IT is fair to say that the PYNDA conference outdid all before it during the afternoon “cake and a break”. Cakes decorated with vessel drawings were labelled up as cakesize, ULCC and VLCC (cake carriers), panamarzipan and icing breakers…

IT has been an exceptionally busy month here at Spinnaker Towers. Quite apart from getting on with the day job, battling away to fill the odd vacancy here and there, we've been involved in the PYNDA 40th anniversary conference at the IMO, hosted the annual Maritime HR Forum conference and badgered all of you out there to get involved in shipping's first industry-wide charity Trading Day, which raised 51,000 pounds for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

THERE was some fighting talk at the PYNDA conference and some major concerns from the industry not least as far as Iranian sanctions were concerned. David Brummond, Senior Sanctions Advisor from the US Treasury, bravely faced the crowd to explain the US stance…

CONFERENCE organised by a whole bunch of people, myself included, making it up as they went along!…….

THE man, the legend that is marine claims guru Chris Beesley………….

AND while we're doing modern funky things……….

COMBINING the two HR departments in shipping companies is becoming increasingly popular……..

DEALING with people who you cannot stand is a fact of life, although hopefully you work with one or two people who don't make your teeth itch. Krista Powell Edwards, a managing consultant at Humanistics Solutions has come up with a few top tips for dealing with the situation…

An amazing GBP51,000 was donated to the OSCAR Campaign last Thursday during shippingâs first industry-wide trading day…