Global Crew Engagement Seminars: Turning Experience into Safer Operations

Fleet Management's Global Crew Engagement Seminar (GCES) programme has connected more than 4500 seafarers since launching in January 2025, translating operational experience into safer decisions across the fleet.

Every near miss contains a lesson. The challenge is ensuring that lesson reaches the next vessel before the next incident does.

Fleet Management's Global Crew Engagement Seminar (GCES) programme was launched in January 2025 to strengthen safety awareness, learn from real incidents and support continuous learning among seafarers before they return to sea.

Every voyage, inspection, near miss and incident generates lessons that can improve future outcomes. The challenge is ensuring that knowledge is shared consistently, acted upon effectively and embedded into everyday operations across all managed vessels.

Across more than 25 GCES sessions conducted throughout 2025 and 2026, Fleet Management has used real-life examples and near misses to help junior officers and Ratings understand not only how incidents occur, but how they can be prevented.

Whether it is preparing for an inspection, leading a toolbox meeting, maintaining equipment or speaking up when something does not look right, seafarers make countless decisions every day that influence safety and vessel performance. GCES helps connect lessons learned across the fleet with those everyday moments where good judgement matters most.

Fleet's strong intervention culture reinforces this approach, empowering any seafarer or employee to stop a task if they identify a potential danger.

A Global Learning Community

Our engagement sessions have connected seafarers from India, the Philippines, China and Indonesia. Sessions alternate between junior officers and Ratings and are delivered collaboratively by Fleet's Technical, Operations and QHSE teams. The programme helps reinforce consistent safety expectations while creating a forum to share practical lessons from vessels around the world.

The sessions have helped seafarers continue their professional development, including those serving far from maritime centres.

Safety Is Never Finished

GCES forms part of Fleet's wider commitment to continuous learning and operational excellence. In 2025, Fleet Management recorded zero work-related fatalities, zero catastrophic onboard accidents and zero Superintendent Lost Time Injuries. The company's Lost Time Injury Frequency (LTIF) stood at 0.34, outperforming the INTERTANKO average of 0.41, while its Total Recordable Case Frequency (TRCF) was 0.87 compared with the industry benchmark of 0.93.

Safety is not a one-time initiative, a checklist or a completed task. It is a continuous process of learning, adapting and improving. A happy crew is a safe crew.

When seafarers feel informed, engaged and connected to the wider organisation, they are better equipped to identify risks, communicate concerns and make sound operational decisions. GCES helps build that confidence through learning, dialogue and shared accountability.

Fleet Management's Technical, Operations and QHSE teams continuously review incidents, near misses, industry developments and regulatory changes. Supported by an 80-strong QHSE organisation, Fleet transforms these insights into practical learning, enabling lessons from one vessel to benefit hundreds of others.

For shipowners, particularly those with smaller fleets, GCES provides access to operational experience, emerging risks and industry developments that may otherwise be difficult to share consistently.

Every near miss contains a lesson. The challenge is ensuring that lesson reaches the next vessel before the next incident does. In shipping, prevention remains the most effective safety intervention, and the sharing of experience and lessons learned remains one of the industry's most valuable resources. 

This supports Fleet's commitment to Keep the Asset Safe & Compliant. By sharing lessons learned from across the fleet, GCES helps seafarers recognise risks, strengthen safety awareness and apply practical learning before incidents occur. It reinforces the disciplined, safety-focused decision-making that underpins safe and reliable operations.