O’Neil elected InterManager President

(Posted on 30/11/20)

InterManager, the international trade association for in-house and third-party ship managers, has appointed Mark O’Neil, CEO of Columbia Shipmanagement, as its new President.

He was voted in at last week’s Annual General Meeting, held for the first time as a virtual event because of the COVID-19 restrictions, and succeeds Bjørn Jebsen who has held the position for the past four years.

Mark O’Neil is a recognised leader in the global ship management sector and has highlighted industry cooperation and interaction as high up in his list of priorities as the new InterManager President.

As part of his manifesto, he is keen to create a single industry standard through his ONE Approach, which centres on the belief of the strength of the collective voice when the maritime industry speaks to governmental and international institutions about maritime issues.

He will also use his position to boost awareness of the vital role third-party shipmanagement plays in the global shipping sector and will look at ways to introduce a recognised industry standard to assess quality ship managers.

Thanking the InterManager members, Mark O’Neil said: “I have always championed and shared InterManager’s values. I am looking forward to working closely with the team and implementing greater interaction between InterManager and the international institutions and governments who affect the work of stakeholders in the maritime sector such as operators, managers, and crew, with InterManager assuming the voice for the industry.”

Welcoming his appointment, Capt Kuba Szymanski, InterManager’s Secretary-General, said: “Mark brings with him a wealth of ship management experience. He has clearly laid out his plans for InterManager which have received the full support of our Executive Committee. I am looking forward to working with him and wish him all the best.”

“I would like to thank Bjørn for a fruitful four years, which saw our Association go from strength to strength. During this time, we delivered the iconic Martha Project, a study into seafarer fatigue and expanded our ‘Adopt a Ship’ project from its original Cyprus location to cover the Philippines, India, and Poland. Our Enclosed Space Death project resulted in the participation of 5,000 seafarers, which led to InterManager being appointed Chairmanship of the Enclosed Space subcommittee in HEIG (Human Element Industry Group),” he added.

InterManager also initiated resource pooling to assist crew changes during this year’s COVID-19 pandemic and its Maritime Champions Club, where ship management companies shared their COVID crew change experiences, was well received by the industry at large.