While the voting procedure for the 2019 GREEN4SEA Awards is open, Mr. Dimitrios I. Mountzouris, Managing Director, Hellespont Steamship Corporation, refers to his company initiatives toward safety and environment, noting that these two are equally important for the shipping industry. Hellespont has been nominated for the ‘Tanker Operator’ category among other distinguished nominees. Mr. Mountzouris further comments that investment in human element and training in new technologies are the key focus areas for both a safer and greener shipping industry. This can only be achieved with close cooperation between different stakeholders, concluding that they may be competitors economically but for the environment, all parties be all on the same side!
SAFETY4SEA: Your organization has been shortlisted for the 2019 GREEN4SEA Awards in the ‘Tanker Operator’ category alongside a number of other distinguished nominees. What would you like to share with industry’s stakeholders with respect to this development?
Dimitrios I. Mountzouris: We are proud to be formally identified as one of the responsible Green Members of our shipping community. It indicates that the investment in resources and time by Hellespont for many decades on Safety and Green issues has been successful. We strongly believe that these two facets of a successful industry member – Safety and Environment – are now accepted as complementary and that you must do both to be at the top in shipping. They are not incompatible but rather complementary and today you cannot do one without the other.
S4S: When it comes to tackling the green challenges around the shipping sector, what are the core priorities on your agenda?
D.M.: FIRST – Do no harm and follow holistically the Rules and Regulations of our Industry. MARPOL is an expanding concept and not just a body of regulation. At Hellespont we stay in front for the compliance with Air, Water and Waste disposal and we want and strive to do more than the minimum.
SECOND – Is the Human Element. Indoctrination and Training of all Hellespont crew and personnel in both policies and most importantly in practical procedures that allow the implementation of our policies. Achieving this at all levels from OS to CEO is one of the most challenging priorities.
THIRD – To work actively with and through various international forums, committees and associations to achieve environmental improvement and compliance with both existing regulations and goals.
S4S: Which best practices would you recommend from your perspective to enhance green performance onboard and ashore?
D.M.: Staying Informed is key. From the start of the legislation, actually from the beginning of the legislative ideas, where you can guide or enhance for true improvements in the final legislation and in its detailed enforcement.
Transparency and no blame culture. We have both whistleblower policies and procedures together with the suggestion box/e-mail. However apart from setting and identifying best practices, it is most important to demonstrate that you follow it as a company. You must “walk the talk”. As a Company, we are proud that last year when we had ORB mistakes or reported incorrectly SECA fuel changeovers or mistakes in garbage management records that were reported to us by our ships or found in internal audits, we reported them directly to the FLAG. We have achieved a compliance culture that is acknowledged by our Flags and Oil Majors.
S4S: Do you have any new projects on the pipeline and/or plans that you would like to share with the rest of the industry?
D.M.: Our main project and investment is on the human element. Recently we have renewed our Officers cadet ship program and added facility investments in our training center – two items that for Hellespont are vital for long term sustainable improvement. Fully equipped with both Bridge and Engine room simulators, the training center that you control is necessary if you want to provide effective and practical training for all crew levels. Currently we are focusing to develop more and more in house training courses on Environmental and Safety using issues and incidents that we or others in the industry have faced in the past. For us STCW courses are good but these are just the minimum.
In 2019 we are looking to improve our digital infrastructure. We are in discussions with the both the shipping and IT industry to automate data acquisition from our current fleet for better system monitoring that will help us to set and to achieve realistic Environmental, Safety and performance targets.
S4S: What is your key message to the industry for a more sustainable future of shipping?
D.M.: Be involved and invest in people and training in new technologies for both a safer and greener shipping industry. Work with representatives at IMO, Flag, Class and other NGOs to push reasonable environmental goals ahead. One may not always achieve ones goals but we must show persistence and progress towards our goals and be open to learn from others. We may be competitors economically but for the environment we are and must be all on the same side.
You may cast your vote for Hellespont Steamship Corporation at 2019 GREEN4SEA Awards dedicated webpage till 22nd of February 2019!
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and not necessarily those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
