OCIMF Sets New Safety Priorities, Signs MoU With Ipieca

Director’s Log Sets Direction for OCIMF

According to OCIMF’s members’ newsletter, Managing Director Don Davis has laid out a set of priorities intended to sharpen the organisation’s focus as the maritime sector navigates new safety threats and a widening mix of energy sources, technologies and operating models.

Davis, describing the current period as “pivotal,” said OCIMF’s work must evolve while remaining tied to its core purpose of protecting people, assets and the environment through improved safety practice. His stated priorities include risk-based and data-driven decision-making, improving how publications and programmes are developed and delivered, modernising internal systems to better use OCIMF’s data, embedding human factors principles across the organisation’s work, and strengthening training programmes using modern tools.

Davis noted that collaborative engagement with members, committees and industry stakeholders will remain essential as these priorities are put into practice, with further detail promised in future updates.

Inspector Training Resumes in South America

After a three-year gap, OCIMF delivered face-to-face SIRE Cat-3 training in Rio de Janeiro on 10–14 August, covering both new inspector and refresher courses for the South and Central America region. Sessions were led by Inspector Training and Accreditation Manager Ajay Gour together with regional members of the Barges Expert Group, with material delivered in Spanish and Portuguese as needed. Representatives attended from YPF SA, Shell, Petrobras and Pan American Energy.

Upcoming Event in Cartagena

A joint OCIMF–INTERTANKO event, combining the INTERTANKO Latin American Panel with an OCIMF Day, is scheduled for 13 October 2026 in Cartagena, Colombia, focused on Latin America’s maritime energy sector.

Apeks view — The direction set here matters more for what it signals than what it announces: a push toward risk-based, data-driven decision-making and embedded human factors is only as good as the evidence feeding it. Resumed inspector training and cross-body coordination with Ipieca point the same way — better-structured information, shared earlier, supports sounder judgement calls. Owners and managers should watch how these priorities translate into inspection and reporting practice, not just policy language.