Industry is failing to support its senior seafarers and their crew as it lacks efficient systems for sharing best practices and knowledge across organisations, delegates at Spinnaker’s Maritime People & Culture Conference in London heard

The session highlighted the significant generational divide between senior and junior crew as a key challenge and, especially, insufficient emotional intelligence and leadership skills among captains to effectively motivate and communicate with their crew.

Charles Watkins of Mental Health Support Solutions, an organisation focused on promoting mental health and wellbeing in the maritime industry, shared an example of an old East European captain who believed that “no feedback is the best feedback,” contrasting with the younger generation’s expectation for clear instructions, appreciation and the ability to ask questions. This divide leads to a lack of trust and support, hindering effective communication and collaboration.

There was also recognition of challenges faced by junior captains in their first or second year in the post and the paradox that while they value communication when climbing the ranks, they often face a kind of paralysis when communicating with their crew. All will want to project individual strength and deliver results, at the same time, they will not want to express worries and concerns to the crew, through fear it might be seen as inappropriate or create toxicity on board. This led to a discussion on how 95% of a captain’s training is typically about 5% of their role: how they steer, moor, load and unload their vessel. Very little relates to how to be a good leader.

Founder of The Captain’s Coach, a coaching and mentoring service aimed at supporting maritime professionals, particularly ship captains and senior officers, John Beavis said this underlined the importance of investing in leadership development programmes that help captains “mirror, match, relate and communicate” with their crew, to foster a more supportive and effective work environment.

Captains also need to heighten their emotional intelligence when it comes to their own welfare. “We coached a very well-known cruise ship captain, with a huge social media following, that meant to some extent guests were choosing to sail with him over the cruise line brand,” he said. “The company were worried about him burning out because he’s been operating at such a high intensity throughout his career. When we started discussing emotional intelligence with him, it was like opening a whole new world. It’s about finding balance. Captains need to be self-aware and able to step back, view the bigger picture, and delegate rather than trying to manage every detail themselves.”

Mr Beavis said meaningful training helps captains maintain their energy levels at around 7 to 8 out of 10 throughout their contract, “so they don’t feel broken or emotionally wrecked. When they go home, they should be in good shape to be with their loved ones, and when they’re on board, they should be more stable and focused; a calming influence on the bridge, in the engineroom, or when dealing with guests on a cruise ship.”

Discussion of energy levels raised the issue of sleep deprivation on board. “When we consider rest and sleep, as many of you working in the industry know, the information is not always communicated honestly,” said Mr Watkins. “In our partnership with Canberra Sea, we have access to data from smart sensors that measure strain, stress, and sleep among seafarers. The data shows that while shore-based workers get around 7-9 hours of sleep, seafarers only get about 4-5 hours of sleep. Regardless of the source, it’s widely accepted that 7-8 hours of sleep is crucial for health. This means that seafarers are not getting enough sleep and are working under conditions that differ from the norm, with a different standard applied to them.

“Captains and leaders are expected to take on numerous additional tasks, with a significant digital component to their jobs. They come to us struggling to manage and balance their sleep, as this is just as challenging as their other responsibilities. They are constantly answering emails, going to the office, and are expected to be good leaders for their crew while also navigating the ship and maintaining their own well-being.”

Mr Watkins was quick to highlight “the demands placed on seafarers are continually increasing, and there is a need for extensive training to keep pace with the technical aspects of the job, but also address the emotional and psychological challenges faced by seafarers.” This training, he said, should equip seafarers with the necessary skills to manage their well-being, communicate effectively, and adapt to the changing expectations and requirements of their roles.

As well as age barriers, there can be cultural barriers that impact smooth communication too. Even with the most robust assurances around confidentiality, some cultures may hesitate to speak up, making it difficult to assist if there is an issue.

So what is the answer? Head of corporate engagement at Stella Maris, Ian Stokes, said his charity helps senior crew members in two main ways. “They appreciate having ship visitors and chaplains on board because we assist the crew with transport, financial issues, and simply being someone to talk to. We also provide practical support by taking them ashore, connecting them with their families, and purchasing items they can’t get delivered to the ship. By helping the crew, we indirectly support the captain. We also support captains directly by giving them some time back, such as ferrying them to a barber for a quick hair cut when they come into port, are on a tight schedule, and want to be in and out as quickly as possible.”

