GREENWICH MARITIME INSTITUTE

FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT

2002 – 2003

The Advisory Committee

The Members of the Advisory Committee in September 2002 were:

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Benjamin Bathurst, Mr Mark Brownrigg, Professor Alastair Couper, Mr Jeff Drake, Commodore Ian Gibb, Dr Karl Laubstein, Dr Margarette Lincoln, Captain Rodger MacDonald, Commander Mike Mason, Mr Brian Orrell, Mr Alan Peake, Mr Gwyn Prosser MP, Mr Nigel Pryke, Commander Michael Ranken, Mr Keith Read CBE, Professor Nicholas Rodger, Ms Olwen Williams.

Admiral Bathurst retired from the Advisory Committee at the end of the May meeting and Rear Admiral Nick Wilkinson took over as Chairman. The GMI wishes to record its thanks to Admiral Bathurst for his valuable assistance and support over the past three years.

The Advisory Committee met in November 2002 and May 2003.The October agenda included a presentation by Mr Reza Mirmiran about his doctoral research on ‘The impact of economic regional integration on demand for shipping services’. At the May meeting the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rick Trainor, spoke on ‘The University of Greenwich and the Maritime Dimension’.

Staffing

Reza Mirmiran joined the GMI as Assistant Director and taught two courses. The part-time teaching staff were Visiting Professors Alastair Couper and Roger Knight, Dr Clara Della Croce, Commander Mike Mason, Dr Roger Morriss and Dr Hedley Willmott. The Director, Professor Sarah Palmer, taught one of the Maritime Policy courses and three of the Maritime History courses.

The GMI also benefited from the continuted support of Miss Patricia Crimmin as Honorary Research Associate and Dr David Hilling as Research Adviser. Mr Dean Surtees Continuted to serve as the GMI Administrator. 

Postgraduate Programmes

Eleven part-time postgraduate students continued into their second year of taught courses. The 2002-2003 intake consisted of six students studying full-time and five part-time. In addition there were six students registered for MPhil/PhD degrees. The total postgraduate membership of the GMI, including those completing dissertations, was forty-six. Most were mature, several combining their studies with senior posts in the maritime or governmental sector. British students predominated, but the group included students from China, Colombia, Ghana, Greece, Indonesia, Japan, Liberia, the Philippines, the United States, Venezuela and the Virgin Isles. 

Visiting lectures were given by Commander Steven Haines (Joint Services Command and Staff College), Professor Elena Frangakis-Syrett, Queens College USA, Dr David Hilling, GMI, and Dr Lewis Johnman, University of Westminster. 

The Case Studies in Maritime Policy course gives students a chance to have first-hand accounts of policy-making issues from experts within the field. Those who contributed were: Mr Tom Allan, UK Permanent Representative to IMO; Mr John Astbury, Marine and Coastguard Agency; Mr Gilberto Asuque, Philippines Permanent Representative to IMO; Mr Mark Brownrigg, Chamber of Shipping; Mr Michael Everard CBE, F.T. Everard & Sons Ltd; Mr Roland Ives, Lloyd’s Register of Shipping; Mr Michael Grey, Lloyd’s List; Miss Sharon James, International Transport Workers Federation; Mr Roger Lankester, Friends of the Earth International; Mr Nigel Pryke, Harwich Haven Authority; Mr Mark Watts MEP, European Transport Committee.

The GMI wishes to record its appreciation and also thanks to the IMO for allowing students to attend a Sub-Committee Session.

The Case Studies in Maritime History course enables students to hear established scholars talk about their research methodology. Among those who contributed were Miss Patricia Crimmin, GMI; Professor Peter Davies, University of Liverpool; Dr Sheryllynne Haggerty, Brunel University; Professor Richard Harding, University of Westminster; Dr Adrian Jarvis, Merseyside Maritime Museum; Dr Alston Kennerley, University of Plymouth; Dr Margarette Lincoln, National Maritime Museum; Professor Andrew Lambert, King’s College London; Dr David J. Starkey, University of Hull; Mr David Williams, University of Leicester; Professor Glyn Williams, Queen Mary London. The GMI wishes to record its thanks for their help and for the chairing assistance of Mrs Joan Ryan, Professor Cathy Pearce and Mr Christopher Ware.

Professor John Armstrong, Thames Valley University and Professor Bernard Gardiner, University of Cardiff, serves as External Examiners.

Recruitment initiatives for the September 2003 intake uncluded mail-outs to British and overseas university, to a number of professional organisations within the industry, to the IMO, to Embassies and High Commissions, to local libraries, and the appropriate voluntary societies. The GMI advertised in BBC HIstory, Lloyd's List, NUMAST Telegraph, Parliamentary Maritime Review, Seaways and the University's Alumni Magazine, Meantime.

GMI Research Seminar Series

The GMI established an annual series of open research seminars on themes related to its interests.   The speakers and subjects were Professor James McConville, London Metropolitan University, UK Seafarers Analysis: five years on; Dr Brian Hoyle, University of Southampton, Waterfront Revitalisation in East African port cities; Dr Lewis Johnman, University of Westminster and Dr Hugh Murphy, University of Glasgow, British shipbuilding in the 20^th Century – the failure of policy;  Dr David Whitmarsh, University of Portsmouth, Marine fisheries management:rationale, objectives and method; Professor  Alastair Couper,GMI, Regulations and loopholes; Professor Forbes Munro, University of Glasgow, Maritime enterprise and empire: William Mackinnon and his business group 1849-93; Reza Mirmiran, GMI, The impact of the European Union CAP on structure of demand for ‘Capesize’ vessels.

