GREENWICH MARITIME INSTITUTE

SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT

2004 – 2005 ACADEMIC YEAR

The Advisory Committee

The Members of the Advisory Committee in September 2004 were: Rear Admiral Nick Wilkinson, 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, Commander Michael Ranken, Mr Keith Read CBE, Professor Nicholas Rodger, Ms Olwen Williams.

Mr Ronald Bradbeer joined the Committee in November 2004. Mr Michael Everard and Mr Alan Graveson, who replaced Mr Brian Orrell as NUMAST representative, became members in June 2005.

The Advisory Committee met in November 2004 and June 2005. Mr Paul Russell represented Captain Rodger MacDonald at both meetings. At the June meeting the University of Greenwich Head of Development, Mr Phil Chambers, gave a presentation on the University plans for development and communications, and Professor Roger Knight spoke on the background to the publication of his biography of Nelson.

Staffing

Full-time staff were the Director, Professor Sarah Palmer, the Assistant Director, Dr Minghua Zhao and Miss Suzanne Bowles, Administrator.  Part-time teaching staff were Visiting Professors Alastair Couper and Roger Knight, Ms Susan Hawker, Commander Mike Mason, Dr Reza Mirmiran, Dr Roger Morriss and Mr Christopher Ware. Ms Dongli Hur was Research Assistant.

The Director taught one of the MA in Maritime Policy     courses and two of the MA in Maritime History courses, while the Assistant Director, in addition to acting as Student Tutor, led the Chinese Seafarers’ Research Project.  Dr Zhao and Professors Couper, Knight and Palmer supervised research students.

Professor Gordon Cook and Miss Patricia Crimmin continued as Honorary Research Associates and the GMI also benefited from the support of Dr David Hilling CBE as Research Adviser. 

In July 2005, Captain Yaofang Fu, Wuhan University of Technology, People’s Republic of China, joined the GMI as Honorary Visiting Research Fellow. 

Postgraduate Programmes

Seventeen part-time postgraduate students continued into their second year of taught courses. The 2004-2005 intake consisted of eight students studying full-time and eleven part-time. In addition there were ten students registered for MPhil/PhD degrees. The total postgraduate membership of the GMI, including MA students completing dissertations and research students, was fifty-six. Most were mature, several combining their studies with senior posts in the maritime or governmental sectors. British students predominated, but the group included students from Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Greece, India, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Venezuela and North Vietnam

Visiting lectures were given by Commander Steven Haines, Royal Holloway College, London; Dr David Hilling, GMI; 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. In 2005 those who contributed were: Mr Tom Allan, UK Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO); Mr John Astbury, Marine and Coastguard Agency; Mr Mark Brownrigg, Chamber of Shipping; Mr Michael Everard CBT, F.T. Everard & Sons; Sir William Gibbons, Passenger Shipping Association; Mr Michael Grey, Lloyd’s List; Mr Rossen Karavatchev, International Transport Workers Federation;  Mr Roger Lankester, Friends of the Earth International; Mr John Taverner, Lloyd’s Register of Shipping; Mr Aidan Duffy, British Ports Association. The GMI wishes to record its appreciation to them and also thanks the IMO for permitting 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 Professor John Armstrong, Thames Valley University; Miss Patricia Crimmin, GMI; Professor Peter Davies, University of Liverpool; Dr Roy Fenton; Dr Sheryllynne Haggerty, Brunel University;  Dr Douglas Hamilton, National Maritime Museum; Professor Richard Harding, University of Westminster; Dr Adrian Jarvis, Merseyside Maritime Museum; Dr Alston Kennerley, University of Plymouth;  Professor Nicholas Rodger, University of Exeter; Mr Chris Ware, GMI; Professor Glyn Williams, Queen Mary London.  The GMI wishes to record its thanks for their help.

Dr David Williams, University of Leicester, continued as External Examiner. Professor Bernard Gardner, University of Cardiff, was External Examiner until December 2004, when he was replaced by Dr Hance Smith, University of Cardiff.

In January 2005 The Independent newspaper featured students studying for the joint GMI/Business School MBA in Maritime Management in an article under the headline ‘Life off the ocean waves. Old sea dogs are learning some new tricks in Greenwich’.

Recruitment initiatives for the 2005-2006 next academic year included mail-outs to British and overseas universities, to a number of professional organisations within the industry, to the IMO, to Embassies and High Commissions, to local libraries, and to appropriate voluntary societies. The GMI advertised in BBC History,    International Maritime Review, International Federation of  Shipmasters’ Associations Annual Review, Parliamentary Maritime Review, Seagull, SeaTrade, Seaways and the University’s Alumni Magazine, Meantime.

The Admiral Sir John Chambers White Bursary

Mr Charles Consolvo, a GMI graduate, endowed an annual bursary, the Admiral Sir John Chambers White Bursary, to assist maritime history students in meeting the costs of research trips and conference attendance. The first recipient of the award was Mr Brian Arthur, a research student. The GMI wishes to record its gratitude to Mr Consolvo for this most generous and imaginative initiative.

