FEATURES

Youth in Maritime Worldwide

Encouraging the next generation
into the maritime industry is vital
I
n a recent speech at the Connecticut Maritime Association
(CMA) conference Esben Poulsson, President of the Singapore
Shipping Association stated how important he felt it was to
attract new blood into the industry.
“We need to work with our regulators, customers and investors
to make shipping the cutting edge, state-of-the-art industry
we know it is, so we can attract the right talent to its doors.
Tomorrow’s successful enterprises depend on this,” he said.
This view is shared not only by industry peers in Singapore, but
is universally felt, with societies being set up in maritime hubs
across the globe to cater for and to support young professionals
in the maritime industry.

Shipping Professional Network
London
Founded in 2007, the Shipping
Professional Network London (SPNL) is
a networking platform which aims to
promote and connect the next generation
22 | of young shipping professionals. SPNL
hosts a number of events throughout the
year including their flagship event at the
bi-annual London International Shipping
Week (LISW). At LISW 2015, the theme
was Showcasing the Next Generation in
Shipping, with Board Members from four
international youth societies discussing
the promotion of the maritime industry
as an attractive career path for young
high-flyers.
SPNL Chairman, Claudio Chiste, who
works at Investec Bank plc in Shipping
Finance, summed up the importance
of SPNL’s role for youth in the maritime
industry as follows:
“The recipe behind SPNL is essentially
a ‘professional networking’ platform for
and run by young shipping professionals.
The real benefit to networking early
in your career is that strong
relationships take
time. They
cannot be maintained without regular Technical Controlling at TB Marine
communication. For young professionals, Shipmanagement, describes how the
meeting people early in their careers, Shipping Professional Network group is
when they are typically more junior in different:
their roles, is arguably easier in the sense “There are many different platforms
that the connection is made with the around, which offer their members
individual rather than the status. People
do business with people they like, trust,
confide in and feel comfortable around.
Business is based on trust which is built
through personal relationships over time,
so it really helps to start early”.
With the first international branch
launched in Mumbai in 2011, SPNL has
grown from strength to strength and
now has further international chapters
in Hamburg and Copenhagen and
regional groups forming across the
UK, establishing a strong international
presence.
The Shipping Professional Network
of Hamburg (SPNH) Chair, Isabel
Dressel, who works in
Operations and

WAVES | ISSUE 50

the chance to network with their peers.
But none of the established platforms
are precisely focused on the support
of the new shipping generation. SPNH
encourages young professionals who have
several years of experience to make the
most of the benefits that Hamburg, as a
world-class maritime cluster, has to offer”.
YoungShip
YoungShip is a professional non-profit
organisation for young people working
within the global maritime industry.
Founded in Bergen in 2004, the initiative
spread quickly to other maritime hubs. The
global YoungShip network today counts
more than 2,500 individual members
in Oslo, Møre, Haugesund, Stavanger,
Kristiansand, Trondheim, Singapore,
Cyprus, Dubai, Liverpool, Brazil (Rio),
Rotterdam, Rome, Texas and Mexico.
YoungShip´s core purpose is to
provide a competence and network
enhancing arena for its members, and to
promote the young professionals in the
“Business
is based on
trust which is
built through
personal
relationships
over time, so it
really helps to
start early”
global maritime industry. It also has a
particular focus on developing the young
generations´ knowledge and interest for
environmental developments, innovation
and entrepreneurship.
Secretary General of YoungShip
International (YSI), Richard Hayfield shared
his views on the strengths that the next
generation bring to the industry:
“I believe we have a role to play to
engage, inspire and work with the industry
to promote the young bright minds
“The younger
generation will always
have alternative views
on how to solve some
of the big challenges
we face today”
within the maritime industry. The younger
generation will always have alternative
views on how to solve some of the big
challenges we face today. We should
promote that entrepreneurial spirit to
attract top new talent to the industry.
“We see some amazing young talent
within the technology and the new start-
up scene and this is starting to be more
prevalent in the maritime sector. YSI takes
an active role to promote young leaders
for the future, encourage those that are
working on environmental challenges,
social responsibility and innovation within
green technology.”
FEATURES
YoungShip hosts networking events
throughout the year and is also involved
in a number of awards, including the
bi-annual Young Eutrepreneur and Young
Corporation Awards at the prominent
NorShipping conference in Norway.
In 2015, the Young Entrepreneur Award
was won by 21 year old Boyan Slat, founder
and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup - a
technically feasible and financially viable
method that targets the removal of half
the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within
10 years. The 2015 Young Corporation
Award was won by Lorentzen & Stemoco,
an Oslo headquartered Shipbroker
and Consultancy, for actively promote
their young leaders through internal
involvement in decision making and
change processes.
Nominations are now open for the 2017
awards.
Further sister organisations have been
incorporated following the YoungShip
concept in Greece, New York, Australia
and Hong Kong. All members of these | 23
organisations are entitled to attend
events organised by other branches,
promoting intercultural collaboration
and encouraging young professionals to
develop multinational networks.
These networking groups are leading
the way in creating a community for
those who choose to pursue a maritime
career, but more still needs to be done to
showcase the industry as a cutting-edge,
technology-driven sector with exciting
opportunities for the next generation of
thought-leaders.
Other worldwide societies
include:
Youth Professionals in Shipping
Network
Hong Kong and Shanghai
Link Maritime
Rotterdam
Young Shipping Professionals
Athens and New York
ISSUE 50 | WAVES