For Mr Watkins, in changing times there is one old component that remains constant: “People expect, need and want safety, including psychological safety. Safety is a feeling, and you can sense the type of environment you’re in as soon as you step onto a vessel. You can tell by the way people communicate with you. Can you speak up in a safe place? Can you voice your opinion? Or do you have to be afraid of consequences if you say something that is out of place, out of line for your rank, or questions authority? Creating psychological safety, which leads to work safety, is a crucial and significant factor in a captain’s leadership and how they operate the vessel.”

The panellists agreed on the need to share best practices and successes across the industry while respecting each company’s unique positioning. However, they acknowledged that establishing efficient systems for sharing knowledge and experiences remains a challenge.

To address the difficulty in obtaining accurate data across different cultural contexts, the industry could designate culturally aware representatives to gather information and facilitate confidential communication between crew members and management. This approach could help build trust and encourage seafarers to speak up about their concerns.

Establishing industrywide platforms for sharing best practices, successes, and knowledge related to seafarer wellbeing was also seen as crucial for driving progress. Enhanced collaboration with other transport sectors, such as aviation, that have more developed wellbeing programmes, could unlock further progress.

By Edwin Lampert, Riviera Maritime Media

The maritime industry’s tendency to prioritise hiring individuals with specific, often niche, expertise has created a barrier to entry for potential candidates from other industries who may possess valuable skills and fresh perspectives, delegates at this year’s Spinnaker Maritime People & Culture Conference heard

While accepting the argument, HR director at Pacific Basin, P B Subbiah, was keen that the scale of the challenge was understood. “We all recognise that the core of our business, which includes chartering and operations management, heavily depends on having indepth, industry-specific knowledge. [At the same time] it’s unlikely we would try to persuade a 33-year-old who has spent nine years working in the hospitality industry to transition into a career in shipping. The same goes for someone moving from the pharmaceutical industry or any other field. It’s simply not realistic to expect them to make that switch.”

To address this issue, a panel comprising Mr Subbiah as well as chief human resources officer at ABS, Chuck Kemper, professional speaker and performance coach, Tim Browne and chairman of Spinnaker, Phil Parry, argued greater prominence needs to be given to training and development programmes that bridge the gap between industry-specific knowledge and the skills candidates bring from other sectors. The need will only become more pronounced as the sector continues to wrestle with digitalisation, decarbonisation and changing global trade patterns.

Central to the attractiveness of any company when recruiting will be its culture. However, as Mr Parry pointed out, companies that engage Spinnaker’s services often do not provide this kind of information. “Unless it’s a retained executive search, clients rarely give us any insight into their organisational culture, reputation, or what it’s really like to work there. We can’t just guess what their culture is like or what ‘a good fit’ means to them. We need clients to help us understand who they are as an organisation so we can find the right people.”

But what does company culture mean in practice? For Mr Kemper it boils down to “how we do things around here.” And when articulating that to prospective candidates he revealed the profound influence a book called Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World of Work by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall has had on his thinking in this area.

“The first chapter, in particular, deeply resonated with my experiences in recruiting and the constant struggle to convey organisational culture to candidates.” He also said one of the biggest mistakes a company can make is neglecting to develop the leadership capabilities of its frontline managers, who oversee the vast majority of the workforce. “This is tantamount to disregarding the importance of organisational culture altogether.”

Agreeing, Mr Subbiah added, “I always say to my colleagues, it doesn’t matter what we think about ourselves. What matters is what other people think about us. When individuals outside our organisation speak positively about our treatment of employees and our overall reputation, that is a powerful draw for potential candidates. There is no merit in hard-selling the company, creating a marketing campaign with pink hats and balloons. It just doesn’t matter. We must focus on embodying our values consistently and allowing our actions to speak louder than any advertisement. The true measure of our cultural strength lies in our ability to demonstrate alignment and adherence to our core principles in every corner of the company, from the executive suite to the front lines.”

At Pacific Basin, its cultural business principles are defined through an iterative, participative process that involves surveying employees at all levels and distilling their input into 8-10 core principles. Generic terms like ‘honesty’ and ‘integrity’ are banned and do not, in Mr Sabbiah’s words, “get you a ticket to the game”. He told delegates he was confident anyone in the company, if asked, could authentically articulate the company culture, rather than repeat by rote the list of principles.

Generational differences and expectations also surfaced in the discussion. Familiar themes were explored including that Gen Z candidates tend to be more open, seek transparency and authenticity and are often digital natives with incredible technical capabilities. On the flip side, the expectations of younger generations entering the workforce may be unrealistic or misaligned with those of older generations doing the hiring, said Mr Parry.

