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Dear All,
As most of you know, I will be stepping down from my activities as IUG administrator on 1 January 2025 to fully enjoy my retirement.
Many of you attended the dinner on the first day of the conference in Melbourne, where the farewell ceremony took place. Although I knew it would happen, it took me by surprise. An emotional farewell for me and the IUG chairman, Matt Easton, who characterized me as being Mr. ISPO. Thanks Matt for the warm and kind words, it was a pleasure to support you and the board with all the daily activities and more.
After 30 years of serving as a pilot in the port of Rotterdam, being IUG administrator was for me an opportunity to keep contact with piloting worldwide. Involved in the development of ISPO in 2000 and convinced of the usefulness of a quality management system for pilot organizations I started in 2016 as the IUG administrator. At that time there were 16 pilot organizations ISPO accredited.
Now, 9 years later, I am proud that we have 38 ISPO certified pilot organizations (36 to be exactly, Auriga is the first multi-site accredited organization) and there are more to come. A lot has changed over the past 9 years besides the increase in the number of ISPO accredited organizations.
ISPO has been revised and now consists of the Code and Control Manual. The connection with the Dutch Pilotage Service is still there, but the IUG has become the owner of the ISPO logo and a separate IUG logo has been created. A new website ISPO/IUG has been created where all information about ISPO can be found and where all documentation for members can be downloaded.
It has been a pleasure to work with the board, the members, the three classification societies and everyone who has had contact with me to bring ISPO/IUG to where it is today. Special thanks to Ms. Silvia Linssen, the current IUG secretary, who has always supported me as my right hand in the past years.
Mr. Bruno Dockx, my successor and former IUG secretary, will take over my activities as of 1-1-2025. With all his knowledge and his position as IUG secretary since the founding of ISPO/IUG, this knowledge will be preserved as he continues as IUG administrator. I wish him all the joy of being the new administrator as I have experienced those years.
I would like to thank the board, the associates and all those I forgot to mention for the trust they have given me in the past 9 years. I am convinced that the IUG will continue to grow and that more pilot organizations worldwide will become ISPO accredited.
I wish you all the best.
Hans Leemborg.