The GMI wishes to record its graditude to CP Ships and Lloyd's List for their sponsorship of the GMI Research Seminar series.

The Library

In addition to purchases and journal subscriptions funded by the University, the Library also benefited from donations by Mr Ian Harrison, Mr Brian Hoyle, Mr Terence Lilley, Professor Sarah Palmer, Professor Glyn Williams, the International Transport Workers Federation and Merseyside Maritime Museum, National Musems Liverpool.

External Links

The GMI wishes to record particular thanks to the Nautical Institute and The Marine Society, each of which gave a prize for outstanding achievement to a GMI student. In 2002-2003 these were awarded to Mr Ian Harrison and Miss Emma Dunn, both whom achieved an overall mark of Distinction for their MA work.

Overseas visitors included Captain Marc Dauwe, World Maritime Institute, Dr Devinder Grewal, Australian Maritime College; Professor Phyllis Leffler, University of Virginia; Captain Shahriar Maxhari, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines; Professor Haruo Tohmatsu, Tamagawa University Japan.  The GMI also hosted a visit by staff and students from the Business College of Athens. The GMI remained a member of Maritime London and NEPTUNE, an association of maritime research institutes within the European Union.

Student Activities

Mr Brian Arthur, Mr Richard Bateman and Professor Catherine Pearce gave papers at the 11^th New Researchers in Maritime History Conference held at the National Maritime Museum.  Catherine Pearce and Ms Virginia Preston, MPhil/PhD candidates, presented their  research findings  to the National Maritime Museum Staff Research Seminar.

Staff Activities 

Professor Sarah Palmer continued to act as External Examiner for History at the University of Hull and as a Trustee of the National Museums Liverpool.  She was elected Chair of the British Commission for Maritime History and  chaired the Research and Programmes Committee of the Society for Nautical Research. She served on The Marine Society Council. She was a member of the Chamber of Shipping ‘Sea Vision UK’ core group and also of The Greenwich Forum, and  the Council of the Friends of the National Maritime Museum. She was joint-Chairman of the University of Greenwich Research Ethics Committee. She served on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Maritime History, Mariner’s Mirror, the Journal for Maritime Research, The Great Circle and Northern Mariner.

In October Professor Palmer was an expert assessor on the Rotterdam/Antwerp comparative port project at Erasmus University Rotterdam. She spoke on ‘The role of the Master Mariner two centuries ago’ to November meetings of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners and the Solent Branch of the Royal Institute of Navigation, and also to Medway Rotary Club in February. In March she spoke on ‘The new life of the London Thames’ to the Fleuves de villes conference at the Mairie de Paris. In April she delivered the keynote lecture on  ‘Maritime Metropolis – London, the Thames and the sea’ at the South East Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference. 

She attended the World Maritime University Graduation Ceremony in Malmö, Sweden in October and also the university’s birthday celebrations in June.

Professor Alastair Couper continued research and writing on a study of Pacific island seafarers. In May at the invitation of The Marine Society and the Royal Society of Arts he delivered the Thomas Gray Memorial Lecture on ‘Freedom, regulation and ethics in international shipping’.  He served as a member of the Advisory Board of the World Maritime University Journal of Maritime Affairs and jointly published with Professor Hance Smith an article on the ‘Management of underwater cultural heritage’ Cultural Heritage, 2003, 25-32. 

Professor Roger Knight continued his research for a major biogrpahy of Nelson which will be published for the commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar. He served as Vice-President for the Society for Nautical Research, Vice-President of the Navy Records Society and as a member of the British Commission for Maritime History. He continued as General Editor of the Journal for Maritime Research and served on the editorial boards of the Mariner's Mirror and American Neptune. He was also Consulting Editor of the forthcoming Oxford Encyclopaedia of Maritime History. In April his article, 'Devil bolts and deception? Wartime naval shipbuilding in private shipyards 1793-1815', was published in the electronic Journal for Maritime Research.

Student Research

The following dissertations were submitted by students awarded the degree of MA in Maritime Policy:

Stavros Arvanitis, The ISM Code: Issues of implementation and impacts

Gilberto Asuque, Seafarer skills vs. remuneration: a study linking quality and safety standards to a global wage rate

Peter Boyle, Inland waterways were a popular method of transporting goods throughout Europe. Why has their use declined or at best remained static?

*Ian Harrison, The enforcement of technical regulation in shipping

Teguh Isgunanto, Evaluation of Indonesian and archipelagic sea lane policy and its implementation

Shinji Matsuo, Japanese shipping policy: a study of the decline of Japanese flag ships and seafarers

James Spencer, The shipmaster- pilot relationship

The following dissertations were submitted by students awarded the MA in Maritime History:

Brian Arthur, The role of blockade in the Anglo-American naval war of 1812-14 

Richard Bateman, Emblems of national greatness: the promotion of ocean liner travel on the North Atlantic in the Inter-War years

Sheila Bransfield, The role of Edward Bransfield in the discovery of Antarctica

Victoria Carolan, Voicing the silent service: the image of the Royal Navy 1939-45

*Emma Dunn, “The cement of mediocrity”: the experience of the transport service during the siege of Sevastopol 1854-55

Susan Howarth Reading, Cold cargoes: an investigation into challenges faced by the maritime refrigerated transport sector and the response to those challenges that took place in the last decades of the twentieth century

Christopher Ware, Government policy towards the tramp shipping industry 1934-39

* Awarded the degree of MA with Distinction