Interview Irina Potapchuk MNI with CEO of the NI ,Captain John Lloyd, FNI

Questions for the interview with CEO of the NI , Captain John Lloyd, FNI

1. Would you be so kind to tell us about your way from a seafarer to CEO of the NI?
2. During your work at sea, did you meet with Ukrainian seafarers? What can you say about them?
3. You have visited Odessa several times. What is your impression of these visits, of the city and people you met in Ukraine?
4. Last year we were going to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the NIU. Unfortunately, due to coronavirus pandemic almost all events dedicated to the Anniversary have been canceled or postponed to 2021. What would you like to say to the participants of the Conference?
5. On the occasion of the Anniversary , the NIU Honorary Secretary wrote and published a book – “20 years of the NIU, with the right to success?!”. Have you managed to read it and what is your impression of its content?
6. What importance do you think the NI attaches to the Ukrainian branch, which has been working for over 20 years and your assessment of the NIU Honorary Secretary work ?
7. As you know Ukrainian branch of the NI was established on the basis of Odessa Maritime Academy in 2000. What can you say about the choice of the base for the work of the NIU and what is your impression of the meeting with rector Professor Mikhail Miyusov and cadets of the Academy?
8. 2021 marks the 20-th Anniversary of the release of the first issue of the NIU International Maritime Journal “Sea Review” which is published on 40 pages and known both in Ukraine and abroad. What is your impression of the level and quality of this publication?
9. The strategic plan for the development of the NI for 2021-2026 has been recently adopted. What are the main challenges which the Organization is about to face?
10. The next year, 2022, the NI will be celebrating its Anniversary. What preparations and events are planned to be held in connection with this Golden Jubilee, which will be celebrated in many countries?

And in conclusion, your wishes to the members of the NIU and Ukrainian seafarers.

 

 

• Iryna Potapchuk

John, would you be so kind to tell us about your way from a seafarer , member of the Nautical Institute to the CEO?

 

• John Lloyd NI CEO

Oh, well, thank you. Thank you Irina for the question. I’ve been very fortunate with my seagoing career having started a cadetship way back in the middle of the 1970s. I left school at 16.

I went straight to sail, joining my ships trading to the West Coast of South America after visiting the beauty of the Bahamas, passing through the Panama Canal ….Grew within me that appetite for travel and experience in the maritime community. And I’ve worked on a whole variety of ships all the way through to becoming a master mariner. And then moved away from the British fleet for a while, to work under foreign flag, moved up to achieve mate and master in due course. Then, after a while, I wanted to really develop my passion for professionalism in the maritime community

I was very pleased to have the opportunity of joining the academic side of the industry. Working, for 18 -20 years, in a number of maritime colleges in the UK and overseas, including Australia, Vanuatu and I established a new maritime college in Angola in 2014 and brought a brand new developments. So a lot of exposure to the seagoing opportunities on different types the ships, lot of exposure to learning and education, maritime education and training through those opportunities provided for me. But in 2015 I had perhaps the greatest opportunity of all of that was to join the Nautical Institute, the leading professional body, for people in control of ships.

And I was very, very happy in 20 17, to be appointed as Chief Executive, heading up our Global Support Services to worldwide membership. So it’s been a long and interesting career and I’ve been blessed with many opportunities.

 

• Iryna Potapchuk

Thank you very much. So during your work at sea, did you meet with Ukrainians and what can you say about them ?What are your impressions?

 

• John Lloyd NI CEO

I didn’t meet so many, while I was working at sea, but I did with a few. And, you know, I think they have a deserved reputation for being hard working people. They do take the training in their development seriously. I think the other thing, which is a very positive aspect, is that either living on board a ship, is a confined space and this is important that you get on with other people. In my experience, the Ukrainian Seafarers put the right amount of effort into getting on with their fellow seafarers on board, maintaining harmonious relationships and

at the same time, working hard and professionally. So it hasn’t been a lot of exposure but what I have enjoyed has been a very positive relationship with those maritime professionals from Ukraine.

 

• Iryna Potapchuk

You have visited Odessa several times, so what are your impression of these visits of the city and people you met in Ukraine?

• John Lloyd NI CEO

I think there is just a wonderful mix in Odessa of a profound cultural sense of identity on shore, but that is a maritime location with a strong harbor, and port operations аnd all, the rest of it identifies a very strong deep maritime routes and that link, between the sea and the shore is important, not only in Ukraine, not only in Odessa, but globally as well.

And I think that is a sophisticated position in Odessa, which links port operations, maritime training, education, ship management, and so on, in a wonderful setting. So we’re blessed by a lot of professionalists there. We’ve got outstanding maritime training capability in, the region, and a deep rooted, long standing maritime heritage, which I think is very important to the region.

 

• Iryna Potapchuk

Last year, we were going to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the nautical Institute of Ukraine, as I mentioned before but unfortunately, due to coronavirus pandemic, almost all events dedicated to the anniversary has been canceled or postponed. So what would you like to say to the participants of the conference?

