Over 50 marine salvage experts from around the world were in Malta last week for the 54th annual general meeting of their trade association, the International Salvage Union.

Each year the ISU chooses a major maritime State to host its meeting, and this year the members chose Malta following an invitation by one of the ISU’s longstanding members, Tug Malta Limited.

The choice of Malta as a venue for this important meeting, which was held at the Westin Dragonara Resort, underlines the importance of the country in the shipping world.

During this meeting, ISU members (who are responsible for well over 90 per cent of all global salvage activity) discussed a number of issues and made a key decision to produce a set of guidelines for the management of ships in distress. These guidelines will assist governments, ship owners and managers, port authorities and other interests directly involved in ship salvage operations.

The production of best practice guidelines for Marine Casualty Management Guidelines has been on the agenda of ISU members for several years now. At their AGM in Malta, ISU members endorsed the project to complete guidelines for circulation and use by salvors, ship owners and coastal States worldwide. The guidelines will be completed in 2009.