The 5th Maritime Trends Conference, which was organized on May 6, 2017, by Marine Tours, the leading travel management company, in collaboration with Etihad Airways and under the Academic Support of Deree – The American College of Greece and Alba Graduate Business School, was successfully executed.
The aim of the conference was to train executives on the recent developments and the prospects of the Maritime Industry, with particular emphasis on human resource management.
More than 250 executives from 110 shipping companies, as well as a number of prominent representatives of the shipping community, honored the event.
The particularly interesting presentations from the invited speakers led not only to important conclusions but also to productive concerns about the present and the future of shipping.
The Conference was unwrapped by Mr. George Logothetis, General Manager of Mare Management SA, who extensively analyzed the ever changing global shipping environment and noted that only those organizations listening to and adapting to developments in the modern economy, Geopolitics and technology will be able to survive in this demanding environment.
The core of Mr. Theodore Chouliaras speech, President of the Shipping Finance Consultants UPMARITIME LONDON Ltd., was the impact of geopolitical developments and the issue of geo-economics. The speaker pointed out, among other things, that the era in which the laws of demand and supply completely determined the market completely, have long passed, while geopolitics now gaining ground, with China, Russia and the U.S.A. drawing the new map of Commercial and Economic interest.
The first round of speeches concluded with the speech by Mr. Costas Constantinou, Senior Partner of Moore Stephens Greece, who developed the importance of an appropriate crew management model for the overall company performance from an accounting point of view. Crew expenses are
currently one of the most important elements in the annual balance sheet of shipping companies, which should be taken seriously by each organization when managing its human resources.
In the second panel, the delegates had the opportunity to be briefed by Mr. Dimitris Lyrakos, CEO of Filistos A.C.T, on the major issue of psychosocial risks, and how these may affect crew performance. An assessment made by him and his team to more than 2,000 seafarers has highlighted the most common issues that reduce crew productivity and which are mainly focused on work-related exhaustion, work-related stress, tensions and conflicts while at sea, and intensive Labor requirements.
The conference continued with Mrs. Magda Pantelidu, EMEA Regional Director, Optimal HR Group, who mentioned the integral role of “talent management” in attracting and retaining the right crew. As the distinguished speaker stated, “talent management” is redefining the meaning of working in the industry and should be a lasting and strategically planned process for more efficient crew management.
In the last speech of this panel, Mr. George Pitaoulis, Crewing Manager, ABCmaritime, presented his valuable experience on successful human resource management standards and over-emphasized the importance of the continuing training and development of the naval crew towards this direction.
The conference’s last panel developed the particularly interesting issue of new technologies. More specifically, in his speech, Cpt. Dionysios Mourelatos, Chief Officer and Sales Executive of Global Navigation Solutions S.A., presented the latest developments in the field of electronic navigation, which, according to the speaker, “are here to stay”. This development requires crews themselves to adopt the appropriate knowledge and skills to manage both the volume and the quality of the new information effectively, while at the same time retaining their fundamental knowledge in order to be ready, even in the event of system failure.
Mr. Dimitris Theodosiou speech followed, Co-Founder & Managing Director of DANAOS Management Consultants SA, presenting modern staff management tools such as optimizing the crew division methodology and the proper correlation of their roles and skills. By implementing the above, the results for each shipping company are immediate and positive, such as increased productivity and the impartial evaluation of the best human resources.
The conference concluded its proceedings with Cpt. Alexandros Vassiliadis, Chief Officer and Nautical Instructor of COSMOS Nautical Training Center, who highlighted the dual role of technology on the major matter navigation. The latter can function either as a “valuable help” when used with the appropriate knowledge, prudence and good organization, or as a “deadly trap” when used with the lack of the above, particularly important, parameters. At the end of his speech, Cpt. Vassiliadis overemphasized the importance of the human factor in navigation, even in the midst of rapid technological developments, and underlined its irreplaceable role for the past, present and future of shipping.
Coordinators of the Conference’s panels were the distinguished industry representatives, Mr.George Xiradakis, Mrs. Katia Frantzoglou and Dr. Maria Progoulaki, respectively.
A very important moment of the Conference was the draw that took place for a free participation at the 21st Maritime HR & Crew Management Conference, to be held in London on 18-19 October 2017, under the support of Marine Tours.
The winners of the draw were Union Marine Enterprises S.A. and Eletson Corporation.
