MARE FORUM 2001

CORPORATE

MANAGEMENT

IN SHIPPING:

‘THE HUMAN

FACTOR’

29 & 30 OCTOBER 2001

GRAND HOTEL

KRASNAPOLSKY

AMSTERDAM

THE NETHERLANDS

welcome

topics

with the participation

conclusions

programme

"I believe that one of the fundamental reasons why so many accidents occur is because the human factor is consistently ignored"

Rear Admiral John Lang, Chief Inspector UK MAIB

The importance of the human factor in the corporate governance of any industry should be obvious to all. And how much more crucial this is in the hazardous environment of marine transport, where skill and professionalism are required to co-exist with an unforgiving sea.

For years it has been recognised that "human error", directly or indirectly, has been responsible for the vast majority of marine accidents, but curiously, the human element has tended to be positioned well down on the list of priorities, with regulatory efforts focussed upon the structure and equipment of ships and their operating criteria. Perhaps it has been considered too hard to tackle the human element; easier, by comparison, to regulate the hardware.

Mare Forum 2001: Corporate Governance in Shipping : The Human Factor, the latest in a series of high level quality shipping conferences, attempts to tackle human factors head on, with a carefully developed programme concentrating on the importance of people and their contribution to the quality and safety culture. Previous events in this series of meetings have focussed upon the shared responsibility for shipping safety, the regulatory response to safety demands, risk based solutions and the development of incentives for best practice and quality shipping. But all these strands can be traced back to the human factor, and it is this feature which the meeting on 29-30 October will strongly emphasise.

There is no doubt at all that human factor issues have become both urgent and topical.

It is urgent because of the manning crisis which faces the industry, a consequence of a failure to recruit and train in the 1980s , the ageing of the seagoing workforce and difficulty in persuading good people to seek a seafaring career. It is urgent because of raised expectations for shipping quality and safety, public intolerance of any marine accident and the sheer cost of mistakes and maritime aberrations.

It is topical because of current attempts to raise the skill level of the maritime workforce through the STCW Convention and the IMO "White List" procedures. Topical because of the perception that standards are declining and there are too many people "out there" who are inadequately trained and insufficiently qualified.

Mare Forum 2001 will once again bring together those who can influence these elements of the industry , to identify the problems and propose strategies for dealing with them. It will examine the role of regulators, trainers and educators, employers and marine professionals of every type. It will propose practical solutions that will tackle human element difficulties head on.

The Conference Organisers look forward to welcoming you to the Mare Forum 2001 Corporate Governance in Shipping, The Human Factor, and wish you success during the conference.

Jannis KOSTOULAS	Ger NIEUWPOORT
Managing Director	Head, Maritime Transport Division
MARE FORUM	Dutch Ministry of Transport

INFORMATION

For further information on the conference please contact:

MARE FORUM

Beurs-World Trade Center

P.O. Box 30027

3001 DA Rotterdam - The Netherlands

Tel: +31.10.2057455 Fax: +31.10.2055655

e-mail: info@mareforum.com

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE:

Michael GREY

Conference Chairman

Lloyd’s List

Jannis KOSTOULAS

Managing Director

Mare Forum

Ger NIEUWPOORT

Head of Transport Division

Dutch Ministry of Transport

Chris HORROCKS

Secretary General

International Chamber of Shipping

International Shipping Federation

Pieter van AGTMAAL

Managing Director

Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners

John LYRAS

President

Union of Greek Shipowners

Rolf SAETHER

Director General

Norwegian Shipowners’ Association

Ed SARTON

President

Dutch Seafarers’ Federation (FWZ)

Rear Admiral Robert C. NORTH (RET.)

President, North Star Maritime, Inc.

Nicolas FISTES

Executive Vice President and Managing Director

CERES Hellenic Shipping

Brian WADSWORTH

Director, Logistics and Maritime Transport, Dept. of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, UK

Philippe BOISSON

Director

Bureau Veritas

Jon Whitlow

International Workers’ Transport Federation

Alphons GUINIER

Secretary General

European Community Shipowners’ Association

Ioannis KOURMATZIS

Vice-President

DET NORSKE VERITAS

Jean-Yves LEGOUAS

Senior Maritime Specialist

International Labour Office

Cees van der SLIKKE

Managing Director

AON Marine Energy & Construction Insurance Brokers

Dr Hans PAYER

President

Germanischer Lloyd

George SKORDILIS

Shipping Journalist

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