He shared an anecdote about his daughter’s job search and her resistance to “playing the game” in an interview by feigning an excessive interest in the role. This led to her being passed over for the position, despite being the most qualified. This, he said, highlighted the desire for authenticity among younger generations, which resonated with Mr Kemper, who said by actively engaging in decarbonisation efforts and communicating this to potential Gen Z candidates, his company was aligning with their values and concerns, and making the industry more attractive to them.

Mr Kemper also pushed back on broad generational stereotyping, noting complaints about “kids these days” went back to Socrates, before turning his sights on “excessive work-from-home arrangements” which he felt had “hit the younger generation hardest, stifling innovation, collaboration and inclusion.” He shared that he had advised his recently graduated son, on pain of losing his inheritance, to avoid fully remote jobs at all costs. (He was pleased to report his son was fully on board and was looking for no more than a couple of days working at home per week).

Mr Tim Browne picked up the theme, sharing that his son was simultaneously a digital nomad working in southeast Asia and part of a digital nomad community, where individuals from disparate professional backgrounds come together to share knowledge and experiences. “This, to me, represents a fascinating paradox and a testament to the human desire for connection and growth,” he said.

As well as generational gaps, the differences between men and women when applying for jobs was also discussed. This was especially timely as the conference coincided with the International Day for Women in Maritime.

Mr Subbiah cited an article that highlighted how girls outperform boys in school, but boys outperform girls at work. The article, he said, suggested that girls are less likely to speak up unless they are confident about the accuracy of their statements, while boys are more likely to take risks and speak up even when they are unsure.

Mr Parry said men are more likely to apply for a job when they meet 5 or 6 out of 10 requirements, while women tend to apply only when they meet 9 or 10 out of 10 requirements.

No discussion on attracting talent would be complete without mentioning money.

Mr Parry stressed that while company culture and work environment are important, candidates will always prioritise compensation when first looking for a job. “People will quit high-paying jobs if the work environment or boss is terrible. But they won’t accept a low-paying job unless it’s perhaps late in their career when they’re financially stable, or it’s a job that aligns with their moral values, like working for a charity.”

Mr Subbiah also recognised the significance of compensation. When managers ask for referrals, the first thing potential candidates want to know is if the company pays well. He pointed out salaries for the same job can vary significantly based on location. “When managers ask us if we know anyone who would be a good fit for a particular position, they want someone highly qualified to recommend a strong candidate because they trust that person’s judgment. But here’s the thing: if I reach out to a friend or former colleague about the job, their first question will be, ’Does this company pay well?’”

For all the focus on money, there was panel-wide agreement that people will pass up on better paid roles as they move into their careers if they feel well served when it comes to job satisfaction, personal fulfilment and the role aligns with their values.

Closing out the discussion, the panel agreed on five actions maritime companies can take to improve their ability to attract and retain talent.

First, be sure you can articulate your own view of your own culture when you are recruiting, and include that in your recruitment advertising, prospectuses and job descriptions. Second, select leaders based on their ability to lead and who demonstrate humility and curiosity. Prioritise these attributes over technical ability. Third, hire people based on their work ethic and commitment, rather than just their previous experience. Be willing to overlook the fact that a candidate may not have all the items on the wish list if these characteristics are strong. Fourth, invest in training and development programmes to bridge the gap between industry-specific knowledge and transferable skills, and finally, seek out candidates from diverse backgrounds and industries.

by Edwin Lampert, Riviera Maritime Media

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement has won the inaugural Best HR Initiative award at Spinnaker’s Maritime People and Culture Conference, for its comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programmes.

BSM has set ambitious diversity targets and deliver training programs on inclusive behaviours to 30% of shore staff. Their Mental Health training programme was delivered to more than 3,500 seafarers and shore staff. In 2023, BSM achieved significant milestones: two females were assigned as management board members, and 31% of shore managers were female, reflecting a 5% increase compared to 2022. BSM is a proud signatory to the All Aboard Alliance, a collaborative effort led by senior maritime industry leaders to accelerate DEI efforts at sea and ashore.

In addition, the BSM newly developed Female Mentorship programme is designed to give female cadets more confidence in navigating the challenges of life onboard ship, including social isolation, performance pressure and gender bias in a traditionally male-dominated workplace.

“The introduction of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programmes have been very well-received throughout the organisation and has had positive impacts on our employees” said Irena Kyprianidou, Group HR ESG Officer, BSM. 

“BSM deserve our congratulations for these initiatives which capture the spirit of how supporting and investing in people pays dividends that go beyond financial returns,” said Spinnaker Global Chairman Phil Parry. “These programmes are an example of the kind of vision we need in maritime to drive and encourage diversity, inclusion and safety.”

