Ed´s note-Further to last month´s article regarding the MCA inspecting yachts in the South of France there appeared to be some confusion as to the MCA´s jurisdiction.
John,
An authorised inspector has the powers to inspect British vessels anywhere in the world, or any ship in British waters, as set out in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.
Regards,
Simon Judge
Marine Surveyor for MCA Ensign - Large Yacht Services
Dear Mr. Rule,
Following your email, hope you find the following information useful.
According to a very recent law, article 34 L.2932/01(All privately owned crafts under Greek and foreign flag, exceeding 7 meters of length overall and not permanently mooring in Greek harbours, have also to pay circulation fees of 5,87 euro each time they approach Greek ports, bays or coasts. These fees are due to the Port Authority of the first point of entry to the country. The crafts that participate in races or training organized by nautical clubs or sailing schools and the crafts that participate in training voyages organized by foreign ministries are exempted from the above fees after approval of the Ministry - Merchant Marine) is not valid anymore but L.2743/99 concerning the yearly recompense of 14,67 euro per meter for yachts flying a non EU flag still applies. However, our marinas are offering a discount on mooring fees for that category of yachts for a period of stay longer than 3 months with the aim to relieve yacht owners from this particular taxation.
Please do not hesitate to contact me for further details.
Kind Regards,
Ioannis Koutsodontis
Assistant Manager representing Gouvia marina in Corfu, Lefkas marina, Kalamata marina and Zea marina in Athens.email- k.g@medmarinas.com
Dear John,
I am writing in response to your enquiry about the London boat show at the new ExCel venue. I was exhibiting there and have to say that we were all very impressed with the venue itself, it reminds you of the RAI exhibition centre in Amsterdam where METS is held every year.
Before the show started we were all a little sceptical to say the least, primarily because of its rather remote location and a lack of infrastructure around the site. I hope that as time passes more facilities will be built in the local vicinity. From what I can gather though, there is no other event staged at ExCel that generates as many exhibitors and visitors as the boat show, so will they be able to justify the costs of improving the surrounding area based on one show a year? We shall see.
From our point of view, our stand was located directly opposite one of the main public entrances from the central boulevard, guaranteeing a reasonable flow of people passing by. One of the main advantages of being all on one level is that visitors have to walk past you before getting to the boat stands etc. Our first serious customer was on the stand eight minutes after opening, as opposed to Earls Court where being upstairs people would start drifting up after one or two hours.
I do know that because of its grid style layout other exhibitors who had less prominent stands were complaining about the fact they were not getting much passing trade. These grievances were aired with the organisers and some changes to the stand layout may be made for next year.
The indoor windsurfing championships were apparently a success, after a shaky start.
From the boat manufacturers point of view I believe it was also very successful with some previous records being broken.
On the whole I do feel that it was the right move to take the show there but time will tell. I have seen a report on the Internet stating over 210,000 visitors, many of these may have come because of the novelty factor of a new location; many may be prepared to spend money because of the relatively buoyant UK economy at the moment. I feel next year will be the crucial telling point for the true success of the move.
Mark Wilson
Navicomm Marine Systems