In our special column this month, we are glad to host an interview with Mrs Alice Amundsen, Senior Adviser, Gard P&I Club, who talks about the new path of her career six years ago, when she decided to focus on seafarers’ health and life and involve in the development of a digital medical app guide tailored for crew onboard.
Having lived in Norway for many years, Mrs Amundsen has been used to a direct communication style, which is part of Norwegian culture. As a result, she has become more direct and speaks plainly which has not only saved her time but also improved her relationship with colleagues and performance.
SAFETY4SEA: How did it come about that you joined shipping industry and your field of expertise specifically?
Alice Amundsen: While I grew up in rural Gloucestershire in England, I was always fascinated by the sea on our family holidays. In my teens I became an avid sailor, and in my 20s I ventured beyond coastal sailing to crossing seas, qualifying as an ocean master and ultimately owning a 45 foot yacht. I was working as a corporate lawyer dealing with mergers and acquisitions, when it dawned on me that if I practised maritime law, I could incorporate my love of the sea in my work, using my navigation skills and getting aboard ships! I joined a maritime law firm and so my 35-year career in shipping began.
S4S: What about your current job/ role most excites you and why?
A.A.: Although I have officially retired from Gard, where my last role was global Head of People Claims, I continue to work on an exciting project which will I believe will improve the health and wellbeing of seafarers and may even save lives. I spent much of my shipping career arguing about which corporate maritime entity should win a dispute, often involving vast sums of money. Then 6 years ago, my focused changed completely to the men and women who keep world trade moving. It has felt so much more rewarding to be able to make a difference to a seafarer’s health and life. The pandemic threw at me the most challenging and exciting 2 years of my career, really bringing into focus the role and importance of seafarers as well as, unfortunately, how much they are taken for granted.
I have been so fortunate to work from the start with the development of a digital medical guide in the form of an app, which we have named The Mariners Medico Guide. This has involved closely collaborating with a team of doctors and nurses from the University Hospital in Bergen and Radio Medico. The app is unique, tailored for the treatment of crew onboard ships and is completely free of charge and available for use globally by all seafarers. Once the app has been downloaded, it can be used anywhere offline. It is symptom-based, easy to use and is written in a language we hope the crew will understand with easy-to-follow steps, supported with graphics, animations, and videos. It contains the most up-to-date medical information, so monkeypox is already included. The Norwegian flag state has endorsed it as an equivalent national medical guide to the current approved WHO International Medical Guide for Ships from 2007. I have learnt so much from working alongside the medical professionals and gathering insight from crew and medics. This has definitely been a highlight of my career and it is very rewarding to feel that I am leaving a trace of a legacy in this app.
S4S: When you think of the word successful who’s the first person who comes to mind and why?
A.A.: Sir Richard Branson. He left school aged 15, severely dyslexic, without any qualifications and with the message from his head teacher that he would either end up a millionaire or in prison. Some 400 companies in the Virgin group later, he’s a knighted billionaire, adventurer and disrupter. He has chosen to see his dyslexia as a superpower, an enabler rather than something holding him back; believing it to make him a better leader – eager to delegate, always positive towards people and ideas – a “yes” person. I really like his openness about this as well as giving back through employing a high number of dyslexic people and his charitable work relating to education.
S4S: Who is/was the most influential person/mentor to you & why?
A.A.: I have had many mentors who have immensely influenced me. My parents instilled important values in me I still live by today. I continue to employ the good practices I learned from the partner who trained me to be a maritime lawyer. I have looked up to many leaders during my 30 year career in Gard, not only because of their great leadership skills but also because of Norwegian culture. Norwegians have instilled in me an even stronger sense of fairness, co-operation and loyalty and taught me humility.
S4S: What is the best and what was the worst piece of advice you’ve ever been given and why?
A.A.: The best piece of advice I have ever received is to trust my instincts. I have never regretted following my gut feelings and every time I have deviated from this, I feel afterwards that I took the wrong decision. The worst piece of advice was one I received as a teenager from a family friend. I was told that life is short and the road to becoming a lawyer long, so it was best to take the most direct path for my chosen career. So, I did not take a gap year; I studied law instead of English Literature at university; and studying abroad was out of the question. Looking back, spending 3 years studying a subject I really loved at university, followed by an extra year at law school and/or spending some time traveling or studying overseas would only have enriched my life rather than stolen time!
S4S: What is the most worthwhile career investment (in energy, time, money) you’ve ever made?
A.A.: Participating in an innovation project. Not so long ago I spent 6 months working with “professional” innovators, who gave me a completely fresh perspective – not only in relation to work but also to my family life. They gave me a framework I can use to approach situations in a different way, from gathering insight to communication. It was so energising to work with and learn from these people – old dogs can learn new tricks!
S4S: If you could give a piece of advice to your 18-year-old-self one thing, what would it be and why? What piece of advice should you ignore?
A.A.: That would be to take advantage of every good opportunity coming your way.
S4S: In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your busi-ness life?
A.A.: Having lived in Norway now for the same amount of time I have lived in England, I have subconsciously acclimatized to and absorbed elements of Norwegian culture, one of which is a direct communication style. The English are renowned for beating around the bush and being (over) polite. During recent years (and particularly after working with Five Dysfunctions of a Team and coping with the pandemic), I have learnt to be much more direct, to base what I say on facts and to speak plainly. This has not only saved time, which was critical during the pandemic, but has also improved my relationship with colleagues, as well as performance, and has led to a closer-knit team and increased certainty.
S4S: What would you like to change in the current maritime landscape and your area of exper-tise specifically and why?
A.A.: During the pandemic, seafarers were superheroes, key workers keeping the global supply chain flowing, delivering goods essential to normal functioning of society, including vital medical supplies, food and other basic goods critical for pandemic response and recovery. Yet, I witnessed first hand hundreds of thousands of men and women stranded at sea because government restrictions prevented them from going ashore – some had been working at sea for well over a year. That was bad enough, worst of all were the tragic situations involving ill and injured crew and even seafarers who had passed away.
Many countries simply refused to provide medical assistance to crew with life-threatening conditions – regardless of whether they were injured, had a serious illness or were suffering from covid. We tried everything, including diplomatic channels and even in one instance trying to get help from a military base. Yet each country refused, having a NIMBY approach – not in my back-yard. In other cases, countries refused to repatriate the bodies of crew who had passed away onboard – in one case a deceased master was onboard for more than 6 months.
Pretty basic humanitarian rights were simply eliminated overnight for a sector doing essential work during the pandemic. There should have already been in place policies, protocols and regulations to deal with a pandemic situation as a pre-planned global response, instead countries and governments had each their own individual national response. While they had been called upon to recognise seafarers as key workers by an IMO resolution and to implement protocols to ensure safe crew changes, expediting travel, repatriation and access to medical care, less than half the IMO member states have done so. It goes without saying that seafarers should have adequate medical care, equitable access to vaccines and be able to return home at the end of their employment contracts – this needs to change!
S4S: What is your personal motto?
A.A.: I have two:
1. Nothing is impossible – there is always a way through, no matter how difficult things may seem and feel at a given time, you can make it one way or another.
2. Live for today – I firmly believe in taking life’s opportunities as they arise, we none of us know what lies around the corner…
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
