The 13th (A) annual seminar was held at Chennai, at MGM Resort, on the 16th and 17th July 2013.

The event was kicked off by President S. Kuboshima san after customary introductions of the Management and the attendees were carried out. In his opening speech after welcoming the attendees, he firstly thanked one and all for their continuous support to the company in the difficult times. He informed the participants of the improved performance of K Line and the fact that the company has come into “black” , as compared to red earlier which is a very encouraging fact. This had been possible due to far sighted and bold decisions taken by the board in reducing the fleet size at the correct time, and also trimming business accordingly. In fact, it was the first time in history, that K Line was placed at no. 1 amongst the 3 Big J companies, NYK, MOL, and K Line as far as the balance sheet went. The other two were lagging behind as they had not taken quick decisions. He further ended on an optimistic note for the future, thanking the seafarers for their good performance and support.



Action for MLC: by Capt. A. Fujimaru,
After the encouraging welcome address by President Kuboshima san, Capt. A. Fujimaru san, Group Leader, Crewing Group, Tokyo, gave a very enlightening presentation on the Action for MLC 2006, by Tokyo office. He also described the action required to be taken on board, for the forthcoming inspections once it came into force on 20th August 2013. He at the same time cautioned all seafarers, that the responsibility of carrying all documents was entirely theirs and in view of strict compliance and enforcement, all must be very careful when joining ship.

As the morning wore on, it was time for a tea break, which was followed by a group photograph of all the members present.



The next session was a presentation by Capt. S. Rele san, CSO, KLSM, Tokyo, who addressed the topic of Piracy and Robbery describing the Challenges faced and lessons learnt from past incidents. It was interesting to know the amount of data that was up for presentation.

Close on the heels of a Piracy presentation, Capt. S. Bhardwaj, Professor Emeritus of AMET University, and a very well known figure in the field of Maritime Education in India, delivered a very interesting lecture cum presentation on the topic of Understanding of Energy Efficiency in Shipping. Prof. Bhardwaj, has so many milestones and credits in his professional career that to give even a brief introduction would take a while. He was very adept at delivering his lecture with great aplomb, and everyone listened in, with rapt attention. In fact, it was a sort of eye opener for many.

At the conclusion, President Kuboshima san, thanked him for having taken his time out to come and address our gathering, also presenting him with a memento.

After such an interesting morning session, everyone headed out for a nice lunch followed by mouth watering deserts.



The post lunch session commenced with a presentation by Capt. Sunil Bhadsavle, KLMA Instructor at Mumbai and a well known popular Master, known for his “zero observation” achievements. He spoke on tips for Winning Zero Observations and gave a very frank, and honest disclosure on how he used to prepare the vessel and deal with various Inspectors. The main punch-line was on “good effective communications”. His lecture was interesting indeed and prevented the usual drowsiness seen in post lunch sessions at seminars.

Close on the heels of Capt Sunil, Capt. I.A.Juvale, QSHE Manager, Singapore, gave an equally interesting presentation on Hazard Identification and Injury Prevention. This is an important topic for the sailing seafarers to understand in order to aim for zero injury, and zero spills goal of the company.

The same session was continued by Capt. Juvale san, culminating in a small workshop. The workshop was very interesting too, as it gave a good opportunity to carry out a risk assessment in real terms and evaluating, discussing and concluding in a proper manner from a learning point of view.



The workshop conclusion led to a short tea break, after which Mr. Deepak Seth, Fleet Manager, Singapore office, spoke about slow steaming. A very hot topic for the shipowner from the economics point of view, and equally challenging for the engineers and Master on board. Thus, it was a topic, where both sides of the coin had to be understood well, in order to achieve the best possible results with minimum harm to the engine, and the environment either at the same time achieving the economy.

The lecture was followed by two workshops held simultaneously in different rooms, for the Engineers and Deck officers.

The workshop for the deck, was conducted by Capt. S. Rajakumar, MSI, Tokyo, with regard to a Navigation Case study and Incident Investigation. The workshop for the Engineers was conducted by Mr. B.G. Rao, TSI, Tokyo office, dealing with the subject of Machinery Incident Investigations. Both workshops proved to be not only interesting but also very informative for the participants.



The first day of the seminar ended with a very positive note, and which was followed by cocktails and dinner with the usual camaraderie, and bonhomie amongst all the participants, and the families who had joined the seminar.

