Chartered Shipbrokers News

The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers has officially welcomed its new senior officers at a Controlling Council meeting held in Athens, Greece.Taking over from Glenn Murphy as International Chair of the Institute is Luis Bernat. Prior to his election as Chair, Bernat has held the position of Vice Chair since 2021. He brings to the role extensive experience gained over almost 50 years in the industry. This includes, most recently, his role as Chartering Manager for TSL Shipping & Trading.

Lomar Shipping, the maritime subsidiary of Libra Group, has announced two key promotions - Peter Cotopoulis as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Mark Kethisouaran as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), both effective from September 1. Based in the company’s London office, Mark succeeds Dennis Psachos, who held the role since joining in December 2021 and has decided to return to his native Greece.Lomar CEO Nicholas Georgiou said, “Over the last 12 months, Peter and Mark have both stepped up in their roles…

Want to set yourself apart from the crowd? Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers Chairman Glenn Murphy offers this advice to young shipbrokers In the bustling world of global trade, shipbrokers play a crucial role in facilitating seamless transactions and ensuring the smooth movement of goods across vast oceans. As a shipbroker, you are at the heart of this dynamic industry, and staying ahead of the competition requires a strategic approach and a particular set of skills.Shipping does not stand still: shipbroking is a multifaceted skill which has always moved with the times.

Oslo-based shipping company MPC Container Ships ASA on Thursday announced it has appointed Moritz Fuhrmann as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from December 1, 2022. Fuhrmann will succeed the current CFO, Dr. Benjamin Pfeifer, who has resigned his position to pursue new opportunities.Fuhrmann joins the company from London-based Hayfin Capital Management LLP, where he has served as Principal in the maritime team. Prior to that, he has worked for DVB Bank in Germany and the Netherlands…

Nicholas Georgiou has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer of ship owning and management business Lomar, its parent company the Libra Group announced. Georgiou has been Lomar’s Chief Operating Officer since 2010 and succeeds Achim Boehme, who passed away from cancer in July.George Logothetis, Chairman and CEO of the Libra Group, says, “This announcement has long been in our succession planning, with Achim due to have become Chairman of Lomar. Achim’s tragic passing left us with a huge void but also a tremendous legacy…

Setting out to increase fairness, equality and inclusion within the maritime sector, Maritime UK has established a Women in Maritime Taskforce, a move welcomed by the U.K.’s new Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani MP. “I am delighted to see Maritime UK taking action to attract more women into our maritime industries, and I welcome this taskforce as an important first step,” said Ghani, who is only the second woman to hold the Department for Transport portfolio for the U.K.’s £40 billion maritime sector.

Ship owners and operators, machinery OEMs and regulatory entities are embracing much needed technological innovation as demand grows in protecting machinery and communications on maritime assets. Cognitive analytics is a game-changing technology that is now more widely available to the maritime sector. This is the latest evolution of data analytics: from the “days of yore” of logging data in a logbook, to sensing data and connecting to a central console, transmitting data ashore and using artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced tools to develop a deep understanding of how machines behave.

With a belief that innovation in shipping has fallen well behind other sectors, new entrant into the maritime industry Nisomar has launched a range of services for ship owners, operators, brokers, charterers and financial institutions. Nisomar said it has pioneered a method of collecting global shipping data and created proprietary technology, based upon technology that generates highly accurate business-critical data. The firm will derive insights from big data to offer analytics that support business decisions…

The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (the Institute) and BIMCO are pleased to announce the start of a new venture combining BIMCO’s state of the art eLearning courses and the Institute’s global engagement with students. This is a major boost for young people in the industry by giving them greater access to quality education and improved standards in maritime centres across the globe. A test group of Institute students - in mainly developing countries – and covering a wide range of shipping centres across the globe, will be able to use BIMCO’s eLearning courses in preparation for Institute exams. Angus Frew, Secretary General & CEO of BIMCO said: "BIMCO is proud to support the work of the Institute by providing our eLearning expertise to their students.

