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Top 10 Most Interesting People In Shipping

Top 10 Most Interesting People In Shipping

GCaptain
Total Views: 7317
January 23, 2022

To commemorate the new year, the world’s most popular maritime podcast – Lena Göthberg’s Shipping Podcast – announced the shipping industry’s top ten most interesting people, as measured by number of downloaded episodes throughout the relatively long seven year history of the show.

For the new members of our industry who maybe unfamiliar with the show. Lena Göthberg has been working within the industry for more than 25 years and is a magnet for interesting and influential people with a story to tell. Inspired by both her shipping and digital friends, she picked up the microphone in July 2015 to spread the word about the coolest industry on the planet and help to raise the profile of the shipping industry, all by herself

“The shipping industry is a peoples’ business, maybe that’s why I like it so much,” says Lena. “You can listen to the maritime industry’s voices, talk about their passion for their jobs, what they think about the future, and what they think about our industry’s current state.”

The Shipping Podcast’s Top Ten

#10 Patrick Verhoeven, Managing Director at International Association of Ports and Harbors

According to Patrick Verhoeven and the IAPH, Smart, Autonomous, and Integrated is the signum of a future port. Listen to Patrick talking about what areas the trade association for ports around the world has identified as focus areas moving forward. Episode Link

#9 Frank Relou, Business Development and Commercial Manager, Sea Machines Robotics

In September Lena had the opportunity to sit down with Frank Releo of the autonomous shipping company Sea Machines to discuss autonomous shipping, AI and Internet of Things, among other things.

When can we expect autonomous ships? Can the sailing fleet be retrofitted to become autonomous? How do we attract young people to our industry? Why does it take so long to set a new course for this conservative industry? These are just a few of the questions Frank answers. Episode Link

#8 Birgit Liodden, First Female Director of NOR Shipping

Birgit Liodden is the first female Director of NOR Shipping, where she worked towards making NOR Shipping the innovative hub in the Scandinavian maritime community. She is the Founder and first Secretary General of YoungShip International and is currently CEO and Founder of The Ocean Opportunity Lab where Birgit and her team have developed the community & tech capabilities for launching & developing a creative community of innovators across ocean industries. Episode Link

#7 Ley Hoon Quah, Chief Executive, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

Ley Hoon Quah, Chief Executive, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) sounds very enthusiastic when describing the maritime industry in her 2021 interview on the shipping podcast. She has seen the potential for our industry to become one of the most wanted workplaces by the next generation and believes we need to join forces to promote it. Episode Link

#6 Captain Hans Hederström, Consultant, Marine Consultancy Group

“People don’t like change,” are the words of the interviewee in this episode, Captain Hans Hederström, Consultant, Marine Consultancy Group. During his interview Captain Hederström shares the impact he has had on the development of maritime safety and especially Bridge resource management. We get to hear the story of how the Center for Simulator Maritime Training, CSMART, in Almere, the Netherlands, came about and how that was a dream come through for Hans. Episode Link

#5 Lars Säfverström, Non-Executive Director, GAC Main Board

Meet Lars Säfverström, Non-Executive Director of the GAC Main Board. Lars has been in the maritime world for a very long time. In this episode he shares with Lena the perspective of working in other cultures, how you need to keep your eyes on the ball at all times and how Internet of Everything will impact the shipping industry. Episode Link

#4 Captain Frank Coles, British-American Entrepreneur And Maritime Lawyer

In episode 165, you meet Frank Coles, former CEO of Wallem and Transas, and get to listen to his view about a fair future for seafarers and listen to his critical look at the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Day of the Seafarer.

Frank is speaking his mind about many things that need to change for the seafarers to have a fair future.
– a clear career path
– getting paid
– getting fed
– getting to go home
– allowed breaks to get some rest also when in port

Frank is an outspoken advocate for the seafarers and, after the interview, he launched a global petition to provide an enforceable global protocol for “green channel” travel for seafarers. Of course, not all of you will agree with him, but at least he is contributing to the conversation that we must have. Episode Link

@frankly_coles on Twitter

Frank Coles on Linkedin

#3 Captain Thomas Lindegaard Madsen, Maersk Line Master And Board Member

Captain Thomas Lindegaard Madsen is an actively sailing Master and member of the board of Maersk Line, is one of the more visible role models in the maritime industry. Thomas has been sailing for almost thirty years and has experience with many different vessels. Currently, his vessel – M/V Venta Maersk – is trading in the Baltic Sea area and this year he is enjoying ice navigation.

Captain Thomas recognises that the biggest change he has seen during his career is the arrival of the internet aboard ships. We get many insights from Captain Thomas in this episode. He is talking about opportunities with the new technology development, and it is apparent that he loves his job.

Thomas is sharing his concerns about being public on social media and his insight gives a new perspective on how we can showcase the maritime industry to the world by using social media. Episode Link

@captainthomas_official on Instagram

gCaptain Article: Listen To A Drag Queen Interview Captain Thomas, The World’s Most Famous LGBTI+ Master Mariner

#2 Captain Kate McCue, Master Of The Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Cruises

Captain Kate was the first American woman in command of a “mega” cruise ship, which happened in 2015 but but is just one chapter in her story about overcoming early setbacks before reaching the pinnacle of her career; command of 1,200+ people onboard her state-of-the-art cruise ship.

Of course, they also speak about Bug, the pet Captain Kate brings to work and also on her trips around the world. bugnaked has almost 24,000 followers on Instagram and it’s a must to follow her as well. Episode Link

@captainkatemccue on Instagram

gCaptain Article: Captain Kate Takes Back The Helm After 15 Months

#1 Captain John A Konrad V, Founder And CEO Of gCaptain

John Konrad, who was also recently named Fort Schuyler’s Distinguished Shipmate Of The Year, is the original influencer in the maritime industry. He started the gCaptain in 2007, and built it to be the largest media outlet in the maritime domain. John is interested in changing the narrative for the maritime industry and agrees that we need to work together to create sustainable marketing for and about the maritime industry.

John discusses Greta Thunberg and the fact she says things people don’t want to hear. “That is what we also need to do,” says Lena. “We need to talk about the good and the bad in our industry. If we don’t acknowledge the problems we have as an industry, then we cannot solve them – and become better.” Episode Link

@johnkonrad on Twitter

John Konrad on Linkedin

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