The 2nd day of the seminar commenced on time, amidst bright sunshine, and the opening topic was an Emergency Table Top Exercise which included a scenario with the office on hand, the vessel on the other, and the rest of the participants divided into 4 groups, who were not just as observers, but had the task on hand to assess the office, and the ship for any faults, or shortcomings to be presented at the end of the exercise. It was a simulation of the kind or realistic exercise done by the office with the ship, and it is the first time that such an exercise was done in the seminar. The exercise also included a mini exercise about media and dealing with media, which also went off very well.

It proved to be very interesting, and lot of enthusiasm was shown by each and everyone participating. There were also very attractive prizes, 2 of them, announced and Kuboshima san, gave them away to the winning teams. Needless to say, we can all guess what it could have been !!



A tea break was in order after such an interesting and exhaustive exercise.

After the tea break, the session resumed with a presentation by Capt. Juvale, on ECDIS related incident and upcoming requirements. Many participants had seen the presentation earlier too. However, it was still interesting for all.

Capt Juvale’s presentation was followed up by one from Capt. S. Rajakumar, who spoke on the topic of Vetting Inspection Observations and Preparation. This was in contrast to the lecture by Capt. Sunil, though Capt. Rajakumar, stressed equally on the importance of what was said by Capt. Sunil too.

It was time for lunch by now, by which time everyone was ravenously hungry.

The post lunch session resumed after a very hearty meal, with an exercise conducted by Capt. A. Bhattacharya, QSHE, Singapore office. The exercise was about the Challenges faced in Navigating in Chinese waters, coupled with an incident case study. It went off very well, and served the dual purpose of spreading knowledge as well as keeping everyone alert.



The exercise was followed by a presentation by Capt. A. Galliara, AGM, Training Coordinator, Mumbai office. He spoke on the hot topic of the use of ISF software and the MLC 2006 Inspections. The presentation was different from that of Capt. Fujimaru san, who had focused on the rules and implementation, whereas Capt. Galliara focused on the practical aspects of the PSC Inspection, how to prepare, what to expect, and what items were detainable, and what would be termed only as a deficiency. Thus it was more shipboard day to say use, practical approach.

As the seminar was coming to a close, the next item on the agenda was the presentations by Capt. R. Venkat and CE Joseph Denny, who each spoke about their experiences in KLSM. Both of them were high praise and appreciative of the Management style, working atmosphere, and the working culture of the company.

The two presentations, once concluded was followed by the most popular event usually for the seafarers namely- the OPEN FORUM. The Open forum, though was without any fireworks, but only with suggestions for supply of magazines to be resumed, sending of KLMA schedule to the vessels, provision of Internet facility, and as to when would additional officers be placed on the ships in view of upcoming MLC 2006 implementation. One of the Electrical officers also inquired about the Loyalty Bonus for the rank.

All of the queries were satisfactorily addressed and replied by the Management.



The OPEN FORUM thus ended on an amiable note, which was followed by and address from QCG Group Leader, Mr. S. Hasegawa san. He thanked everyone for their support and was highly appreciative of the seminar and the arrangements.

Followed by the address by Hasegawa san, Capt. S. Fukuda san, Director from Singapore office also addressed the gathering, in his usual humorous manner thanking everyone whilst at the same time appreciating the seminar.

The DPA from Tokyo office, Mr. T.Fukuzawa san, next thanked everyone for their participation in the seminar as well as their good performance on board.

The next person, to address the gathering was none other than the well known personality of Capt. T. Ibusuki san, who is now elevated to the position of Director, in KLSM, Tokyo office. He was very much appreciative of all, and requested continued support to KLSM from all Indian seafarers.

The speeches ended thus, and it was followed by the Awards and Seminar Certificate Distribution to the persons who had earned Loyalty, and Cooperation awards. This year, it included nearly 46 persons from sailing staff as well as the office staff too.

The final closing address was given by CEO of Mumbai office, Capt. Koji Higashijima san, who in his jovial and friendly manner thanked everyone for their attendance, and support for the seminar as well as KLSM, and looked forward to seeing participants at the next seminar in Mumbai, sometime in November 2013.

The seminar thus concluded, followed by much merry-making, socializing, and presentation of various cultural items by performers from the Resort. The two days thus passed by in a jiffy and it was time on the 18th, to head back home and to office. The seminar had ended !