Safety in shipping and crisis management workshop within the activities of Offshore Arabia 2006

To be held within the pre-conference activities of Offshore Arabia 2006 that shall be held from 17th to 19th of December at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The workshop engages two main subjects; Safety in Shipping, and Crisis Management for Senior Managers.

Safety in Shipping aims to introduce some of they key issues in this sector and covers vital topics such as: Safety related International shipping legislation, the effective port state control and its impact on maritime standards, the maritime security issues, the carriage and handling of dangerous goods, preparing for marine emergencies, the effective use of new technology and the human element in shipping safety.

Crisis Management for Senior Managers is another important subject discussed in the workshop and it aims to help Senior Managers in oil industry enforcing the crisis management plans and help them developing contingency plans for emergency or crisis situations. Main topics are covered such as: Types of crisis, threat and risk assessment, the development of crisis/Emergency response and plans, planning team selection and training. Organization command and control, control room facilities, communication systems, managing the crisis, post crisis management procedures, planning for and responding to the Media, working with the authorities and external agencies, public and community relations, and the development of training, exercise and drills.

Mr. Khamis Bu-Amim, Chairman of the Board of the Regional Clean Sea Organisation (RECSO), Chairman of Offshore Arabia 2006 and Vice President - Dubai Petroleum Company has opened the workshop by chairing the opening session introducing the objective of the course and explaining its connection with "Offshore Arabia 2006" activities.

John Dipple, the Senior Vice President (Middle East, Africa and Far East) is head of the SES training and consultancy division and Robin Perry, the Managing Director of SESME, 25 years of international oil spill response experience gained in many parts of the world are both delivering the courses about Crisis Management.

Capt. David Brant is the Ship-to-Ship Transfer Manager, Principal Surveyor and Marine Superintendent for Noble Denton Middle East and Lachlan McKelvie, involved in offshore safety, specializing in H2S protection and offshore medical training are teaching about Safety in Shipping.

These prominent and high profile trainers having a rich and extensive experience in all facets of the petroleum production and exploration industries as well as in consultancy and training, have come from abroad to teach more than 100 people within the Oil & Gas industry and help them defining the threats facing the industry and identifying the best ways to deal with them.

It is worth mentioning that the course is based on facts and figures that the teachers have got according to deep researches defining the threats and most current issues facing the industry and that at the end of the workshop, the main goal is to reach the best outcome for a better management of maritime issues.