Jul 23, 2022The Divine Comedy of Seafarer AbandonmentAbandon hope all ye who enter here, that was the message of Dante’s medieval classic poem, the Divine Comedy. It could well have been written about seafaring for far too many people at sea, even today. Seafarer abandonment is on the rise and we should all be very angry indeed! …Seafarers6 min readSeafarers6 min read
Jul 19, 2022Brand Say, Brand Do, Ships DoneWe look at the issues of transparency, honesty and the reasons why obvious steps are not always so easy in shipping. Is it time we shifted from expectation, through hope, to demanding more? Every now and again there is some piece of business jargon that at once manages to send…Shipping5 min readShipping5 min read
Jul 13, 2022The Double Dilemma of Pleasing Customers and ConsumersPerhaps one of the biggest changes to shipping over the past decade has been the industry’s willingness to embrace inputs and insights from other industries. Though often grudgingly. With the boom in digitalisation and maritime informatics, we see that lessons from other industries are suddenly brought to bear on what…Seafarers4 min readSeafarers4 min read
Jun 25, 2022Thinking Differently About SeafarersHow should we be celebrating Day of the Seafarer? As I sit here writing, it is the International Day of the Seafarer. A United Nations specialised agency-sanctioned event which encourages the world to think about seafarers and all they do for us. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), for it is…Seafarers4 min readSeafarers4 min read
Jun 16, 2022Three Monkeys of DecarbonisationNever defend the indefensible, that was the motto on our school wall. Written above the goalkeeper’s locker. Which perhaps explains why I am a rugby man now. Anyway, today that truism still resonates when it comes to the global shipping industry. An industry which I love, but which is in…Maritime Informatics5 min readMaritime Informatics5 min read
Mar 14, 2022War. What is it Good For? Shipping..In times of conflict, there are usually winners and losers. Rather oddly, when it comes to war, the shipping industry usually emerges rather well from it all on both sides. Given the horrific events unfolding in Ukraine, it is perhaps a useful time to think shipping reacts, and what it…Shipping5 min readShipping5 min read
Mar 14, 2022Is Shipping Too Complicated for Mortals?One of the amazing things about the global shipping industry is that it is a wonderful patchwork quilt of everything that makes it work. The terrible thing is that sometimes the stitching comes apart. What on earth do outsiders make of it all? I got some first-hand experience recently, and…Shipping6 min readShipping6 min read
Mar 3, 2022Finding your Corporate Shape — Big, Small…what about Micro?A challenge as companies grow is finding the right levels of “corporate-ness”. How to either learn from the giants of industry or keep yourself small enough to get everything done that you need to succeed. It’s a fine balancing act, especially for companies balancing remote working. MICRO CORPORATE The big…Business5 min readBusiness5 min read
Mar 3, 2022The Gift of Giving…How Corporate Trinkets Can Bring Teams TogetherAs a cynical business veteran, it takes something special to get my pulse racing. Well, that is except when I am given corporate trinkets. I am a sucker for stuff. The more “Giz-its” the better, and it seems that the pandemic means that gifts are even more important and in…Marketing4 min readMarketing4 min read
Nov 12, 2021The Many and Wonderful Iterations of ShippingPeople love labelling things and extrapolating trends. The maritime industry is no different, and so it has been with much energy and boundless enthusiasm that the latest revolution has been termed, “Shipping 4.0”. What does it mean though, and can we leap straight to Shipping 5.0? STAGES OF LIFE Ok…Maritime Informatics5 min readMaritime Informatics5 min read