Summer School

In July 2005 the GMI, in association with the National Maritime Museum and King’s College London, taught a two-week intensive Summer School The Sea and History 1700-1805 at Greenwich. Professor Andrew Lambert, King’s College, and Professor Palmer were joint Directors, assisted by Dr Nigel Rigby, National Maritime Museum.  Others lecturing included Dr Gloria Clifton, National Maritime Museum; Professor Roger Knight, GMI; Roger Quarm, National Maritime Museum; Professor Nicholas Rodger, University of Exeter;  Dr Pieter van de Merwe, National Maritime Museum; Professor James Walvin, University of York; Professor Glyn Williams, Queen Mary London. Sally Archer, National Maritime Museum, and Suzanne Bowles, GMI, provided administrative support.

Public Lectures and Research Seminars

In June Professor Knight launched his book The Pursuit of Victory. The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson with a lecture on ‘Nelson and British Intelligence’. This was chaired by the Vice-Chancellor Baroness Tessa Blackstone and followed by a reception in the Painted Hall. The GMI wishes to record its thanks to the Vice-Chancellor and to the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College for their support for this event.  

In July Professor Paul Kennedy, Yale University, delivered the Caird Medal Lecture on ‘The Meaning of Trafalgar in World History’. This event, held in the university’s King William Court, was chaired by Roy Clare, Director of the National Maritime Museum.

From October to March the GMI ran a monthly series of open seminars on themes related to its interests.   The speakers and subjects were Mr Nigel Wild, University of Greenwich Business School, ‘Air, Sea and Fixed Link - An Analysis of the Demand’; Dr David Starkey, University of Hull Maritime Studies Centre, ‘The History of Marine Animal Populations: the Known, Unknown and Unknowable’; Professor John Williams, School of Humanities  & Social Sciences University of Greenwich, ‘Britain’s Nelson and Wordsworth’s ‘Happy Warrior’: A Case of Cautious Dissent’; Professor Gordon Cook, GMI, ‘The Early History of the Seamen’s Hospital Society’; Professor Daniel Benjamin, ‘Golden Harvest: The British Naval Prize System, 1793-1815’; Mr Bill Moses, Shipshape International Ltd and GMI, ‘The Ferry Industry – A Logistical and Management Challenge’ (Joint Seminar with the Institute of Logistics & Transport).

The GMI wishes to thank these speakers and to record its gratitude to CP Ships and Lloyd’s List for their generous sponsorship of the series.

Conferences

In June the GMI, in association with ShipShape International Ltd, ran a one-day conference on Solutions for 21^st Century Passenger and Freight Transport: Delivering Value and Innovation in the Ferry Industry. In July the GMI was a joint organiser, with the National Maritime Museum and the Institute of Historical Research, of a three-day international conference on Europe at War: The Trafalgar Campaign in Context.

The Library

In addition to purchases and journal subscriptions funded by the University, the GMI also benefited from gifts by Mr John Creed-Mills, Professor Roger Knight, Mr Terry Lilley, Professor Sarah Palmer, Professor Glyn Williams, Dr Hedley Willmott and Mr Bob Williams.

Navy Records Society volumes generously donated by the Ministry of Defence Naval Historical Branch, by the Navy Records Society and by the Royal Naval Museum Portsmouth made the complete series, from the foundation of the NRS to the present, available to students. The GMI wishes to record its gratitude to these bodies, as also to Professor and Mrs Roger Knight for their cataloguing assistance.

External Links 

The GMI wishes to record its thanks to The Marine Society and Sea Cadets which awarded the GMI Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Maritime History to Mr John Swinfield.

The GMI received a delegation from China. The representatives were Prof. GAO Deyi, Vice President, Shanghai Maritime University; Prof. DONG Fang, Dean of School of Navigation, Dalian Maritime University; Prof. GAO Yude, Vice President, Qingdao Ocean Mariners College; Ms XU Cuiming, First Secretary (Maritime), Chinese Embassy to the UK, Mr. LI Zhonghua, Director, Department of Seafarers, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration; ZHANG Jianbin, Bureau Chief, Shenzhen Maritime Safety Administration of PRC. Other overseas visitors included Professor Michael Barrett, The Citadel – the Military College of South Carolina; Professor Barry Gough; Professor Michael Miller, University of Miami; Professor Joelle Neulander, The Citadel – the Military College of South Carolina; Professor and Mrs Shannon Ryan, Memorial University of Newfoundland; Mr James Smith, Centre des Droits Marin, Nantes. 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 of NEPTUNE, an association of maritime research institutes within the European Union.

GMI Student Activities

Mr Brian Arthur presented a paper at an Institute of Historical Research seminar and also at the National Maritime Museum Staff Research Seminar. Mr Michael Clark wrote ‘Father & Son: Two 19^th Century Shipmasters’ for Sea Breezes, Mr Bob Forrester gave a paper to the National Maritime Museum Staff Research Seminar. Mr Brian James published ‘Trafalgar 200 Years On: The Captains’ in BBC History.  Miss Cathryn Pearce presented her doctoral research on Cornish wrecking to the University of Greenwich Humanities Seminar. She also spoke at the Crossmead International Conference, University of Exeter, and at the First Cornwall Maritime History Conference at the National Maritime Museum Falmouth.

