Harbour Master
Harbour Masters
Worldwide there are approximately 3,000 merchant ports and the work of the Harbour Master can vary widely from country to country and from port to port even within the same country.

Hosted by IHMA sister organisation, The NauticaI Institute, this webinar will demonstrate and discuss essential safety messages for mooring safety addressing new equipment and modern vessels.
In June 2022 the popular mooring video ‘The Missing Link’ got a thorough update. Back in 2011, the European Harbour Masters’ Committee (EHMC) responded to concerns about knowledge gaps in the mooring process by commissioning a video titled “The Missing Link - improving the mooring processes”. It appeared the mooring process had become the forgotten link in the nautical chain and consequently, content was developed by a number of organisations to address improvements in mooring safety.
Over the years thousands of copies of ‘The Missing Link’ videos were distributed worldwide and links to the videos have been accessible on the IHMA website for over a decade. But as ships increased in size and mooring technology advanced, the original content of ‘The Missing Link’ became outdated. However, the issue is still of importance to Seafarers, Harbour Masters and port users so the EHMC commissioned an update to the original video which is now complete.
The new series features seven short videos aimed at making the mooring process safer and more efficient for personnel and preventing damage to terminal equipment and vessels. Each video reflects current practices on:
Importance of safe mooring
Mooring plan
Mooring plan execution
Best practices during adverse conditions
How to maintain mooring lines (including maintaining records)
How to maintain mooring winches (including maintaining records)
How to select and install new mooring lines and tails
This webinar will be interactive, inviting feedback and questions from attendees. A certificate of participation is available to all those who attend.
It is a pleasure to learn that our Members are now able to travel once again and pick up with face-to-face meetings where we left off so many months ago.
IHMA Member Shawn Grant, Harbour Master of Port of Sept-Îles, Canada and his team recently visited Captain Ben van Scherpenzeel at the Port of Rotterdam.
Of their valuable trip he commented: ‘Our visit to the Port of Rotterdam was extraordinary and very informative. Port Rotterdam has always been a leader in implementing Environmental Protection measures and as such we were interested in discussing best practices. During the visit I was accompanied by the Sept-Iles (Canada) Economic Development Corporation.
On 9 June Eng Abdulrab Al-Khulaqi, Deputy Executive Chairman of Yemen Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation (YGAPC), received at the Marine Department Building, Ms Marcela Masiarik, the chancellor of the German Embassy, and Ms Melissa Rahmouni, Senior Advisor at the French Embassy in Yemen.
Captain Ahmed Al-Bishi, Acting Director of General Maritime Operations, welcomed the visitors and explained the functions of this department, which works around the clock, the main interface of the port, through which the procedures for receiving ships, berthing and sailing are arranged.
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