Stephen Van Dyck

During 2005 I believe we have successfully demonstrated to our members that the internal issues they had been concerned about when I took office in 2004 are well in hand. This has allowed us to focus on other important tasks - expanding the membership, reconfirming our members’ commitment to continuous improvement, and then going on to invite the entire Chain of Responsibility to join our members in ‘striving for zero’ - zero fatalities, zero pollution, zero detentions.

We have expanded our membership having regained some important old members and added several new ones, and we started 2006 with a record 2, 490 tankers of 205 million dwt, owned by 252 members from 44 countries. This reinforces INTERTANKO’s position as the international voice of the oil and chemical tanker industry.

Our Council has roundly supported, and implementation is well underway, to lift the standards of performance that we expect all INTERTANKO members to strive for. We are seeing widespread support from many partners in the Chain of Responsibility for the industry’s ‘striving for zero’ and for the Poseidon Challenge in Singapore end March 2006.

The general sense I get in my travels meeting with members is that they think INTERTANKO is producing good value for money. Moreover among those with whom we interface - governments, flag and port states, administrators, agencies, etc. - I also sense a more profound respect for what we stand for and how we go about our work. That is not to say that we have not enjoyed respect in the past, but as staff turnover and political forces bring in new and more sceptical and often more negative people, we have to earn respect all over again.

At the same time the number and complexity of issues grows with each year. It is a very challenging task for our small staff and for our hard working committees to represent our members' interests around the world effectively. I have long thought that INTERTANKO’S role in creating an environment in which tanker companies can prosper was important, but in today’s world it is even more vital.

I would like to express particular appreciation to the member companies who, in addition to their annual dues, contribute a vital additional ingredient to our success: the time, energy and enthusiasm of their valued people. These unsung heroes give us the technical and operational expertise that makes INTERTANKO the respected expert in these fields.

As we continue with our ambitious work programme in 2006, you can have confidence that those you have entrusted with leading your Association are enthusiastically engaged in continuously improving INTERTANKO and our services to our members.

Stephen Van Dyck
Chairman of INTERTANKO
January 2005