“Providing support for personal and professional development, particularly for seafarers, is an essential element in encouraging more women into shipping,” said Julian Bray, Editor of Tradewinds who helped judge the award. “What BSM has achieved looks like a straightforward process but the commitment required to put it into practice is to be commended.”

Also highly commended in the awards, which were sponsored by training provider Mintra, were Navigator Gas for its ‘Coffee Roulette’ Networking Initiative, Pacific Basin for its enhancement to maternity leave arrangements and Teekay for its ‘50 Years, 50 Stories’ programme.

You can find out more about the conference here.

We hosted our 16th annual Maritime People & Culture Conference on the 16th and 17th May 2024 at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London.

The event, chaired by Chairman Phil Parry, featured fascinating talks, presentations and panel discussions covering the key issues facing the maritime industry and how HR and leadership teams can address them.

Parry says, “We are delighted that this year’s event has had a record turnout. Delegates have travelled from all over the globe to attend and we are honoured that so many members of the maritime community have joined us. The sessions have been both informative, topical and wide ranging – from neurodiversity to decarbonisation.”

A Wrap-Up of the 2-Day Event

Maritime Economics – An engaging session looking at the shipping market outlook from a standpoint of managing disruption and going green. This session covered the market cycle position, seaborn trade, fleet development, sector trends, green fuelling and maritime decarbonisation. Did you know, the Suez Canal is around 10% of global trade?

The Power of Personality – An insightful session by Daniel Taylor covering everything from the Greek history of personality to how we now in the 21st century understand our own personality. We looked at the tool Facet5, how it works, that they are indicators, not measures, what your personality can mean for the workplace and the risks and awareness surrounding your personality traits.

Neurodiversity – Heidi Watson let us in on the knowledge that more than 15-20% of people over the world are neurodivergent. We were shown that there are ways you can alter and adapt your workplace to accommodate neurodivergent people, such as, looking at your recruitment strategy, thinking about how you can support them such as an open work culture, work schedule changes and more.

DE&I Backlash: Now what? – “If you do not bring everyone on the bus with you, you become the monster you have fought against” was the resonating point Njsane Courtney made during his presentation. This was a thought-provoking session that got everyone thinking, what are we doing in the workplace in regard to DE&I Policies, are we doing enough?

Charting Life Transitions – A heartfelt session from Torid Boe taking us through her life experiences with perimenopause and how we can prevent midlife derailing work life. We were shown the Three C approach to approach these still taboo topics in the workplace; Conversation, Coding and Cultivating Support.

Unlocking the Power – A session on the female element in security, Anne Gry took us through her own experiences working within security as well as what a female in security can bring to your workplace, driven innovation, creativity and critical thinking, and an interesting point that women have an 82% higher score in honesty and integrity than men.

Can Shipping Decarbonise? – By the end of the session the simple answer from Mark Williams was yes, it can but, at the moment we have phase 1 and phase 3 sorted, we are just missing the middle bit, the phase 2, the how do we get there. Shipping has never decarbonised before, so how do we know what to do when we have nothing to refer to?

The Art and Science of Communication – Tim Brown taught the room that the language we use has a huge impact on a person’s state. As humans we have natural filters such as deletion, distortion and generalisation so we must think, how are we to manage our communication with others as individuals?

Are we doing enough to support the well-being of seafarers? – A panel dedicated to discussing simply are we doing enough but also what are we doing from three different points of view, a charity, a coaching programme and mental health support. The general consensus was that we are doing the best we can.

You can read more about this session here.

Global Maritime Trends 2050 – Claudene Sharp-Patel ran us through an interesting session on the 2050 report from Lloyd’s Register. Looking at the What If’s, looking at trends, mapping out scenarios and delving into what if this happened.

Global Maritime Trends 2050 and Future Skills – This panel discussed how collaboration is key in training and addressing concerns of seafarers to ensure they are getting the training they need. It is a huge question mark over training as we do not know what they future will be, but this is why collaboration is more important now than ever.

Human Capital Management – Raal Harris and Nick Chubb showed us through their framework for a strategic approach to attracting, developing, managing and retaining maritime professionals at sea and ashore. The framework looks at recruitment, onboarding, learning and development, performance and retention.

Moving Minds and Elevating Skills – Caroline Baumgaertner shared the insightful ways NSB are retaining and developing their people. The simple answer is, keep the focus on the people. NSB are using systems such as being mentored and mentoring simultaneously, using AI to identify skills gap and competency work to identify issue areas.

