Code Amendment 42-24 which is now coming into force, and the impact for lithium-ion battery classification, storage and management onboard. He shared useful, practical advice about risk assessment, detection and firefighting options that every crew member would have found helpful.

The event's third session, delivered by Peter Brooke who represented The Spectrum IFA Group, looked into financial planning for yacht crew, and the special considerations to take into account.

Key Takeaways from the event:

• Whether it's updates about IMO guidelines or crew training, yachting is evolving constantly, and we need to be present on the ground at industry-led sessions, conferences and networking events. This event highlighted how important it is to open up discussions with senior crew about industry challenges, regulatory changes and what's working best to move the industry forward.

• Knowledge gaps exist. Senior crew said they're absolutely snowed under with updates related to flag, insurance, management and shipyard refits. There is no one resource for information. Therefore, professional advice and administrative, legal and technical support from experts is needed and valued.

Thank you to Fairport Global and N&J for the invitation.

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