A first for NYK Shipmanagement

NYK Shipmanagement Singapore is taking competence management to new heights after it recently became the first Asian ship manager to be certified in accordance with the DNV standard for competence management system.

The NYK competence management system is based on a set of officer competence standards in compliance with specifications from the Society of International Gas Tankers and Terminal Operators (SIGTTO) and the Tanker Officer Training Standards (TOTS) from Intertanko.

The certification award means NYK Shipmanagement becomes the first ship manager in Asia to receive a classification society-endorsed competence management system. NYK Shipmanagement aims to deploy the system on all of its 24 tankers by the end of this year and then move on to its entire managed fleet of 104 ships.

Amit Ray, head of DNV SeaSkill Asia commented. “SeaSkill is DNV?s contribution to making the maritime industry look for competence beyond compliance. Companies like NYK Shipmanagement are looking beyond satisfying minimum requirements and focusing on competence as a strategic tool. Typically an annual training budget for a company can be stated to the last dollar and cent but the difficult part of the equation is the effectiveness of training. NYK Shipmanagement and DNV have made an effort to address this challenge.”

The certification comes at a time when human errors have been recognised by leading institutions as the key factor in maritime incidents. The Norwegian Maritime Directorate recently reported that 66% of all ship groundings were due to human error and the United States Coast Guard indicated that over 75% of all ship accidents were also due to human error.

“It is the people who make the difference between safety and danger in shipping,” said Ray. “Recognising this issue, we will work with NYK Shipmanagement and others to improve seafarer competency levels.”