Kuba Szymanski News

The international maritime industry, led by the International Chamber of Shipping, has joined together to express their concern for the seafarers from the Galaxy Leader who have been held hostage and call on the Houthis to release them.Monday February 19, 2024 marks the three-month anniversary since the Houthis seized the Galaxy Leader and its 25 seafarers in the Red Sea.The roll-on/roll-off vehicle carrier was seized on November 19.“The 25 seafarers who make up the crew of the Galaxy Leader are innocent victims of the ongoing aggression against world shipping…

Shipmanagement trade group InterManager is urging the shipping industry to increase its focus on safety amid a recent surge in deaths in enclosed spaces on ships.Three seafarers and five shore workers died over the past week in accidents in enclosed spaces, bringing this year’s known deaths to a total of 31, according to InterManager.The trade association keeps records of these incidents on behalf of the wider shipping community, sharing them with regulators in its role as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

It's nearly 45 years since the tragedy on the ANCO Duke where seven crew died at the bottom of the tank they were cleaning. “I was working on chemical tankers then. All the crew felt this terrible loss of life and took on tank entries with a heightened safety focus,” says Captain Dave Watkins, Deputy Director of the confidential near-miss reporting service CHIRP Maritime. Since then, enclosed space deaths still occur, although not in the number they did.Watkins has years of experience on chemical and VLCC tankers as an officer and master…

Ship management association InterManager is urging the European Commission to follow the polluter pays approach when finalising legislation intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping in European waters.Shipowners are concerned that proposed EU-ETS legislation could miss its mark if it holds ship management firms accountable for emissions reductions rather than target the parties who control key pollution-related aspects of ship operation such as fuel, machinery and vessel speed.In a submission to the Commission…

Equipment issues are behind nearly a quarter of all lifeboat accidents, according to  new safety report from classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) and ship management trade association InterManager.Concerned about lifeboat safety and fatalities caused by lifeboat accidents, InterManager began gathering statistics several years ago, aiming to identify key risk factors. Having collated figures which date back to 1980, InterManager now has the largest maritime industry database of lifeboat accidents.LR’s SafetyScanner…

InterManager, the trade association for in-house and third party ship managers, together with The Warsash Maritime Academy, has presented the findings of its fatigue study, Project MARTHA, to The International Maritime Organization (IMO). Speaking at the presentation last night, Capt Kuba Szymanski, Secretary-General of InterManager urged the maritime industry to take notice of the findings as the industry recruits aspiring seafarers. The report highlights growing levels of fatigue, particularly among Masters and Watch Keepers, and noted that motivation was a major factor in fatigue experienced by seafarers. A Master’s place on a ship is central to its performance, a claim which many would agree with. The performance of seafarers onboard is paramount to a vessel’s operation and efficiency.

The winners of ISWAN's International Seafarers' Welfare Awards 2016 were announced on 24th June at a high-profile ceremony held in Manila, the Philippines. The ceremony forms part of ISWAN's celebrations in the Philippines for the IMO Day of the Seafarer. The awards were presented by IMO Secretary General Mr Kitack Lim to seven recipients who have provided exceptional services for the welfare and wellbeing of seafarers. The Welfare Personality of the Year Award is named after Dr Dierk Lindemann who sadly passed away on 17 March 2014. Dr Lindemann served as the Shipowner's Group spokesperson at the ILO and took a lead role in the adoption of the Maritime Labour Convention. Shipping Company of the Year: Masamichi Morooka - Chairman of ICS.

InterManager, the international trade association for in-house and third party ship management, is giving its full support to this week’s Seafarers Awareness Week (20-26 June), co-ordinated by Seafarers UK. “Maritime Jobs for Future Generations” is the theme, aiming to raise awareness of the many career possibilities the maritime world offers young people. The shipping industry employs 1.5 million seafarers worldwide and Seafarers Awareness Week highlights the vital role seafarers play in the global economy. This year’s theme also complements the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) “Day of the Seafarer” (25 June) and World Maritime Day (29 September), which both focuses seafaring as a career and celebrates the role seafarers play globally. Capt.

Senior decision makers from all sectors of the shipping industry met in Hamburg yesterday to hear some of the leaders in the digital revolution debate the opportunities and threats faced by the industry today. Although operating in many different fields, their conclusion was startlingly clear. To navigate successfully and profitably in the digital age, ship operators must go back to basics, steering a clear course through the data explosion to harness the benefits of the new technologies whilst avoiding their pitfalls.

BIMCO has today announced that it has taken ownership of the unique Shipping KPI System that allows shipowners and managers to compare their ships’ efficiency against the performance of the industry and sector averages. The Shipping KPI System is unique because it is based on a standard of 64 different performance indicators (such as ship unavailability and number of environmental related deficiencies) to allow the most specific and accurate comparison of ships – within each sector and more broadly across the industry – that is currently available. The data collected is anonymised, so it does not compromise commercially sensitive information. ·         technical performance.

