By Peter Hawkin, Deputy Managing Director – Synergy Denmark A/S
Earlier this month, I represented Synergy Marine Group at two important maritime safety engagements, where the importance of collaboration on safety performance across our industry stood out.
The first was the 2025 Shell Maritime Partners in Safety CEO Conference, held in Antwerp, Belgium. Bringing together nearly 200 maritime leaders, this year’s forum revolved around the theme “Collaborating for Performance”.
The two-day programme featured actors roleplaying in an allision scenario onboard an oil tanker. Through this performance and follow up sessions where the conference participants were requested to “interview the ship’s crew” following a mooring incident, we were able to build up a clear picture of factors that lead to incidents. These included elements of both onboard and ashore management. There was a strong understanding that a robust safety culture focuses not just on compliance, but on mindset, behaviour, and shared responsibility across the organisation.
We were reminded of the 5 Principles of Human Performance,
- People make mistakes (Design systems that anticipate mistakes rather than deny them.)
- Blame fixes nothing (Focus on learning, not punishment.)
- Context drives behaviour (Understand work conditions, pressures, tools, and design influences.)
- Learning is vital (Promote open reporting, reflective learning, and systemic analysis.)
- How you respond matters (Respond with curiosity, not judgment, to build a culture of psychological safety.)
As with previous years, I found the experience inspiring. It was a reminder that real progress in our industry, comes from the collective willingness to share lessons, admit gaps, and keep evolving.
The second event followed shortly after Antwerp. As I and the other Focus Group lead were stepping out of the Focus Group this year, one of our last “official” acts was to arrange the regional Nordic Partners Safety Workshop.
This year, we had arranged it a week after the CEO conference just around the corner from Synergy Denmark’s office in Copenhagen.
This was a one-day session that convened maritime leaders from the Nordic and Baltic region, offering a space to dive deeper into the operational realities of safety culture.
Our agenda covered a wide range of critical topics, from personnel transfers to crew training for Wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) to safety culture survey.
Shell Partner in Safety team members joined us for the day and were able to update partners on the new changes to the program, discuss what these meant and why they were being introduced.
What stood out most during the workshop was the sharing, sincerity, and engagement present. There was an understanding that we all shared similar challenges, and the goal for all was to prevent people being hurt. By sharing initiatives and ideas, we hope to prevent accidents and operational incidents.
Both the Shell CEO conference and the Nordic Partners workshop reminded me that for us to be successful in our safety performance our focus must remain on our people.
Whilst it’s important that we continue to improve on our procedures, our systems, and tools, it’s the human element that will get us across the finishing line.
To quote the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers,
“A positive (HSE) culture is largely sustained by trust, credibility, and behaviour of senior leaders.”
Understanding how to build trust, ensure credibility and how to behave is key across all levels of our company, ashore and onboard.
It is reassuring to see Synergy Marine Group recognising this commitment to safety and taking actions such as investing consistently in training and development, promoting visible felt leadership and embedding safety into business decisions.
I extend my thanks to Shell for hosting the CEO conference and managing the maritime partners in safety program. There have been several changes in the Shell team involved in the program since its inception, but what hasn’t changed is the consistently high standard of the program and events.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to all the Rotterdam Focus Group members that I have worked with over the years to help promote the program through our respective regions.
A special thank you to Torger Trige and his team at Odfjell, who did the hard work organising the workshop.
Finally, best wishes to the newly formed EUAF Focus Group team, I look forward to seeing their advancement of the program and to continue to see industry collaboration to improve safety performance.
Peter Hawkin
Deputy Managing Director, Synergy Denmark A/S
Peter is a Master Mariner with over 35 years of experience in global maritime operations. He has held senior leadership roles at Maersk Tankers and key technical and commercial roles in major ship management companies, where he led strategic initiatives across fleet management and commercial operations. At Synergy Denmark, Peter drives operational excellence, fosters strong client relationships, and leads regional efforts to elevate safety and performance standards.
Peter Hawkin
Deputy Managing Director, Synergy Denmark A/S
