Copyright splash247
Obviously I am biased, but genuinely I am always amazed how much ground we cover – and with such candour – at our half-day exclusive Maritime CEO Forums. Take last month’s valedictory forum at the Fullerton in Singapore where discussions tackled some of the biggest challenges facing the industry today. The unifying theme? The sheer, unprecedented complexity of being a shipowner in 2025. From geopolitics and sanctions to decarbonisation and digitalisation, panellists and delegates from the floor batted opinions and ideas back and forth in such an engaging way – with many saying we could have tacked on a few more hours to squeeze it all in. If I had to take one thing away from the four panels it came during the tanker session with Ardmore Shipping’s Mark Cameron highlighting incentives for crews as the biggest tech enabler. “We fly 85% of our captains and chief engineers home business class. That incentive alone has probably saved us more fuel than most gadgets,” he quipped. What an impressive thing to do – and something that reflects well in Ardmore’s brilliant crew retention figures. Others could learn from this rewards system. Kudos, too, to Steven Jones, the founder of the Seafarers Happiness Index, for coming up with the catchy headline above. Anyway, after 10 years of putting events on at the historic Fullerton, we’re moving to pastures new next year. The by-invite-only Maritime CEO Forum brand will continue every October at the Monaco Yacht Club, while we’re opening things up in Singapore, our headquarters, with Splash Singapore aiming to be Asia’s largest shipowner gathering when it launches with six sessions across a full-day next September.