Publications by GMI Graduates

Miss Victoria Carolan (MA 2002), Nelson (Pocket Essentials, 2005).

Mr Charles Consolvo (MA 2004), ‘The Prospects and Promotion of British Naval Officers, 1793-1815’ Mariner’s Mirror, May 2005.

Mrs Janet MacDonald (MA 2004), Feeding Nelson’s Navy (Chatham Publishing, 2004).

Staff Activities 

Professor Sarah Palmer continued to act as External Examiner at the University of Hull and as a Trustee of the National Museums Liverpool.  She was Chair of the British Commission for Maritime History. She was a Vice-President of the Sea Cadets and the Marine Society. She was a member of the Chamber of Shipping ‘Sea Vision UK’ core group, of The Greenwich Forum, and the Council of the Friends of the National Maritime Museum. She was Chair of the University of Greenwich Research Ethics Committee. She visited Iran in connection with the MBA in Maritime Management. She participated in a Royal Navy Sea Day on HMS Sutherland.   She served on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Maritime History, The Mariner’s Mirror, the Journal for Maritime Research, The Great Circle and Northern Mariner. Her publications included ‘The Labour Process in the 19^th Century Port of London: Some New Perspectives’ in John Barzman and Eric Barre, Port Environments (Universities of Rouen and Le Havre, 2004).

Dr Minghua Zhao’s research in connection with the externally-funded Chinese Seafarers Project included periods of fieldwork in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. She presented papers in Beijing on 'New Seafaring Labour in China’s Inland Rural Areas: a Sociological Analysis of the Case in Shipping’ at the 36th World Congress International Institute of Sociology, and on ‘The CCP Representative’s Role in the Work Place: a Case Study in Ocean Shipping’ at the International Conference on Enterprise Reform, the Trade Union’s Role and the Worker’s Participation. She gave a paper to an Apostleship of the Sea Workshop on ‘Seafarer’s Welfare’ and participated in the International Ship-Owners Federation Conference on Manning and Training in London, as also the LSM Conference on Manning and Training in China which took place in Shanghai. She was the joint author of ‘Chinese and Filipino Seafarers: A Race to the Top or the Bottom’, Modern Asian Studies, 39 (2005). She was a core member of the University of Greenwich Chinese Studies Working Group and a member of the Univeristy Race Equality Scheme Task Force. She was appointed Honorary Visting Professor at Beijing Normal University. 

Professor Alastair Couper continued on the editorial board of the WMU journal and worked on his Pacific Seafarers book. He wrote Part I of the volume Seafarers’ Rights entitled ‘Historical Perspectives on Seafarers and the Law’ published by Oxford University Press (2005). He also continued to supervise GMI PhD students.

Professor Roger Knight served as a Vice-President of the Society for Nautical Research and of the Navy Records Society. He was a member of the British Commission for Maritime History. He served on the editorial boards of The Mariner's Mirror and the Journal for Maritime Research and was consulting editor for the forthcoming Oxford  Encyclopedia of Maritime History. His book The Pursuit of Victory: the Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson was published by Penguin and he lectured on this subject at conferences in London and Oxford, as well as at the University of East Anglia, the Scottish Fisheries Museum and the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Other publications included ‘Nelson and the Perfect Muster Book’, The Mariner’s Mirror, 91 (2005).

Student Research

The following dissertations were submitted by students awarded the degree of MBA in Maritime Management:

Om Bajpai * Co-operation and Freight Rate Stability in Trans-Atlantic Liner Shipping.

Paul Martin * The EU Commission and the Directive for Access to Port Services. Is it appropriate to introduce competition in marine pilotage?

Irina Wahlstrom Business Strategies in the Early 21^st Century Finnish Ferry/Liner Industry. Challenges and Implications of Intensified Competition, EU Enlargement and Subsequent Tax Free Abolition.

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

Robert Cook The Combined Use of Naval Power: Problems, Possibilities and Implications of International Naval Co-operation.

Esther Copete-Murillo Ulbrich The Importance of Ports in Economic development: A  Study of Latin American Ports.

Kun Fan  China’s Oil Trade and Tanker Shipping.

Despina Karagianni Privatisation: Analysis of Port Privatisation According to the Level of Development of a State.

Nicky Kuo International Shipping and Port Security Code: Implementation and Impacts.

Francis Owoo Flags of Convenience: A study of Open Registry Conditions with Special Reference to Chemical Tankers.

Felipe Poleo A Model of Sustainable Development for Port Management

Armena Richards The Role of Seafarers in Open registry: A Case Study of the Liberian Registry 

Laraine Soliman  Passenger Transport on the Thames 1980-2003.

Aikaterina Vassiliou European Union Port Policy and How It Has Affected Greek Port Policy – The Case of Piraeus.

Tao Zeng Shipping Industry Development in China since the 1980’s.

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

David Elvin The Founding and Development of the Victualling Yard at Deptford in the 1740’s.

John Swinfield * The Sky Sailors: The Role of the Armed Services in the Development of the Airship from 1900-1930.

Richard Richards Henry Jackson and the Development of the Marine Radio.

* Awarded the degree with Distinction