SAFETY4SEA announced the winners of the 2017 SAFETYT4SEA Awards at a prestigious awards ceremony which took place on Tuesday 3rd at the Yacht Club of Greece, one night before the SAFETY4SEA Conference. The SAFETY4SEA Awards are awarded to organizations that demonstrated outstanding performance within the scope of fostering Safety Excellence & Sustainable Shipping following an open nomination process.
The winners of the 2017 SAFETY4SEA Awards are:
Thome Group received the SAFETY4SEA Dry Bulk Operator Award for representing a unique combination of the best elements of Scandinavian shipping traditions & Asian business enterprise, with a focus on high standards. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: Atlantic Bulk Carriers Management, Clipper Group and Pacific Carriers Limited
Presenting the award Mrs. Athena Kanellatou, Managing Director, MacGregor Greece, on behalf of the sponsor stated: “The Thome Group is recognized as a powerful combination of Scandinavian roots and Asian wings, with flair to excel in a culture of unity and team spirit, to enhance knowledge, skills, abilities, motivation, alertness, physical and mental performance. The Thome Group has grown rapidly from its humble origins as a ship agency and ship manager to the world class, multi-faceted global business that is today, with strong commitment to delivering highest standards of health and safety, in a workplace where employees can develop to their full potential.”
Accepting the award on behalf of Thome Group of Companies, Mr. Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen, Director, Business Development stated “This award will mean a lot to all our people who work diligently to make sure that safety is our number one priority – an overriding principle in their work – at sea or on shore. The award also will inspire us to continue to improve our safety standards. Thome Ship Management is currently managing a fleet of about 60 dry cargo and container ships, from handy size and feeders to VLOCs in addition to 130 tankers. For us, there is a direct correlation between ‘Health, Safety, Security & Environment’ performance and strong business performance.”
Wallem Ship Management received the SAFETY4SEA Tanker Operator Award for its ‘Wallem Engagement Programme’ which is designed to proactively enhance engagement among both seafarers and staff shore and to empower them with ownership over their own safety. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: Arcadia Ship Management, Besiktas Shipping Group, Emarat Maritime LLC, Scorpio Tankers Inc.
Presenting the award Mr. Elias Psyllos, Vice President, Commercial and Risk Management, T&T Salvage on behalf of the sponsor stated: “Wallem Ship Management was one of our first and most distinguished clients as well as only Hong Kong based company who are a Green Award member and remains so with a reputation of the highest standards in corporate governance and integrity. The Company’s strong management controls, solid risk management, transparency in customer interactions, and full compliance with applicable regulations make Wallem to stand among the few companies with zero incidents in US waters that would activate T&T Salvage’s emergency response for a minor or major incident.“
Accepting the award on behalf of Wallem Ship Management, David Price, Managing Director, stated: “It gives me great pleasure to accept this Award on behalf of Wallem and the 8,000 seafarers sailing on Wallem managed vessels. Safety is not something we simply talk about, but rather a culture that we want all our employees to engage in. Our safety culture is embodied in our “Wallem Engagement Programme” – designed to empower our ship crews with ownership of their own safety. We will continue to develop this Engagement Programme, with many initiatives that include more shipboard visits by senior management and a focus on seafarer wellness and health.”
WISTA received the SAFETY4SEA Sustainability Award for creating a dynamic global network supporting women at management level in the maritime industry with the aim to highlight the important role that women play in the industry and encourage their participation and engagement. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: ISWAN, Sea Health, UK Chamber of Shipping
Presenting the award Mrs. Dorothea Ioannou, Managing Director, SCB (Hellas) Inc., American Club on behalf of the sponsor stated: “WISTA is an organization for women that has developed into one of the strongest, most successful global network professional platforms that exist today in the maritime industry. WISTA, whose overriding mission and vision is to facilitate exchange of contacts, experiences, and education among its members, as well as providing an avenue of connection to every other major maritime organization and institution across the globe, serves sustainability through its very existence. Both the AMERICAN club and I myself are staunch supporters of WISTA. On a personal level, as a long standing member and former board member of the Hellas chapter, WISTA holds a special place in my heart and I honestly cannot think of a more worthy winner of this award.”
Accepting the award on behalf of WISTA, Ms. Katerina Stathopoulou, Member of the WISTA International Executive Committee, stated: “In 1974, 6 shipping women with a vision, from 3 European countries, founded WISTA. Today WISTA International has 40 member countries around the globe with almost 3,000 women members, all sharing the same passion; shipping! Our members are role models for the younger generation, and a source of support among each other, fostering career success. In the maritime industry, male and female talent and skills are complementary, and therefore, Shipping Women are indispensable to the Maritime world, playing an essential role to the industry’s sustainability”
RINA Academy Philippines received the SAFETY4SEA Training Award for offering quality training introducing a Competence Management System to continuously assess and train seafarers, shore-based personnel and staff through a Career Development Plan. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: Damage Control School Hellenic Navy, JWC International Ltd, MAN Diesel & Turbo, VSTEP
Presenting the award Capt. Dimitris Kalantidis, Marine Safety Manager, CMM on behalf of the sponsor stated: “RINA focuses on continually improving the level of competency and skill to always attain the highest performance that certifies the best output in management, maintenance and maritime education. RINA excels at providing high quality standard and excellent maritime service complying with the national and international standards and regulations”
Accepting the award on behalf of RINA Academy Philippines Inc., Capt. Nicolo Terrei, General Manager, stated: “ RINA Academy Philippines was established not just to follow STCW fundamentals but to fulfill competency gaps and enhance the seafarer’s skills by providing an innovative assessment and training through advance technology in line with the modern shipping industry. It’s been 10 years now that our company started to be an organization bridging the dynamic shipping industry, marine universities and learning institutions around the world. Starting with only 300 trainees, to 6000 of seafarers being trained for the In-house courses and other accredited specific simulator training”.
