From Maasmond Newsclippings 203-2025:
By Captain Alexandros Lignos Master Mariner - Marine Superintendent / Port Captain
Because real leadership is forged at sea, not behind a desk.
Having spent years at sea, I can say this without hesitation: No one understands the operational heartbeat of a vessel better than those who have lived it. And yet, too often, we see management positions in shipping companies filled by people with no seagoing experience — professionals who may know the theory, but have never stood on the bridge during a storm, never dealt with a blackout in pirate waters, never handled PSC detention in an unfamiliar port a fatality or a fire situation you only getting the feedback when there are already bravely handled controlled and managent smoothly by the Master or crew or those incidents that are beyond any control and disaster comes in reality not in papers.
Ø This is not about ego. It’s about value.
Ø It’s about decision-making.
It’s about understanding that behind every “incident” or “delay” lies a human chain of real-life pressures that can only be interpreted correctly by someone who has lived them.A Captain or Chief Engineer brings more than rank, they bring lived intelligence.
They’ve sailed across oceans, each with its own rules, attitudes, and expectations. Operations in China are not the same as in the U.S., and certainly not the same as in West Africa or the Middle East. A master with experience knows the behavioral patterns of local authorities. He knows the red flags. The “grey areas.” The risks. The port habits that don’t exist in manuals.
This kind of know-how cannot be Googled.
It comes only from years of sailing, negotiating, adapting.Many companies chase KPIs, budgets, and Excel reports, but ignore the real fuel: operational wisdom.
And then come the fines. The accidents. The breakdown in crew morale.
Why? Because decision-makers don’t speak the same language as the seafarers. They’ve never carried the psychological weight of making a wrong call in mid-ocean.
The sea teaches responsibility through consequence.
And that’s why we need more Captains and Chief Engineers in shore-based leadership roles not as honorary titles, but as active participants in the decision-making chain. Their insight must be drained and translated into strategy by the office teams. Because what we call “non-conformities” on paper, they call “close calls with real lives at stake.”
Let’s also be honest:
Shipping is not always “by the book.” Sometimes it’s “by the reality.”
And the difference between those two?
A good Captain knows it and manages it with integrity.
Bottom line?
You can have the best software, budgets, policies and AI integrations in the world.
But if you don’t have people who’ve truly lived shipping to filter the data and predict the outcome…
You’re navigating blind and in uncharted waters.
As an ex mariner - who now has been ashore for many years - not sure I could possibly disagree with this more.
a few points.
there is no inherent value in a merchant ship at sea. They are all there for just one purpose - make money, period - full stop.
it is about money not ships. Ships are just an asset to be managed, financed, used effectively, bought and sold, operated efficiently.
technical expertise is valuable to the management of a shipping company - and should always be a critical input to management. No CEO of any organization needs to be technically competent in every area of the business - they just need to have it in the organization at the right levels and to value it correctly.
Having done a bit of both - decision making at sea is quite different than ashore. Variables at sea are fewer, and much more clearly defined than those that effect major strategic decisions of running a large business.
I could do more - but a good start.
I am not dismissing the value of solid technical knowledge in leadership roles of shipping companies, nor am I saying that senior officers can not make the transition to lead large shipping companies - many have and hopefully many more will.
I agree with you, some have the skill sets to move from seafaring to management, even on the top level, usually with some additional education.
Many have done in the past and hopefully more will do in the future.
It’s mostly a good article if the headline is ignored. It’s not really clear what is meant by “be led”. If it means a chief or captain must be CEO than no, it doesn’t make sense.
I agree with the intent of this, that specific expertise is needed.
And that’s why we need more Captains and Chief Engineers in shore-based leadership roles not as honorary titles, but as active participants in the decision-making chain.
Not every chief and captain is qualified of course. I’ve sailed with captains and chiefs that should never should have been allowed to sail in those positions.
Totally agree. A business that is run ONLY by MBA diploma holders (genuie of fake), with no technical knowledge and practical experience to back them up, is bound to fail.
As a corollary to the view shipping companies would do well to have experienced mariners in the office; doing a stint ashore (port engineer or port captain) will often make a Master or Chief better.
In the examples given in the OP it’s not so much a matter of technical expertise as it is about putting incidents and events aboard ship in the proper context.
The shipping industry has itself to blame for the deficiencies in management that has seen many companies with a long and prosperous legacy go to the wall. It takes nurturing to bring an officer with talent from a seagoing position into the office. I’ve sailed with some with the ability to succeed academically in obtaining an MBA and others who left me wondering how they passed through the net.
I know of a master that went on to develop computer programs for container handling used internationally and two others one that earned an international reputation as a naval architect and the other as a salvage master.
Unfortunately our neighbour, Australia, seemed be the home of ships agents, who were as thick as two short planks, but considered themselves as intellectually superior to the Master.