BIMCO has opened a new regional office in Singapore in order to increase services to its members in the Southeast Asia region and boost collaborations with regional maritime associations. BIMCO’s new Singapore contact will be General Manager, Maite Bolivar Klarup, who brings 16 years of commercial maritime experience to the role. The BIMCO office in central Singapore will also be shared with staff from the Baltic Exchange and the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, forming a small ‘hub’ of maritime organisations in the area. Angus Frew, BIMCO’s Secretary General, said: “Our new office in Singapore is great news as we will be better able to provide direct advice and support to our members in the region.

India will soon get its second maritime university, Gujarat Maritime University (GMB), which will primarily be focusing on the commercial maritime courses. According to sources, the first course likely to be rolled out in 2018. The government of Gujarat has already given an in-principle approval for the establishment of the university. The new Gujarat Maritime University will focus on commercial maritime courses instead of technical programmes that are being offered in over 130 Indian training institutes and the existing Indian Maritime University, say sources. A report in DNA quoted AK Rakesh, chairman and chief executive officer of the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) as saying: "At present, the Indian maritime institutes offer pre-sea and post-sea training programmes.

The Dredging Conference organized by Hinode in Kolkata on Thursday, January 21, 2016 will spotlight the vast opportunities that exists for dredging companies and other allied agencies in Inland Waters waters. The event is set to take place at the Park Hotel, 17 Park Street, Kolkata 700016. Kolkata occupies a special place as a major Riverine Port and Inland Waterways hub and the mouth of the Ganges River. Being an exclusive program and considering Indian Government plans now underway for interlinking rivers, promote Indian shipping and upscale port development activity, dredging in India has gained worldwide attention.Orgainzers find an unusual interest having been generated with registration for the conference taken on a rapid pace. Early registration is advisable to avoid disappointment.

Last night in Hamburg, BIMCO President Philippe Louis-Dreyfus chose to give public recognition to all seafarers who have been – and still are – involved in rescuing people in distress at sea. Mr. Louis-Dreyfus awarded the BIMCO President’s Award to Columbia Shipmanagement Hamburg, for their “outstanding” work in rescue operations involving migrant boats in the Mediterranean. He asked Captain Horber from Columbia Shipmanagement to accept the award on behalf of their crews, but also on behalf of all seafarers who risk their lives in rescue operations. Shipping professionals attending the event saw a video showing the events of an evening in September 2013 when a Columbia ship…

Gulf Petrochem has appointed John Phillips as Head of Credit Risk for the Group’s Bunkering division. With over 30 years experience in the Maritime sector, John is a well known expert in the industry and will focus on areas such as Credit Management (focused on Bunker business), Credit insurance & Bunker business development. Before joining Gulf Petrochem, he held the role of Global Head of Credit and Director at Soyuz Bunkering Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd, handling customer selection and promotion as well as liaising with legal departments and insurers on ship arrests and insurance claims. Prior to this, Phillips worked for Chemoil Energy Ltd, where he was responsible for the creation, implementation and management of global credit and counter party risk policy.

UK headquartered shipbroker Century Marine Services has been the victim of a sophisticated fraud by a Dubai based firm calling itself Matin Marine Services. Despite having no business relationship with Century Marine Services, Matin Marine Services has been passing itself off as connected with Century Marine Services by hacking the company’s website.The Dubai police authorities have been informed. “We were alerted to the fraud yesterday by a call from a trader who had reportedly sold a consignment of frozen fish to Matin and who was unpaid,” said Century Marine Services managing director Steve Dougal. Matin Marine Services appears to have replicated Century Marine’s website and presented itself as having been founded by Steve Dougal.

Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO) announces a change in leadership with the appointment of a new Managing Director in Singapore. Mr Ron Mathison has taken over the helm as the new Managing Director on Monday, 21st September 2015. Mr Mathison has also been appointed as Director of John Swire & Sons (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd, with effect from 1st August 2015. Mr Mathison embarked on his career with John Swire & Sons Limited (“Swire”) when he joined Cathay Pacific Airways in 1984 and has more than 30 years of experience within various divisions of the Swire Group. Prior to his new appointment in SPO, he was the Group Managing Director of James Finlay Ltd in UK for the last seven years. Before that, from 2004 to 2008, he was the Director of Cargo in Cathay Pacific Airways.

