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Hong Kong Branch - Winter lecture on Ship Owning: Changes & Challenges

Posted on Friday, February 9, 2018

Shipping Changes and Challenges - Presented by Edward Buttery

 

ICS once again hosted an incredibly informative and engaging evening on 09th February, this time at the Indian Recreation Club. Attendees were greeted with a drinks reception in the main hall of the club, which provided a wonderful prologue to Edward Buttery's talk on the changing nature of dry bulk shipping and ship owning over the last ten years. The space was rapidly filled with people from across the entire industry who were keen on gaining further insight into what has been a challenging period in shipping's history and it was a fantastic start to the ICS' annual talk.

 

The event was introduced by ICS student Ms. Dimitra Pong, who made everyone feel very welcome from arrival and throughout. Mr. Edward Buttery, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Taylor Maritime Ltd, a dry bulk owner company, was the honored guest of the evening. More specifically, he shared his experience about establishing his company in 2013 and the unwillingness of banks to provide loans within that period of time.

 

Edward provided a highly thought-provoking and relatable speech, which covered the technical and logistical challenges that have characterised the shipping industry as a whole and continue to do so, as well as providing an insight into what it takes to own and run a shipping company. This was a particularly compelling aspect of the talk and the major takeaways from this were the importance of building a team of strong, supportive and knowledgeable people, knowing your strengths as well as your weaknesses, and having fundamental goals that keep you striving towards a realizable target.

 

Also, commenting on the global financial crisis within the last 10 years, he expressed his thoughts about the evolvement of ship owning companies under the pressure of cost minimization and quality of maintenance. Also, he mentioned constant changes that challenge the shipping industry nowadays. Such topics were cyber security, ballast water management system and scrubber technology. Finally, he expanded on strategies that a shipping firm should employ to survive and succeed, and he implied that this is a good time to invest in the dry bulk sector.

 

The question and answer component of the talk was equally as interesting, especially due to the numbers of people that were in attendance. Various viewpoints were put forward as to the nature of the challenges that face the industry currently and that will potentially face the industry going forward. These ranged from human resources for crewing to funding and ballast water management, and cyber security. Emissions regulations were naturally something that was agreed upon as being a current and future challenge for the industry, as well as the automation of vessel systems.

 

A 15-minute session for questions and answers was followed by his speech, giving the opportunity for participants to find direct answers. In continue, the Branch Chairman Joseph Chau, FICS presented him with a memento.

 

The talk was followed by an excellent networking opportunity thanks to the number of people that attended the event and the cross section of the shipping industry that they represented. Overall, it was a memorable and successful evening organized by ICS and we are very much looking forward to the next one.

 

Branch Hon-Secretary Rakesh Sethi MICS extended a very hearty vote of thanks to Edward Buttery for sharing with his experience and opinions today. An event like this cannot happen overnight. The wheels start rolling weeks ago. It requires planning and a birds eye for details. The event wouldn't have been possible without assistance and help of ICS Student Ms. Dimitra Pong, a very motivated and dedicated student, who organized event in a very professional manner. Secretary also thanked the sponsors for the event Desan Shipyard Tuzla Bay Turkey for their gracious support.

 

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