During the Informa VSAT 2014 conference in London, the Global VSAT Forum (GVF) announced the launch of its Maritime SatCom Forum (MSF) ‘Glossary’. The document, earlier iterations of which were developed by the Maritime SatCom Forum Working Group of the GVF, has been further developed by the joint-chairs of the MSF, Martin Jarrold, Chief of International Programme Development, GVF, and Roger Adamson, Chief Executive, Futurenautics. “The ‘Glossary’ comprises a highly comprehensive…

InterManager, the international trade association for the ship management industry, says it has welcomed the adoption of new measures to protect seafarers against abandonment. Amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, agreed at a meeting of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva last week, will ensure the provision of financial security systems to assist seafarers in the event of their abandonment and for compensation for seafarers’ contractual claims for death and personal injury.

InterManager said it welcomes the adoption of new measures to protect seafarers against abandonment. Amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, agreed at a meeting of the International Labour Organization in Geneva last week, will ensure the provision of financial security systems to assist seafarers in the event of their abandonment and for compensation for seafarers’ contractual claims for death and personal injury. InterManager Secretary General, Captain Kuba Szymanski, said: “InterManager welcomes this protection for seafarers.

Seafarers feel they spend too much time on tasks they consider to be an administrative burden according to the findings of a study by the Danish Maritime Authority, supported by InterManager, the international trade association for ship and crew managers. A comprehensive survey of international seafarers revealed that a third of all nationalities are annoyed or frustrated by administrative burdens in the maritime sector. These burdens stem from what the seafarers consider to be unnecessary repetition of tasks and demands for too much paperwork and documentation to be handled.

As the new Hollywood blockbuster Captain Phillips premiers around the globe, InterManager has welcomed the focus the movie brings to the role of the seafarer. Captain Phillips, which stars Tom Hanks in the title role, retells the story of the kidnapping by Somali pirates of the US-flagged containership Maersk Alabama. InterManager, the international trade association which represents the world’s ship and crew managers, says the movie’s worldwide appeal will raise the profile of seafaring and help broaden understanding of what a life at sea is like.

As the annual Day of the Seafarer dawns (June 25), InterManager, whose members manage more than 250,000 of the world’s seafarers, has reaffirmed its commitment to crewmembers with a package of activities aimed at addressing crew-related issues. The association, whose members are involved in the management of a third of the world fleet, is working with industry partners and training institutions on a number of projects to benefit crew members throughout the global shipping sector.

Lifeboat hooks can be lethal, and their design is out of date and unsuitable to meet modern demands, according to serving seafarers whose views have been gathered by InterManager. Following a series of incidents and fatalities involving lifeboat hooks, InterManager, the international trade association for the ship management industry, has gathered comments from seafarers of various ranks in an online discussion forum. Crew members responded by pointing out that they believed the hook designs have not kept pace with developments in the global shipping industry.

So far, 120 companies have registered with the international KPI Project, started by InterManager but now an industry-led initiative. KPI data is being uploaded from more than 1,600 vessels into the web-based InterManager KPI Environment (IMKE) system. To date more than 5,000 sets of data have been submitted for each KPI category — enabling analysis to provide industry rankings for each measurement. Of the vessels submitting data tankers form the largest sector. Capt. Szymanski commented…

InterManager, the international trade association for the ship and crew management sector, has started the year by welcoming a new member. Ukrainian crew manager Alpha Navigation has been approved for Full Membership in what InterManager Secretary General Kuba Szymanski says is a significant move. “Ukraine is an important crew-supply area and we are delighted to welcome Alpha Navigation as the first InterManager member from this country and also our first new member of the year,” he said. Based in Odessa, one of the biggest ports in the Mediterranean and Black Seas area, and with branches in most Ukrainian sea ports, Alpha Navigation represents more than 2,500 competent and qualified Ukrainian crew.

InterManager, the international trade association for the shipmanagement and crewmanagement industry, is supporting a survey which aims to identify how much of a burden red tape places on seafarers. The Association is urging its members to encourage their staff to take part in the online survey, being organised by the Danish Maritime Authority. The worldwide study aims to identify seafarers' perception of administrative burdens and how these influence their daily working lives.

InterManager appoints Gerardo Borromeo president, joined by four new vice-presidents. InterManager, is an international trade association for in-house and third party ship managers presently has a membership of 91 – both Full and Associate members – involved in the management of almost 5,000 vessels and some 250,000 crew. Mr Borromeo, who was elected unopposed at InterManager's AGM in Copenhagen, succeeds Alastair Evitt, Managing Director of Meridian Marine Management, who has completed his two-year term of office. The AGM also voted in four new Vice Presidents to focus on specific areas of InterManager business. They are: Alex Albertini (Marfin Management) who takes up the role of Treasurer…

InterManager, the international trade association for in-house and third party ship managers, has today appointed Gerardo Borromeo as its new President with immediate effect. Mr Borromeo, who was elected unopposed [October 11] InterManager AGM in Copenhagen, succeeds Alastair Evitt, Managing Director of Meridian Marine Management, who has completed his two-year term of office. The AGM also voted in four new Vice Presidents to focus on specific areas of InterManager business. They are: Alex Albertini (Marfin Management) who takes up the role of Treasurer…

InterManager members attending this year’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday (October 11) will thank retiring President Alastair Evitt for his work at the helm of the association over the past two years. During his Presidency Mr Evitt has represented InterManager on the world maritime stage, working on behalf of its members to ensure the views of the shipmanagement industry are heard and understood and to campaign for better treatment for seafarers. In particular he has been at the forefront of the international battle against piracy…