Bristol Hosts 130th UKMPA Conference

On the 23rd May 2018, The 130th UKMPA Conference was held at the Mercure Holland Hotel in Bristol.

Tony Anderton attended the conference:

“I think it’s fair to say that the conference was a great success. It was well supported by members, sponsors and a good range of interesting speakers.

Conference reception on Tuesday evening was a great event to meet old and make new friends and acquaintances. I have never seen food disappear so fast!

The partners (ladies) program was blessed with fair weather, the ladies enjoyed a walking history tour with the Long John Silver trust in the morning, followed by lunch at the Spoke & Stringer and finally a ferry trip across the dock for a guided tour of the ss Great Britain and the new Brunel exhibition.

Following on from the closed UKMPA session, we heard from Chirp, Steve Clinch from the MAIB, John Haynes from the Whole Body Vibration project, Don Cockrill gave an update on Autonomous ships and Nick Lee covered the risks involved with boarding low freeboard vessels. The PNPF with St James place filling the final slot on finance and pensions.

The conference finale was a walk down to the Matthew of Bristol for a city docks cruise with a fish & chip supper, once again blessed with fair weather!

For those who enjoyed the experience, and those who would like the opportunity to join us next time. the dates for your diary are 22-24th May 2019 in Liverpool for the EMPA conference. Check the UKMPA website for details of this fantastic event.

Many thanks to our generous sponsors The Bristol Port Company, Svitzer and Spinlock, as well as Trudy who led out the ladies program keeping them on safe track.

More detailed papers and reports can be found on the UKMPA website.”

During the conference over £600 was raised in the charity raffle, and a further £800 in the auction- all for Portbury Seaman’s Center.