British Shipping safety awareness award winners announced

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 12:00 AM

The shipping minister, Mike Penning MP has presented the 2010 British Shipping Safety Awareness Awards at a ceremony held at the Chamber of Shipping on Monday 22 November.

The top three awards have been given to cadets who have suggested the best idea to improve health and safety at sea. Prizes have also been given to their training colleges. The ideas should be original, innovative and capable of implementation. The winning suggestions include a rail-lock to improve safety when entering the holds of tankers and crude carriers, a medical emergency panic button for use in engine rooms and a new fire fighting nozzle.

Rear Admiral Sir Jeremy de Halpert KCVO, CB, Deputy Master of Trinity House also attended the presentation, representing Trinity House, the General Lighthouse Authority for England and Wales, which has sponsored the competition for the third year running.

First prize has been awarded to Adam Creber, who is 20 years old and comes from Saltash in Cornwall. Adam is studying on the Foundation Deck Marine Operations programme at Warsash Maritime Academy.

His training is sponsored by BP Maritime services.

Adam has suggested a safety lock harness for use on entry into the empty tanks on board tankers and crude carriers. Adam has frequently entered tanks as part of his training and observed that with steep ladders and potentially 6-8M drops, there was little in place to prevent a fall.

In his project, Adam suggested the use of a rail-lock system. This would involve a hardened piece of metal clipped parallel to the stair hand rail which would follow the user as they descend the stair way. A safety harness could be attached to the user and, if forced by a fall, would lock.

Second prize has been awarded to Steven Walker. He is 21 and from Ardrossan, Western Scotland. He is studying the Scottish Professional Diploma in Engineering at the City of Glasgow College.

His training is sponsored by Zodiac Maritime and managed by Clyde Marine.
Steven's idea was for an emergency medical panic button to be carried specifically in engine rooms. When activated it would emit a wireless signal to a hub directly connected to the main computer console.

Third prize has been won by Simon Curtis, who is 25 and from Nomansheath, Cheshire. He is enrolled on the graduate engineer programme at Warsash Maritime Academy his training is managed by Chiltern Maritime and he is sponsored by Trinity House.

Simon has suggested a special fire-fighting nozzle that could deliver both high expansion foam and water mist.

The national awards, which have been running for more than 15 years, attract entries from all over the country. Open to all trainee officers and trainee ratings studying Merchant Navy Training Board approved courses, the awards are sponsored by Trinity House and organised by the Chamber of Shipping.

The students have won cash prizes for their work.

. First prize is £1,000 for the winner and £400 for their college

. Second prize £750 for the student and £400 for their college

. Third prize wins £500 and again £400 for their college

ENDS

Notes to Editor

We will have images of the cadets being presented with their prizes by about 2pm. Please contact me if there is a particular image you would like.

The Chamber of Shipping is the trade association for the UK shipping industry, working to promote and protect the interests of its members both nationally and internationally. With 139 members and associate members, the Chamber represents over 932 ships of about 25 million gross tonnes and is recognised as the voice of the UK shipping industry.

For more information on British Shipping, please go to: www.british-shipping.org

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