This Year's Outstanding Sea Safety Operators Are 'POSSM·Synchro Haewoon'

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Designates and Awards Outstanding Maritime Safety Operators and Seafarers of 2020

Designated Certificates and Rewards Provided to Outstanding Maritime Safety Operators
Outstanding Seafarers 'Captain Choi Gyu-tae and Chief Engineer Lee Kwang-hee' Selected

Certificate of Excellence in Business Designation.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Pose SM and Synchro Shipping were selected as the '2020 Outstanding Maritime Safety Operators.' The outstanding seafarers chosen were Captain Choi Gyu-tae and Chief Engineer Lee Kwang-hee.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 29th that it had selected outstanding maritime safety operators and seafarers who contributed to improving maritime safety management levels and reducing maritime accidents this year.

Since 2015, the Ministry has designated and rewarded outstanding maritime safety operators to encourage the private sector to voluntarily raise the level of maritime safety management. So far, a total of 13 companies have been selected.

This year, the Ministry accepted applications from 81 ship safety management companies from September 2 to 11 to designate outstanding maritime safety operators. Based on document evaluations and on-site inspections, a designation committee was held to select the final outstanding operators.

This year, through evaluations including accident rates, seafarer employment stability, ship safety management levels, and the status of safety management professionals, Pose SM was designated in the ocean-going sector for its low accident rate and active investment in seafarers and safety management personnel. Synchro Shipping was designated in the coastal sector for receiving high scores in seafarer employment stability and safety management.

Operators designated as outstanding maritime safety operators receive a certificate valid for three years and a reward of 10 million KRW. Additionally, benefits such as priority distribution of e-navigation ship terminals will be provided.

Considering the difficult maritime working conditions due to COVID-19 and other factors, the Ministry newly established and awarded the 'Korea Maritime Safety Leader Award' this year to boost the morale of seafarers contributing to long-term accident-free navigation. In the merchant ship sector, Captain Choi Gyu-tae of the ultra-large container ship HMM Dublin was selected for achieving 26 years without accidents. Captain Choi had previously quickly extinguished a fire in a container carrying charcoal in 2019, preventing property losses worth hundreds of billions of KRW. In the fishing vessel sector, Chief Engineer Lee Kwang-hee of the 2015 Bokyoung was selected. Lee was highly praised for extinguishing a fire caused by engine overheating in the engine room in 2017, protecting the lives of seafarers.

Kim Hyun-tae, Director of the Maritime Safety Bureau at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "Maritime safety begins with the practice of basic safety rules," and added, "We hope that the maritime safety culture will spread through rewards to shipping companies and seafarers who contributed to establishing a voluntary maritime safety culture."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.