Executive Ship Management

INAUGURATION OF SAMUNDRA INSTITUTE OF MARITIME STUDIES (SIMS)

(A special supplement of Executive News Bulletin, April 01, 2004 )

We are pleased to bring out this special edition of our monthly newsletter on the inauguration of our in-house training institute on 17^th March, 2004. The grand celebration included an official inauguration by our chief guest Mr. Bob Malone, Chief Executive of BP Shipping Limited. The finale was an evening of relaxed entertainment with traditional Indian dinner and classical Indian instrumental music and dance by well-known artistes which captivated both local and foreign guests.

We have a few excerpts of Mr. Bob Malone's speech at the evening dinner where the BP chief executive was clearly impressed by what he saw during his 24 hours stay in Mumbai, India. Mr. Bob Malone and his senior colleagues made the short 24 hours visit to India just to attend the inauguration of the institute for which we are indeed very grateful to them.

About a year ago, I met a gentleman named, Mr. Teeka. His company has come to BP and we had seen from business that they were doing with others, a commitment to safety, a commitment to integrity, a commitment to the way their employees were treated and an enthusiasm for doing business. We took one of our brand new vessels and we asked them to sail that for us. And I remember Mr. Teeka said that his commitment to me as you heard me mention, was to take care of that vessel. And I told Mr. Teeka and the officers that were there at the naming ceremony, that what I ask of them is you're taking a brand new vessel, and I ask you to remember that with it, you're carrying the reputation of the entire BP Group. How you operate that vessel, how you trade that vessel, actually carries with it, huge liabilities for our group. And we're entrusting in you that vessel. I also told the officers that night, that in taking that vessel, that they needed to always have in mind that I can repair new vessels, I can't always repair human beings, that please keep safety at foremost in what you do.
I could not be more pleased with the relationship and the quality of service that we've received at Executive Ship Management.
So, I then re-awarded the 2nd ship, a 3rd ship, a 4th ship, a 5th ship, and on 5th April, they will take out our 6th new ship. And I want to thank you, Mr. Teeka, for the quality of what you and your entire organization has for us.

People have been most gracious to me today. And I appreciate how welcomed I felt. It's been a long time since I've been back in India. But today, the honor was mine because today, I have the opportunity to visit your institute. I was impressed with the building, I was impressed with the hardware and most importantly, I was impressed by the faculty, the cadets, and the officers that I met. And a common trend through everything I saw was this absolute enthusiasm and commitment to work, towards bettering themselves and therefore bettering the commerce that we do around the world.

What I saw today, is clearly a world- class institute that is developing the future generations to make sure that those oil spills and those accidents, don't occur. And so, it was with great delight today that I’d toured down today and the most difficult thing for me was to be told that it was time to leave, because I could still be down there now, had the opportunity been given to me.

So again, on behalf of BP and BP Shipping, I want to thank you for the warmth of the hospitality. You made us all feel welcomed. Very specifically, I want to thank Executive Ship Management for the job they do with us- it's a great partnership- and commend you for the institute.

Mr. Bob Malone

We also reproduce here an excerpt from the speech made by our managing director B.S.Teeka while welcoming the guests at the dinner on 17^th March,2004.

-We at Executive ship management are always talking about the quality, safety and high standard of service to our clients all over the world. SIMS is an example that it is a serious commitment for us to train our people to achieve that goal.
-We are operating at a global environment where every negative action has the potential of loss of billions of dollars. The responsibility is not just in terms of dollars and cents but in terms of human life, environment- and finally that this beautiful planet of ours should be to kept safe and worthy of living for our future generation.
-If we do not want the repetition of maritime disasters like Erika, Prestige Etc, it is essential that we straighten our priority list. No unsafe work culture can make a good business practice. To correct this, we need good training and knowledge. However, both of them do not come cheap and easy. It requires investment, concerted involvement and full attention and focus.

-SIMS is a result of such devotion from us. It is built with the exclusive resources of Executive ship management with our homegrown ideas and innovations. The equipments have been locally procured and tailor made under the expert supervision and guidance from our in-house staff- both sailing and ashore.
-Our intentions are very clear - we are not a commercial training centre where the training culminates with the handing over of a certificate and the candidate vanishes from the institute's radar for the rest of his life.
-SIMS trains a candidate till he attains the desired level of competence and confidence to handle the job he will be handling on board. Each crew and officer boarding an ESM managed ship goes through the SIMS where he undergoes ship specific tailor made training. During his tenure on board, he is continuously monitored by his superiors and his progress reports sent back to SIMS. The faculty gets down to doing the Gap analysis which helps them to find the root cause of any deficiency in his training or the potential of the candidate for retraining. Appropriate training is then arranged for the candidate prior he leaves for his next ship.
-SIMS faculty members also regularly sail with our ships to directly monitor their training results and to enhance their training programme and procedures. We are very happy to see incredible positive outcome of this system in our overall performance of the crew.