Ghana is considering establishing modalities to compel shipping companies to introduce a training regime which ensures that their local staff gain professional qualifications in shipping. “Maintenance of professional standards in the maritime industry has been one of the hallmarks of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS), over the 100 years of its existence. Dzifa Aku Attivor, Minister of Transport stated in Accra, this essential ingredient is often times not exhibited as is expected, therefore Ghana is considering a policy to inject professionalism into the industry. Attivor was speaking at the fifth anniversary of the West Africa branch of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) on the general theme: “Promoting Professionalism in the Shipping Industry – the role of the ICS”.

Delegate registeration for the 3rd India Ship Recycling Conference is going on at a hot pace with a lot of interest having generated with the new Indian Government coming up with a robust growth policy for the Indian Maritime sector. In fact most of the world's ship recycling activity takes place in this region and is known to have tremendous job potential. This major conference of South East Asia is set to take place on September 18, 2014 at Hotel Vivanta by Taj Mumbai. A number of government officials, head honchos of shipping industry, several overseas delegates and other related interests are schudeled to attend the one-day conference.

Three major maritime organizations, the Company of Master Mariners of India, the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and Shipping Professionals Network-Mumbai teamed up to focus on the recent International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) initiative on container weight verification. In this regard, a joint conference was held last weekend to deliberate on “Container Weights – Vagaries and Variances’ at the Maritime Training Institute of the Shipping Corporation of India’s auditorium, Powai, Mumbai. The event saw a record number of participants from not just the shipping companies but also those into maritime training, exporters and importers, ship charterers, MTOs, freight forwarders, insurance firms, manning and ship management, logistics, et al.

Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (better known as WISTA),  was  launched  in  Sri  Lanka  on  the  03rd  July  2014,  at the  Hilton  Residencies  Colombo  amidst  a  large  and  distinguished  gathering  including  the  Chairman  of  the  Sri  Lanka  Ports  Authority,  Chairmen  &  Chairpersons  of  leading  Public  and  Private  Sector  Organizations  and  Institutes. WISTA Sri Lanka will function under the Presidency of Ms. Shehara Jayawardana, and consists of a 20 member committee which, to date,  has been successful  in  attracting 49 eminent females from shipping and shipping related industries to join its membership. "We are deligted to welcome WISTA Sri Lanka to our ranks“, stated WISTA President Karin Orsel.

Within two years of the launch in India in 2012, the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (better known as WISTA), Ms. Sanjam  Sahi  Gupta, its Founder President, has moved fast to spread WISTA to the Indian sub continent. Her first significant effort in this direction has been the launch of WISTA in the neighboring country, Sri Lanka on 3rd July, 2014. To commemorate the occasion WISTA hosted a gala program at the  Hilton  Residencies  Colombo  amidst a  large  and  distinguished  gathering  that included  the  Chairman  of  the  Sri  Lanka  Ports  Authority,  Chairmen  &  Chairpersons  of  leading  Public  and  Private  Sector  Organizations and Institutes. Special Guests gracing  the occasion  were  Founder  Member  and  President  of WISTA  India,  Ms.

Narottam Morarjee Institute of Shipping (NMIS) held a simple ceremony yesterday to celebrate the upgradation of its premises in Mumbai and for having updated the study material in line with the latest developments. Set up in 1969 under the joint auspices of the Ministry of Shipping, government of India and the Indian Shipping Industry, the institute continues to be the only center in the country conducting a course in commercial shipping. The Director General of Shipping Gautam Chatterjee was the chief guest, the Chairman of JNPT, N.N. Kumar and the CMD of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) A. K. Gupta were the Guests of Honor. While…

The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers has welcomed 200 new members at the annual meeting of its Controlling Council, held this year in Vancouver, Canada. In being formally elected to membership of the ICS, one of shipping’s oldest professional bodies, the candidates join an organization of 25 branches, 18 teaching centers and 4,000 individuals which supports the development of shipping professionals globally. Applications came from 40 countries with the largest growth areas being London, Athens, Mombasa and Dubai, each accounting for 10% or more of the 200 new members.