Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) Hong Kong Branch, in association with Saga Shipholding (Norway) AS, held an informative lecture in the evening of 13th April 2018 at the Indian Recreation Club. This event was graciously sponsored by Fleet Management Limited, Marine Support and AMS International Group.
Before the seminar, certificates of membership of ICS were presented to Mr. Wellington Koo (MICS) and Sharad Gupta (FICS) by the ICS HK branch chairman Mr. Joseph Chau, FICS.
Audience from different sectors of shipping industry including ship owners, ship management companies, Hong Kong Marine department, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University etc. were attracted by the very relevant and hot topic of today: Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMSs). Saga shipping is the world's first shipowner to fit ballast water treatment systems that are USCG compliant throughout a fleet of this magnitude.
Mr. Bjorhovde delivered a highly substantial speech which covered not so technical but essential knowhow and ideas about Ballast Water Management Systems, according to their own company experience. He briefly analyzed the development of BWMSs during the past 10 years and the reason why saga shipping decided to install the ballast water treatment as a leader, which is to be compliant and feel at ease. The reason why owners are not installing the system were further analyzed. Mr. Bjorhovde emphasized the importance to make decisions and advised the audience to be careful when making decisions that will influence the future results. He listed some strategies for shipping companies to cope with the present and future global regulations and their compliance. To end the speech, he suggested to everyone that "In a world of princesses, dare to be a batman" which further explained their decision to install Ballast Water Management Systems while others chose to wait and see.
A memento was presented to Mr. Bjorhovde for his wonderful speech and to Mr. Mayank Mishra of Fleet Management Limited for their generous support at the end of the seminar to express the sincere gratitude of the Hong Kong Branch for their contribution.
The spring lecture ended with excellent networking where people from different sectors of the shipping industry exchanged ideas and got to know each other. It was a memorable event organized by the ICS Hong Kong Branch.