Expeditionyacht.org

Occasionally when doing my research and preparation for this project I run into a company or person that really stands out when it comes to helpfulness, speed of reply, in-depth knowledge and last but not least,  an informative website.   Recent examples of such an experience were the people at Palux in Germany (galley equipment), Triton water (sewage treatment plants) and Lift Emotion (elevators and dumb waiters for maritime use). 

My latest  such experience is with Manta Maritime,  a British company headed by Anthony Gradwell.  Anthony is a naval architect, professional engineer, former Lloyds Register surveyor and worked 5 years with he Cayman Islands Shipping registry (the largest registry for commercial yachts)  most of it as lead surveyor. 

Since 2006 he runs his own company - Mantra Maritime - dedicated to providing “effective yacht safety solutions through innovative and practical guidance”.

When looking for some info on SOLAS and MCA issues I ran into Anthony’s site and spend over an hour reading the information he had available for download on his website.  While I consider myself pretty well informed about the issue his site really brings it all together.   Handy compliance charts and guides clarify many of the issues that have a lot of people confused.

Then I sent him a note of appreciation for setting up such an informative website and that started another round of very informative e-mail exchanges.

Among the things I was made aware of is that the Cayman Island Shipping Registry is far advanced preparing a 13-36 guest code.  It’s still under wraps but it will be discussed at the Superyacht Forum in Amsterdam next month (at the METZ tradeshow).  It will most likely be a consolidation of all the requirements in SOLAS for small (<36) passenger ships, plus some standard equivalent arrangements.  And excellent slideshow presentation about the 13+ guest/passenger issue can be found on the Manta Maritime website.

Since we plan to make our yacht MCA LY2 compliant and will be able to take more than 12 guests, we’re very interested  in any new regulation regarding this topic.  When Peter went over my website and general arrangement he came up with a host of other helpful suggestions showing an in-depth knowledge on a wide range of issues.

If you have a project where you need expert guidance on regulatory issues, I highly recommend you contact Anthony Gradwell.  Start by visiting his website www.mantamaritime.com.