Having officially started his two-year tenure as chairman of the ICS, Hamburg-born Karl Franz is keen to promote the value of professional qualifications around the world. Speaking to ICS News, Mr Franz says: "During my time as chairman of the ICS, I would like to promote the value of professional qualifications to the shipping industry internationally and to demonstrate the value of employing MICS/FICS qualified staff."

To help meet those goals, Mr Franz is to target the strengthening of communications with the shipping community in local areas, all the while fostering the sense of internationalism in the shipping industry. "The Institute is first and foremost a professional body and although its head office is based in London ICS has a truly international perspective - that in turn reflects the very international dimension of shipping."

Having worked for Uni-Charter, Orion and HBC Hamburg Bulk Carriers, Mr Franz is no stranger to broking. Starting his career in 1979 as a trainee in Uni-Charter, Hamburg, in 1991 Mr Franz made the move from short sea to deep sea business and took on the challenge of working for one of Hamburg's traditional ship owning companies, Orion, where he became a director. Since 2001, he has worked as a director and head of chartering at HBC Hamburg Bulk Carriers.

As well as a longstanding lecturer at the Hamburg School of Shipping and Transportation, Mr Franz is also an examiner for the Chamber of Commerce Hamburg and a member of The Institute of Transport and Logistics.

Graeme Nimmo FICS, general manager of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers trade organisation, Federation Council, has reviewed the UK Department for Transport's Draft National Policy Statement for Ports and has reservations as to its content and meaningful impact on future trade.

The Draft National Policy Statement for ports sets out the broad need for ports capacity looking ahead to 2030 and beyond, taking account, in particular, of the Government's forecast of port freight demand and the regional and local economic benefits of port activity. It also restates the Government's long-standing policy that this need can best be met by an efficient and competitive ports industry operating in a free-market environment. It notes how ports can support the development of low carbon energy sources and a low carbon economy and it also provides guidance about how the Infrastructure Planning Commission must weight any residual impacts in considering applications for nationally significant port developments.

While there are some positives in the policy statement, there is no real emphasis recognising that shipping, ton for ton, is by far the most environmentally friendly form of commercial transportation currently used and, compared with other transport modes, is certainly the least impactive. For an island economy with limited alternatives to the use of sea transportation for the movement of freight and bulk commodities, the draft statement recognises the need for greater port capacity in the UK in future years, yet there is no mention of any contingency plan if the required port expansion does not take place.

The document fails to address the need for all port developments to be considered as inclusive to the United Kingdom's entire logistics chain and, unlike the rest of the European Union, UK port developers are, at least in part, responsible for upgrade costs associated with the road and rail infrastructure serving the ports. The Government needs to take a wider approach to port development rather than reviewing each application individually and look at port development as UK Plc taking a more considered approach to the whole transport chain including road, rail and feeder requirements, which are to the benefit of the entire nation and not just the port developer. In conclusion, there must be a national approach for port expansion with all commercial and environmental considerations being taken into account and, to do so; this will require input from all interested parties, with the Government assuming the role as the lead project facilitator.

Throughout 2009 there has been plenty of behind the scenes work to audit the current ICS syllabus. The review has sought to understand and harness the strengths of the current syllabus, and to look towards any measured adjustments that will support the Institute's efforts to be respected, robust and relevant in the commercial shipping industry.

Currently we are embarking on the final phases of the review process. This will promptly be followed by an implementation stage, which will carry us into our April 2012 exams. By utilising the strength of the current syllabus, we have been able to design a general outline and structure of how the new syllabus is likely to work.

This still needs to go through some development work and to be put through the rigours of an industry check, but the review now has momentum. Once the final syllabus draft has been accepted by the Institute's Education and Training Committee, we will look to work closely with the publishers and draw on our varied resources to turn the syllabus into study material.