Evolving Role for Ship Managers

 

Ship management is often identified as a tool for smaller fleets or individual shipowners to run their ships and keep up with the majors. The leading ship managers, however, say the practice is evolving from technical skills to incorporate consulting and advising as the shipping business is confronted with new challenges ranging from geopolitical issues to emerging technologies, increasing regulations and a shortage of seafarers.

The emergence of the ship management industry was driven by a basic desire to achieve cost efficiencies, often through scale, while also ensuring regulatory compliance - all to permit owners to focus on the commercial rather than technical aspects of operations. Historically, ship management was mostly used by owners with smaller portfolios who lacked in-house expertise and found value in outsourcing.

"It's been an industry driven by standardized solutions designed to streamline operations and costs," says Mark O'Neil, CEO of Columbia Group.

The model was designed, however, for a more stable and predictable era, when owners could rely on internal resources and conventional advisory partnerships to navigate relatively stable markets and regulatory environments.

Despite rapid growth and increasing demands on shipowners, ship management companies only handle about 20 percent of the global commercial fleet. The other 80 percent, notes Niraj Nanda, Chief Commercial Officer of Anglo-Eastern, which has been in the business for over 50 years, is managed in-house.

Integrated Approach

As ships have gotten bigger and economic pressures have increased, the scope of work for ship managers has changed.

Today, it requires an integrated approach to ensure safety, efficiency and regulatory compliance, according to Lisa Holum, Managing Director of OSM Thome Singapore. Tracing its roots back to the 1963 founding of Thome in Singapore and formed by the 2023 merger with OSM Maritime Group, OSM Thome encompasses not only technical management but also crew, compliance, procurement and sustainability initiatives.

"The ship management industry is undergoing a fundamental shift from being a cost-based, task-oriented service to becoming a strategic value partner to shipowners," explains Ajay Chaudhry, Co-CEO – Ship Management, Synergy Marine Group. "At Synergy, we believe the practice is being reshaped by three forces: regulatory pressure, technological maturity and rising expectations around crew wellbeing."

Emerging regulations around decarbonization and crew safety, for example, mean ship management is shifting from an operations focus to a value focus. The role of a ship manager is being fundamentally redefined with a shift towards risk mitigation, creating strategic advantages and providing access to specialized capabilities that owners cannot easily develop in-house.

"Owners give their vessels to a third-party manager so they can focus on their core competence of managing their vessels commercially while the manager specializes in operating ships efficiently and safely," says Ioannis Stefanou, Managing Director, Ship Management at Wallem Group. "When we partner with an owner, we don't just manage their vessels. We also offer consultancy advice and added value services to take care of their very expensive assets."

The pressures on shipowners are driving many of the changes in the industry.

"Ship management is moving towards more of a global solution," says Captain Kuba Szymanski, General Secretary of InterManager, the only organization dedicated to representing the ship management industry. "New requirements are making the role of a ship manager more like a business partner and not just a service provider."

Owners expect managers to deliver not only operational excellence but also guidance on decarbonization, digital solutions, regulatory compliance and crew challenges.

"We're moving beyond traditional ship management to offer a fully integrated maritime, logistics, leisure, energy and offshore services platform," highlights Columbia's O'Neil, noting that Columbia takes a holistic approach, combining digital tools, maritime HR, AI, sustainability and more.

Ownership Changes

Further driving change is a shift in the ownership profile of the shipping industry.

In addition to the emergence of massive fleets, shipping has become more specialized with unique vessels for each segment and new types of owners. Capt. Szymanski of Inter- Manager notes ship managers already occupy the "top end," serving LNG, LPG and tankers, but he sees the service "now drifting toward" bulk carriers and containerships.

Other sectors, including ro-ros, passenger vessels and cruise ships, have also turned to outside managers, especially as they enter new markets.

Ownership is moving from the traditional private families and legacy fleets to institutional investors, energy majors and first-time entrants who expect enterprise-grade governance, sustainability credentials and strategic alignment.

"We see a notable increase in leasing companies purchasing vessels, both newbuilds and resale tonnage, and then chartering them out on long-term or bareboat terms," says OSM Thome's Holum, who notes these new entrants rely on third-party managers. "Many of these lessors are financial institutions without in-house technical management expertise."

