Not only impacting human life and the environment, major maritime incidents also lead to off hires, fines, non-conformances and detentions. It is widely recognised that the majority of these incidents are directly or indirectly caused by human error. This directly compromises safe fleet operations, impacts reputation and leads to financial losses. This is why we developed H.EL.M.E.T. with input from the Centre of Excellence in Risk and Decision Sciences of the European University in Cyprus (CERIDES).

HELMET-com Chairman, Captain Nikiteas, DPA / CSO / HSQE Manager, Maran Dry of Angelicoussis Group, stated “Conducting shipping business safely remains at the very core of our industry and as we head into an unprecedented phase of change, never has it been so important. We must alter the current ‘tick box’ culture with greater emphasis on a proactive approach to risk assessment, which puts people at the centre, an awareness of the need for – and value of – guidance from experts. We applaud Prevention at Sea’s vision of re-establishing a genuine, industry-wide commitment to “safety first” and are excited to work together, as a committee of safety experts from both the industry and academia to continue to develop the H.EL.M.E.T methodology.”

The inaugural two-day meeting of HELMET-com took place last month in Larnaca, Cyprus. Comprising 15 maritime safety heavyweights and chaired by Captain Nikiteas, DPA / CSO / HSQE Manager, Maran Dry of Angelicoussis Group, the committee explored how a human-centered risk assessment methodology can improve a safe business culture in shipping.