Obituary – William O’Neil

WILLIAM O’NEIL

1927-2020

William A O’Neil, secretary-general emeritus of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), died on 29 October at the age of 93. O’Neil, a Canadian by birth, died at his home in the UK. He was secretary-general of IMO from 1990 to 2003 and led the organisation towards many significant improvements in maritime safety and environmental protection, playing a major role in ridding the world of substandard ships and shipping practices.

“Mr O’Neil was a truly great secretary-general whose actions and initiatives had a great and lasting impact on the work of the organisation,” said Kitack Lim, current IMO secretary-general. “I, personally, always valued his guidance and advice, as well as his friendship and leadership. Mr O’Neil left a lasting legacy on the organisation. He was committed to the universality of IMO and oversaw a significant increase in membership. He encouraged wide and effective participation in the organisation from all stakeholders in the maritime sector.

“Above all, Mr O’Neil was dedicated to enabling developing states to adopt and implement IMO instruments, through his active pursuance of new sources of extra-budgetary funding. And he worked tirelessly to strengthen the relevance and capacity of IMO’s educational institutes, the World Maritime University and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute.”

During his time as head of IMO, O’Neil acted firmly to address emerging safety issues, not least surrounding bulk carriers, large passenger ships and, following the loss of the ferry Estonia, ro-ro vessels. He also saw the adoption of Annex VI of the Marpol Convention, opening the door to IMO’s current activities in addressing shipboard emissions, as well as the accelerated phase-out of single-hull tankers. He laid the basis for the development of measures to prevent the spread of invasive species through ballast water.

Other landmark developments during O’Neil’s time leading IMO include the introduction of the mandatory International Safety Management Code, the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code and key 1997 revisions to the STCW Convention. O’Neil also established the Seafarers Memorial Fund, which paid for the public memorial that now stands outside the doors of IMO’s headquarters building in London.

O’Neil graduated in civil engineering from the University of Toronto and worked for the Canadian Department for Transport and the St Lawrence Seaway Authority before being appointed commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard in 1975. He had begun representing Canada at the IMO Council in 1972 and became chair of that body in 1980, being re-elected four times. From 1980 he was also president and CEO of the St Lawrence Seaway Authority, a position he held until 1990.

In 1991 O’Neil became chancellor of the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden and chair of the governing board of the International Maritime Law Institute in Malta.

The high regard in which O’Neil was held is evident from the awards he received both during his tenure as IMO secretary-general and subsequently. He had honorary doctorates from four universities in Canada, the UK, Malta and South Korea, as well as medals, honorary orders and prizes from as far afield as Lebanon, Panama, Italy, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, the US, Canada and the UK.

William O’Neil leaves a widow, Olga O’Neil, children and grandchildren. A memorial service will be held once the coronavirus crisis has passed.

CONTENTS

VOLUME 41 • NUMBER 11

UP FRONT Letter from the editor Obituary – William O’Neil 30 Years Ago Learning by Training 01 02 04 05

TANKS & LOGISTICS Help on hand ITCO reports on rule changes Sustainability says ‘no’ STC disapproves of flexis Going global Cotac expands depot network Blowing hot and cold VTG adds temperature sensors 06

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The right chemistry Dachser’s links in warehousing 12

Tread lightly A lighter tank from Van den Bosch 14 Upsides, downsides Fort Vale reflects on a strange year 16 News bulletin – tanks and logistics 18

TANKER SHIPPING Joining forces Consolidation in chemical tankers 20 Back in the swing Odfjell eyes normalisation 22 Acid test HGK converts for Covestro 23 Opening time Making headway in hydrogen shipping 24 Live green and prosper Stena, Proman add to methanol plans 26 Clean air act BW LPG starts LPG fuelling 27 Low water mark Tough times for Kirby Corp 28 News bulletin – tanker shipping 30

STORAGE TERMINALS Coming together Tarragona hosts Med Hub Day online 32 Gassing up Bidvest, Petredec open LPG terminal 36 Keep it clean Stainless tanks for Maastank 37 Smells like white spirit GPS adds to ethanol in Amsterdam 38 Bring it on home UM Terminals centralises services 39 Under control Vopak holds up well 40 Green for go Power-to-methanol for North Sea Port 41 News bulletin – storage terminals 42

INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING Time to grow Time Technoplast arrives in the US 44 Ticks all the boxes Recognition for Schütz IBC 45

Editor–in–Chief Peter Mackay, dgsa Email: peter.mackay@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 7769 685 085 Campaigns Director Craig Vye Email: craig.vye@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4014

Commercial Director Ben Newall Email: ben.newall@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4036 Production Manager Binita Wilton Email: binita.wilton@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4041 Bright ideas Greif introduces new concepts New and pre-used RIPA counts US reconditioning

CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION Fit for the future Project Brenntag shaping up 48 News bulletin – chemical distribution 50

CONFERENCES Conference Diary 53

SAFETY Incident Log 54

Stem the tide The legal view of containership fires 56

REGULATIONS Back in the old routine Joint Meeting gets to work on tanks 58

BACK PAGE Not otherwise specified 64

NEXT MONTH Storage terminal markets Tank container equipment Sustainability in chemical logistics More from the regulators

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