Clay Maitland

On a quest for quality in shipping

Namepa and education

Namepa brings together business, environmental groups and regulators to find solutions to protect the marine environment. Continue reading

Clay on NAMEPA

Clay on Namepa. Continue reading

Marintec China 2011

As NAMEPA’s (North American Marine Environment Protection Association) founding chairman I was asked to speak at the recent Senior Maritime Forum held in conjunction with Marintec China 2011 in Shanghai. Continue reading

Integration is key for risk management

In February, I spoke about the purposes that led to the founding of NAMEPA. It is now three years since we were organised, in October, 2007. Continue reading

Further thoughts on deepwater horizon

The Gulf of Mexico drill rig disaster is casting a growing shadow on the discipline, if that’s the correct word, of oil spill prevention, cleanup and response.

Not since the EXXON VALDEZ incident, more than two decades ago, has so much attention been focussed on “measures taken” and “lessons learned.”

There will, we can be sure, be many lessons learned.. One is that the marine environment and its protection is of great political and economic significance.

When a few friends and I formed the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA), three years ago, it was with an awareness that the private sector, the government, engineers and scientists still had to reckon with the peculiar nature of oil spills, particularly those involving large quantities of the stuff.

What we have before us… Continue reading

NAMEPA Part II: Working in partnership

Although NAMEPA is a young organization, it has already become a significant interlocutor between local government and environmental groups in sensitive coastal areas. Continue reading

The Other Human Element in shipping

When shipping gurus, or guru wannabes, gather, we often speak of the “human element.”

This is understood to be the merchant seafarers who are, as is well known, often in short supply these days. There is, however, another “human dimension,” one that we often forget. Continue reading