There is a lot that happens over coffee

There is a lot that happens over coffee, and it was no different 266 years ago.

In 1760, in Edward Lloyd’s coffee house, a group of insurers decided they needed someone independent to look at ships. That became the first classification society.

Everything we have built since has looked at the ship. Class, flag, port state, vetting, terminal, charterer, audits.

We have also tried, more than once, to look after the people.
STCW in 1978 set the first international standard for training and certifying seafarers.
The ISM Code in 1993 came out of concern about how ships were being managed.
The Maritime Labour Convention in 2006 was called the seafarers’ bill of rights.

Every one of them was a serious attempt, by serious people, to solve a real problem. And each one ends up as a certificate, a document, or a declaration. Some of it issued ashore after an examination or training, some of it on board after an audit or an inspection.

We have got very good at proving a ship is fit, and we keep finding new ways to do it.

I am not sure we ever got as good at making the people on board feel the same way about themselves.