Marlink received the SAFETY4SEA Technology Award for its ‘XChange Telemed’ which is a new telemedicine service designed to improve the health and safety of crew/passengers, while meeting new MLC and STCW regulations for health and medical treatment onboard. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: ClassNK, Marine Armor System, Marine Traffic, Q88 LCC
Presenting the award Mr. Nikos Nesteroulis, Vice President, INSB on behalf of the sponsor stated: “The shipping industry has dramatically changed in the last 30 years and apart from the progress made vis a vis the technical standards, the working and living conditions of the crew have also changed. MARLINK, a company pioneer in business critical communication solutions, gives the opportunity to the shipping industry to adopt IT and Satellite cutting-edge technologies, in line with the new ILO/MLC and IMO/STCW labour regulations”
Accepting the award on behalf of Marlink, Mr. Panagiotis Falidouris, General Manager CG, Marlink Hellas, stated:“Marlink is proud and happy to receive the technology and innovation award this year. The last couple years, Marlink has developed several tools & applications that improve significant the quality and safety of life at Sea. Marlink Telemedicine innovation is not only a way to make the medical security of seafarers more safe but it also represents the most efficient way to protect life at sea.”
Alert! By The Nautical Institute received the SAFETY4SEA Initiative Award for including a valuable resource of professional maritime articles and bulletins with a focus on fatigue, ergonomics & training, health to improve awareness of the human element in the maritime industry. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: Allianz (AGCS), CHIRP, Propel, Steamship Insurance Management Services Ltd.
Presenting the award Mr. Marc Jackson, Syndicate Manager, Thomas Miller, on behalf of the sponsor stated: “The UK P&I Club takes loss prevention extremely seriously and the human element accounts for a large majority of maritime claims. Every effort to educate the industry on the safe operation of ships and crew training and welfare is to be applauded and Alert is a fine example of this. A great deal of hard work has been put into Alert! over the years and we are pleased to note that more will continue in the future. Those responsible should be congratulated for the benefit it brings to the shipping industry.”
Accepting the award on behalf of Alert!, Capt. Nikos Aslanis, Chairman of The Nautical Institute Hellenic Branch, stated: “Since the project began in 2003, 40 issues of the award-winning Alert! international human element bulletin have been produced, with 2.5 million copies distributed worldwide. This material comprises a valuable and searchable resource for naval architects, mariners, engineers, port operators, regulators and insurers. We encourage all users to explore this unrivalled body of knowledge and to apply human element principles to ship design and operation. The project has also recently launched a hard cover compendium of all 40 issues and, through the assistance of Lloyd’s Register Foundation, the Maria Tsakos Foundation and The Nautical Institute, is being provided free to maritime libraries.”
Capt. Warwick Norman received the SAFETY4SEA Personality Award for his overall contribution to the shipping industry while holding the role of CEO at RightShip since its inception in 2001, ensuring organization’s success towards maritime safety and environmental sustainability.
Presenting the award Capt. Dimitrios Mattheou, Managing Director, Arcadia Shipmanagement, on behalf of the sponsor stated: “The winner of this award, Captain Warwick Norman, has shown a strong commitment to maritime safety, serving as the CEO of RightShip for more than a decade and half, the industry’s leading online vetting organization. This award recognizes that Capt. Norman has worked exceptionally hard to secure RightShip’s place on the international stage and that his dedication, commitment and efforts have benefited the whole industry though the improvement of industry-wide maritime safety standards”
Accepting the award Capt. Warwick Norman, CEO, RightShip, stated: “Motivation for the creation of RightShip was largely a desire to improve safety standards, in particular around the cape fleet where both BHP & Rio shared a common risk. Since inception we have vetted 356,000 vessels, equating to 30.5 billion DWT; inspected almost 27,000 vessels, and 13,500 substandard ships have been removed from customer supply chains rather than being relocated, placing market pressure on vessel owners and operators to raise standards. For me, my time is nearly up at RightShip, but it takes me back to my seagoing days as my relief is still to be announced. I’m not quite sure when my swing will finish, but for a simple sailor from Australia, it has been a fantastic journey.”
Capt. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, IMO Secretary-General Emeritus, Chairman, “Maria Tsakos” Foundation, received the SAFETY4SEA Life Time Achievement Award for his outstanding career in the shipping industry and his overall contribution to the work of IMO in which he held many positions, acting also as Secretary-General for two consecutive terms (2004-2011).
Presenting the award Mr. Elias Kariambas, Director Global Ship Systems Centre, ABS, on behalf of the sponsor stated: “In addition to effecting improvements in maritime safety and training, Capt. Mitropoulos has also been an advocate and champion of seafarers and their families, ensuring they remain firmly in our industry’s consciousness not only in Greece but throughout the world. His work is recognized by all of us in the global shipping community and we truly appreciate the dedication, leadership and clarity of vision you have provided to promote and adopt an effective global maritime safety and security culture”
Accepting the award Capt. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, IMO Secretary-General Emeritus, Chairman, “Maria Tsakos” Foundation stated: “I cannot receive this life time achievement award without giving tribute to the IMO which has safety on the top of its agenda. Before the glory comes the responsibility. There are many challenges in the shipping industry which can show us the direction for opportunities. There is need for taking the right decisions at the right time. Always be alerted and lead by example.”
Find photos from the awards ceremony at Flickr and explore more about the nomination & voting procedure and the winners of 2017 SAFETY4SEA Awards at awards’ dedicated webpage at https://www.safety4sea.com/2017-safety4sea-awards/