BIMCO: public’s opinion of shipping must change

BIMCO: publicÆs opinion of shipping must change    The ocean shipping industry must create a more positive image to improve the general public's opinion of that mode of transportation, Carsten Melchiors, secretary-general of BIMCO, told the annual conference of the International Marine Purchasing Association in London.
   'Image is everything, and ours is not good enough despite the fact that shipping is one of the most important factors in globalization,' Melchiors said. 'We all buy goods from China now, but how many people think about how they get here?'
   'Our job is not just to make money, but to promote the business we're in,' Melchiors said.
   A more positive image is also necessary to attract the brightest people to shipping, and convince them that they could look forward to a lifetime career, he explained. That is particularly essential due to the ever-widening responsibilities of seagoing officers as monitors of increasingly sophisticated systems, Melchiors noted.
   'Just as the people we take on ships will be better educated, so training and education will be even more important in functions such as purchasing,' Melchiors said. 'There can be no concessions in insuring that equipment and personnel interact if we want to run ships with zero downtime.'