For further details please check this web site or contact the IJUBOA Office

Using a mixture of presentations, case studies and group exercises the tutors took the learners through sessions on geotechnics, jack-up foundations, elevated operations, stability, client management, bargemaster management, contingency planning, legislation and safety management. Further details can be found here

“Very interesting – I learnt a lot”, ”very good”, “most useful” were some of the comments given in the official feedback. As this was the first of these courses to be delivered there are inevitably “areas for improvement” and the feedback from the learners is being used to address these.

The chief concern is that too much information was squeezed into too short a time and it is likely that the next course will extend into a third day as many of those who attended suggested.

John Howard, Chair of IJUBOA, commented: “It gave me enormous satisfaction to see this course so successfully delivered. This is exactly what IJUBOA should be doing and it shows how far the Association has come in a relatively short time. Apart from the excellent and informative teaching sessions, it was good to see people from different companies and countries working and socialising together – this can only be of benefit to our industry and is what IJUBOA is all about.

“I would particularly like to pay tribute to the people who organised and delivered the course – Chris Mallett, Julian Osborne, Michael Woodgate and Iain O’Connor. And particular thanks to Chris for the work he did designing the fantastic group work project which, for me and many others, was one of the highlights of the two days.”

IJUBOA intends to run another of these courses in the early Autumn of 2012. In addition the course can be customised and delivered “in house” to larger companies – for further details, or to register for the Autumn course, please contact the IJUBOA office.

The GreenPort Congress provides decision makers with a meeting place to both learn about and discuss the latest in sustainable environmental practice. The emphasis will be on highlighting innovation in equipment and technology whilst illustrating practical solutions through case studies.

At the 2011 event more than 200 delegates representing 60 ports from over 30 countries attended. You can find out more at www.greenport.com/congress.

We hope that next year, in Rotterdam, IJUBOA will be able to present to the Congress showing, with examples, how jack-ups can be useful to harbour operators in a safe, cost effective and non-polluting way. If your company would like to be a case study, contact John Hepburn at john.hepburn@ijuboa.com.

David’s talk stressed importance of clear, well documented HSE policies and procedures which need to be followed across the entire contractual supply chain.  The paper focuses on:

• the crucial importance of effective risk assessment
• the lessons learnt from international incidents from Piper Alpha to Costa Concordia
• the enormous variation in HSE regulation between different countries and jurisdictions and the care needed to ensure compliance

The paper will be continue to be available on the Safety pages of the IJUBOA web site

Louis Quesnel, of the Institute for Wind Energy & Energy Systems Technology (IWES), provided a valuable insight into developments in offshore renewable energy technology. Louis’ presentation can be found here

Michael Woodgate, IJUBOA’s learning and skills consultant, gave a talk on how to make the most of skills and training (beyond simply buying training courses).  Michael’s presentation can be found here

David Leckie, of Clyde & Co, emphasised the difference in regulatory regimes across the world and the need to be mindful of this.  The presentation was more of a background for David’s thought provoking talk, rather than carrying a lot of information within it, and can be found here.

Asger Pedersen of Vestas gave a customer perspective of anchor operations when jack-up barges are used for servicing offshore wind farms.  This very useful presentation detailed the risks involved and ways to mitigate them - it can be found here.

In addition the Official Log Book, or Blue Book, contains sections to:

• Externally assess and accredit the skills of experienced barge masters
• Keep a detailed record of jacking operations performed

Further information about the Blue Book can be found here

The aim is to have these books ready to issue early in April 2012 – please contact the IJUBOA office for more information and to place an order.

The Association intends to run another course later this year  – those who wish to attend, or nominate others to do so, are advised to  register an interest now by contacting John Howard at the IJUBOA office.

The course, designed by industry experts in consultation with IJUBOA member companies, is for degree level engineers who need to broaden and deepen their knowledge of jack up operations and the risks associated with them.

Further information about the course can be found here.

Details of the next venue and price are yet to be finalised, but indications are that the price for the course will be in the region of £1000 plus the cost of overnight accommodation and subsistence.

Association General meetings are an excellent vehicle for fostering this mutual understanding but they only happen twice a year.   To increase the opportunities to exchange knowledge and insights the IJUBOA web site now has a new page entitled “Clients’ view”.  This contains recent presentations from Vestas and Fraunhofer IWES.

IJUBOA welcomes contributions to this page from current & potential clients of jack-up barge companies. If you would like to submit material (presentations or articles) for publication please contact the IJUBOA office.

Those commissioning maritime construction projects will soon be able to assure themselves that their jack-up operators are competent and safe.

The International Jack-Up Barge Owners Association (IJUBOA) has published its Code of Practice and set up a scheme to recognise the competence of existing barge masters.

The code provides a standard against which companies can be audited.  It is based on the International Safety Management (ISM) code.  Companies who are successfully audited are awarded a “Certificate of Conformance” similar to the ISM “Document of Compliance.”  A major change to current practice for those operating small barges is that the code requires companies to appoint a Designated Person Ashore to bring all operators in line with those already complying with ISM.

IJUBOA drew up the voluntary code with the help of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Health and Safety Executive who have welcomed it as an important step forward in improving safety in the operation of the smaller jack-ups.  Member companies who achieve compliance will be able to use the association’s logo.

They will also be able to enter their barge masters into a scheme to accredit their prior experience.  An auditor experienced in jack-up operations and approved by the association, will examine a company’s barge masters.  Those personnel assessed who meet the required standard will receive a “Green Log Book & ID Card.”  This provides a permanent record of their accreditation and of subsequent professional development.

This recognition of “grandfather’s rights” is a temporary scheme.  A full professional training and development system, able to bring entrants to the profession up to the standard of being an excellent barge master, is under development.

Non-member companies may seek assessment against the code, but they will not be able to use the association’s logo, nor will they be able to join the Green Book scheme.

The code, amplifying references, details of the Green Book scheme and more information on IJUBOA are at www.ijuboa.com.

As a trade association, IJUBOA offers full membership to jack-up barge owners at £2,000.00 pa.  Current members come from several European countries and Australia.  Associate members may be corporate (£500.00 pa) or individuals (£100.00 pa) involved in the industry, but not as owners.  Honorary and guest members include national administrations and agencies concerned with the oversight of barge operations.

Its mission is to promote the safe, cost-effective and environmentally sound use of jack-up barges as responses to a wide range of challenges.