The new owners include private equity firms and other non-maritime investors as well. Adds Anglo-Eastern's Nanda: "These new stakeholders often lack operational expertise in ship management, creating opportunities for ship managers to provide end-to-end solutions."

Crew Scarcity

Stricter environmental regulations, rapid technological advances, geopolitical instability and economic volatility have meant that managing a ship has never been more complex.

However, the biggest challenge across all sectors of the industry may be crew scarcity and the related issues of aging seafarers and low participation rates from traditional sources of seafarers. The U.N.-led Maritime Just Transition Task Force recently highlighted that hundreds of thousands of seafarers must also be upskilled to prepare for the handling of methanol and then ammonia and hydrogen as future alternative fuels.

The largest ship managers operate their own training centers, and some run pre-sea training programs. Anglo- Eastern, for example, has expanded its simulation-based training facilities with the leading engine companies - MAN Energy Solutions (now Everllence), WinGD and Wärtsilä - and launched the industry's first LNG/Ammonia bunkering station skid at its Maritime Institute in Mumbai, India.

"A ship is only as good as the crew we can place on it," says Sebastian von Hardenberg, CEO of Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement. "As we introduce future fuels to the maritime sector, safeguarding the crew and the vessels they operate through proper training must come first."

The company is taking proactive steps to close the skills gap, investing in training programs, simulation technology and collaborative forums. It established internal expert groups to design vessel-specific training modules covering everything from bunkering and emergency response to cargo handling protocols. In 2024, BSM launched its Smart Academy program to give undergraduate cadets training in a controlled and realistic work environment onshore and onboard, including training on a bridge simulator.

Wallem has an in-house saying that "The ships of the future will not be managed by the managers of the past." It notes that new skills are required as digitalization spreads through shipping. "The young generation of seafarers is tech savvy and computer skills come naturally to them," says Stefanou.

Wallem has set up training for the use of methanol and ammonia and helped customers with wind-assisted propul- sion. With a focus on crew wellbeing, it conducted over 7,000 hours of training in 2024 and has a "Mental Health Wellbeing Champion” onboard every ship.

Anglo-Eastern's Nanda says, "Attracting and retaining skilled seafarers remains a pressing issue, requiring innovative recruitment and training strategies." In June, the company launched its Mission 30 initiative with the goal of increasing the proportion of management-level officers under the age of 30 from one percent to 30 percent by 2030.

Next Challenges

"Owners increasingly need advisors who understand global complexity and can act as strategic partners, not just service providers," concludes Columbia's O'Neil. "The next big challenges include talent retention, the mental health of seafarers, geopolitical instability and generational shifts in expectations. Ship managers must evolve from reactive support to proactive problem-solvers."

All the companies point to their efforts to develop specialized services and teams to address the emerging challenges. V. Group, for example, launched V.ERDE to address decarbonization while OSM Thome launched its green services division, EVIGO.

Bernhard Schulte introduced LiveFleet, a single data source platform to monitor compliance with regulations, while Anglo-Eastern, through its newbuilding and project management divisions - Anglo-Eastern Technical Services (AETS) and SeaQuest - is expanding its involvement in future-fuel ship design.

"Beyond fuel and emissions, the next frontier of challenges lies in managing operational complexity, specifically around data governance, workforce transformation and asset lifecycle alignment," says Synergy's Chaudhry. "Owners today are overwhelmed with compliance obligations, ESG disclosures and performance benchmarking, often across multiple jurisdictions and systems. The ship manager's role is no longer operational alone. It's increasingly strategic helping owners anticipate disruption, adapt with agility and remain competitive in a rapidly changing seascape."

Lifecycle Custodians

Ship managers must now serve as "lifecycle custodians," expanding their services to encompass broader challenges. To protect the financial interests of their clients, managers must advise on a growing range of issues to help guide owners through the dynamic maritime industry and anticipate the challenges that lie ahead. – MarEx

 

Allan Jordan is the magazine's Associate Editor

This article originally appeared in the July-August 2025 issue of The Maritime Executive. Read the full issue online.