The role of culture in attracting and retaining talent – The final session/panel of the event where we took a deep dive into the generational and geographical struggles and the differences between macro and micro culture. Thoughts such as ‘people create their own subset of culture’ and ‘Gen-Z are very open and authentic’.

You can read more about this session here.

This year we hosted a gala dinner, kindly sponsored by ABS, during which we announced the winner of the inaugural ‘Best HR Initiative’ Award.

We had invited members of the Maritime HR Association to submit an entry detailing a new HR practice, policy or initiative that they had put in place. Entries ranged from diversity programmes, improved HR systems and well-being activities.

The winner was Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) with Irena Kyprianidou, Evrydiki Kolokoudia and Natalie Pellenz collecting the award from Jorunn Eldoy from Mintra. Their initiative was a Female Mentorship Programme for newly joining women cadets, connecting those at sea with a shore-based mentor. The programme aims to establish a support system and a safe space.

The awards were judged by Heidi Watson, Employment Partner, Clyde & Co, the Editor of TradeWinds, Julian Bray and Chairman of Spinnaker, Phil Parry.

They commented “BSM deserve our congratulations for these initiatives which capture the spirit of how supporting and investing in people pays dividends that go beyond financial returns. These programmes are an example of the kind of vision we need in maritime to drive and encourage diversity, inclusion and safety.”

BSM said about winning the awards “Thanks a lot for the great conference and for honouring us with the first Spinnaker Best HR Initiative Award.”

There were 3 runners up including Navigator Gas with Coffee Roulette, an internal networking initiative to match up colleagues who don’t usually work together to go for a coffee and a walk.

Also, runners up were Pacific Basin with their enhanced maternity package available in all offices. Pacific Basin said “This initiative is a testament to our commitment to supporting our employees through significant life events, it does not only benefit the family unit but also contributes to a more balanced and productive workforce in the long run. It is an investment in our future generations and the overall health of our society.”

Teekay’s 50 years, 50 stories was the final runner-up. Their entry celebrates fascinating, interesting and light-hearted stories within Teekay to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Want to hear what our delegates have to say? Take a look here.

The Spinnaker event of the year is over!

As a company and team, we spend a lot of time, thought and energy planning this conference for our delegates. We try to select speakers and topics based on what is hot in the industry right now, that can spark interest and evoke discussion.

The Maritime People and Culture Conference has now become the largest worldwide gathering of maritime HR and crewing professionals and has become the annual ‘must-attend’ for these professionals from all over the world. This industry is changing day by day and new challenges and issues are arising for the HR profession and at Spinnaker we aim to take what our delegates most want to know about and discuss and translate that into 2-days of sessions, panel discussions, and networking opportunities for the maritime industry.

We love to hear what our attendees have to say about the event. Take a look at what people have said about this year.

“I particularly enjoyed the sessions on “Maritime Economics” and “Can Shipping Decarbonize?”—both were insightful and engaging. The networking opportunities were excellent, and I made many valuable new connections. Looking forward to future events!”

“I thought the conference was fabulous, huge congratulations to you all.”

“I wanted to extend my heartfelt appreciation for the excellent organization and content of the conference. The sessions were not only relevant but also provided eye-opening insights into the future trends of our industry.”

“The “Global Maritime Trends 2050” session presented by LR was particularly impressive. It was informative and provided a comprehensive overview of what we can expect in the coming decades. This session was a highlight for me!”

“My biggest take-away from these 2 days is around networking from people around the globe in our industry.”

“I’ve had several insights and learning areas I’m taking home to my organization!”

“It was simply amazing to be part of these 2 days filled with interesting topics and amazing people!”

“I enjoyed the conference and I’ve brought back ideas and useful bites for thoughts.”

“Thanks so much for having me, I really enjoyed the whole event, and met so many great people, one of which I am emailing today.”

“Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you for the Maritime People and Culture Conference, it was excellent and I really enjoyed the well-planned and ran days.”

“I wanted to drop you a line thank you and the team for extending such a warm welcome to me over the last two days, and for the opportunity to actively contribute to the conference. When I reflect on conferences and shows I’ve attended over the years, from those associated with the Royal Navy, to those in Coaching, Training and Education, and then onto Cruise, Shipping and MYS, I can honestly say that the last two days have been exceptional. So, thanks again. It really was that good!”

If you were thinking about attending next year, or have any topics you would like to be discussed, or would be interested in speaking yourself, get in touch with a member of the events team today to register your interest.