Vessel Safety, Onboard Management Go Hand-in-Hand

Attitude change is key to boosting shipping’s professional image, says Rajaish Bajpaee, CEO, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM). Ensuring a robust and dependable safety culture onboard ship is essential to reducing large scale accidents at sea, which is why BSM has placed seafarer attitude-change at the heart of its loss-prevention strategy.

“Getting your onboard and shore-based management teams to embrace a loss-prevention mind-set is crucial to the industry goal of no injuries or loss of life, no damage or loss to cargo, no damage or loss to the ship, and no damage or loss to the environment,” said Rajaish Bajpaee.

He added: “In BSM, we have an elaborate process to select our seafarers with the desired qualities for a career at sea. However, to ensure they have that moral duty (i.e. the ‘attitude’ and ‘engagement’) to themselves, their colleagues and the environment, we actively promote and embed a loss prevention mind-set which, through continuous learning and development, should further improve the way they work onboard.”

According to Rajaish Bajpaee, the industry has to do what it takes to make shipping highly regarded as a professional, intellectually challenging and emotionally satisfying industry to work in.

“It is important that we reinstall the pride in the seafarer’s job and make today’s youngsters dream of becoming a seafarer with the emphasis back on people. At BSM we entrust our top four officers and their teams with full accountability onboard because we believe it is essential to make them fully understand the very important position they hold onboard our ships. This only serves to deepen their level of sense of identity, belonging, and involvement to be an active and recognized member,” he said.