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TO THE MEMBERS

Ref: 6/98), which was sent out to the Members of all the International Group Clubs of the urgent need to address the problems associated with the Year 2000 Millennium Bug. </dir>

Dear Sirs,

YEAR 2000 - THE MILLENNIUM BUG

Members will be aware from the first circular on this subject (

At their meeting in January 1998, the Directors of the Association approved certain measures designed to assist the Members of the Association to identify the problems in relation to their own operations and to raise awareness of the problem within the industry generally.

Three specific measures were approved:

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to join with the other Clubs within the International Group in the organisation of a series of conferences to draw the shipping industry's attention to the problem. Plans for the conferences are now well advanced. In addition to the backing of all the Clubs within the International Group, the conferences are also backed by the Through Transport Club and ITIC and are supported by BIMCO and the ICS. The conferences will be held in Singapore on 9th June, Hong Kong on 11th June, London on 15th June and Miami on 18th June. These conferences are being managed by IBC Conferences (UK) Ltd. and the conference brochure is enclosed. The conferences have been competitively priced and you are strongly encouraged to attend, particularly if you are in the early stages of addressing Year 2000 problems.

the creation of a help pack to assist all Members to address the problems on their ships. This help pack, which will be called the Ship2000 Toolkit is close to completion and will be sent out to all Members free of charge within the next few weeks. The Ship2000 Toolkit has been developed to provide practical assistance to shipowners in addressing the "Millennium Timebomb". It provides an explanation of the problem, the issues involved and a methodology for addressing and managing the problem posed by the Year 2000 problems.

the creation of a new Internet website, in co-operation with Lloyd's Register, BIMCO and the ICS aimed at providing the shipping world with a focal point of information about the Millennium problem. The website will provide basic background information and awareness material on the problem, however, the most important function of this website will be to provide a list of the major marine equipment suppliers giving contact details of the person responsible at those organisations for answering questions on Year 2000 compliance. The new website is planned to open for enquiries soon after the beginning of May. Further details will follow shortly.

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Yours faithfully

THOS. R. MILLER & SON (BERMUDA)