- Ocean Technologies Group creates a forum on the name CEO Leader Series for discussion to overcome this COVID-19 pandemic.
- Top 5 Maritime names take part and discuss on how to handle the current pandemic.
- The interview shows contrasting views on how international bodies have handled the present situation.
- The important people who took part in this discussion are Kuba Szymanski, Frank Coles, Mark O’Neil, Graham Westgarh and Carl Schou.
A recently published article in Splash 24×7 deals with the varying view points of these top shipping management names. They share contrasting view points on how to overcome this pandemic. Interestingly this segment features unexpected special guest star Sasza Chambers, aged 6.
Kuba Szymanski, Secretary general of InterManager
Szymanski praised the ship managers for coming together to find a solution during this drastic coronavirus scenario. He sets the scene by explaining how this current pandemic compares to previous crises faced by the shipmanagement industry over the past 20 years.
” Shipping has not stopped for a second. Shipping is a backbone. We have been going thanks to our seafarers, thanks to the people in our offices,” he said.
Frank Coles, CEO of Wallem Group
Coles feels that, we have exposed our soft underbelly in our ability to self promote and self govern and it has greatly emphasized that maritime is a blind industry; blind in so far that we have no lobby, we have no ability to influence governments, and we are blind to every one else.
“From a regulatory perspective we have shown how wholly inadequate the IMO is in dealing with a crisis”, Coles said, going on to describe how “blind” shipping is as an industry.
Mark O’Neil, the President of Columbia Shipmanagement
The middle section of the video sees Mark O’Neil tackle the question posed on what might be the ‘new normal’ for ship operations in the coming year or two as we have to get used to operating with the coronavirus always in the background until a vaccine is found.
Shipping companies will need to remain extremely nimble, flexible and adaptable, both at the executive-decision making level and in the operations departments, O’Neil said. Planning at the moment is short-term, almost on a day-by-day basis, he said.
Graham Westgarth, CEO of the V.Group
Westgarth said the coronavirus had shown how vital it was to leverage all the group’s system and communication capabilities to keep clients and employees up to speed with every development.
Carl Schou, the CEO of Wilhelmsen Ship
The video concludes with Carl Schou who assesses whether demand for third party shipmanagement will grow as a result of the coronavirus. He pointed out that there was no great, swift surge in demand after the global financial crisis of 2008, and there was unlikely to be this time.
To conclude, shipowners might start to consider outsourcing more as a diversification strategy going forward, Schou suggested, due to crewing issues they have encountered in recent weeks. Further shipmanagement specials are planned in the Maritime CEO Leader Series in the coming couple of months.
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Source: Splash 24×7