• John Lloyd NI CEO

Oh, thank you for your participation. Thank you for supporting the Nautical Institute in a whole variety of ways, whether that’s through membership, guest speaking, providing some sponsorship support, engagement with our students and our community. Every single dimension of this professional network that we share is really important for the success of the Nautical Institute of Ukraine,

Success of the whole maritime community It’s that ability to work together that makes us different from so many other sections of society despite different geographic locations and despite different cultures locations. So thank you to you all. I think also, thank you to those of you demonstrating the patience to wait for the events to come around many of us have taken the opportunity of doing online events, but they’re not the same as meeting in person. So we look forward to the opportunity of getting them face to face and shaking hands and meeting each other.

• Iryna Potapchuk

So on the occasion of the anniversary, the Honorary Secretary of, the Nautical Institute of Ukraine wrote and published a book “20 years of the Nautical Institute of Ukraine, with the right to success?!”. Have you managed to read it and what is your impression of its content?

• John Lloyd NI CEO

I think it’s a fabulous publication, I think it has shown the leadership that’s been demonstrated by Vladimir in delivery of his publication. He has shown a lifelong commitment to the nautical Institute, not only in Ukraine but through his networking, his work on Council for the whole of the organization. We absolutely salute his efforts.

He has nurtured the organization through good times and difficult ones and he brings not only a contemporary view on developments, but he also provides a fascinating historical context on how the

branches developed. I think that balance of information of the older and new, drawing upon the heritage, but at the same time, looking ahead, provides a very valuable and powerful mix for all of the readers.

• Iryna Potapchuk

What importance, do you think the Nautical Institute attaches to the Ukrainian branch, which has been working for over 20 years and how can you evaluate the work of the Honorary secretary?

 

• John Lloyd NI CEO

The work of all of our branches is really important. We have a small secretariat, an executive, if you like, and headquarters. But really where professionalism meets the maritime community through our global branch network is a branch of now more than 20 years standing, the work of the branch in Ukraine is really important. It enables us to interact properly and effectively with, with our counterparts in education, with the ship management, with the seafarers, at the local level.

And, of course, it opens the door for some of the important conferences and events that you have in Odessa for us to join, and sometimes with our President, sometimes myself or other senior members of stuff. We absolutely salute the work of Vladimir Torskiy, his supporting team on the Executive Committee for helping Deliver. But, very effective interface between the Nautical Institute here, the Nautical Institute locally, and the maritime community that we’re all here to serve and support.

 

• Iryna Potapchuk

As you know, Ukrainian Branch of the Nautical Institute was established on the basis of Odessa Maritime Academy. What can you say about the choice of the base for the work of the Nautical Institute of Ukraine and what is your impression of the meeting with rector Professor Mkhail Miyusov and cadets?

 

• John Lloyd NI CEO

I think that at the heart of the Nautical Institute is a commitment to professionalism and continuing professional development. And in most centers of excellence, the heart of that is amongst its membership, of course, but also having a physical identity, such as say, a maritime academy, provides a focus. And I hope if you like, for those interactions between seafarers, between those who recently moved to shore but also the network of support that’s provided through the Maritime Academy.

So I think the location is ideal, and I think it provides both the venue and the source of expertise, helps develop the relationships of the right professional level, supporting our key theme of continuing professional development and professionalism of the maritime community.

 

• Iryna Potapchuk

2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the first issue of the Nautical Institute of Ukraine International Maritime Journal “Sea Review” which is published on 40 pages and known both in Ukraine and abroad. What is your impression of the level and quality of this publication?

• John Lloyd NI CEO

Vladimir is always keen to share with me the Sea Review, it makes fascinating reading, it’s a bit like his reflections across the last 20 years, it draws on the historical context very powerfully, but it mixes that together with looking ahead and talking about the global impact . So it recognizes that while the Nautical Institute in Ukraine has got a very important role to play, hopefully, it is part of the global network of the Nautical Institute. And I think joining those dots together, joining that network together through publications, such as Sea Review, is a very effective way of ensuring that people got communications and a library full of reference.

• Iryna Potapchuk

The strategic plan for the development of the Nautical Institute for the next five years, has been recently adopted.

What are the main challenges which the organization is about to face?

• John Lloyd NI CEO

I think it’s important that the nautical Institute along with the other maritime stakeholders stays relevant in the contemporary manner. And we know that we’ve got great challenges ahead. And some of them, at the same as we’ve always had, you know, we still have collisions , we still have groundings. We still have lack of attention to the skills of bridge watchkeeping We must not lose sight of that. Increasingly, perhaps in the last 20 years, more so than ever, the issues of soft skills, of working with different nationalities on board the same ship.How can we ensure that we develop those professional networks, professional engagement, properly, and seamlessly, despite the different backgrounds on board ships?

So I think soft skills and mentoring and support will be very, very important but at the same time, we’ve got technical changes where we’re all going to be using different fuels in 10 years time. And we’re going to have to work out what are the skills that are needed, not just amongst the engineering stuff. But what is it going to mean for bunkering?—

What does it mean for storage?What does it mean for safe handling and so on? So we’ve got a range of technical skills that we will need to adopt as well. As at the same time, looking behind us is the question of Automation, Remote Control of Ships and what will that mean for the future as well? So it’s brilliant. You know, when, when the nautical Institute started in the early seventies, not every ship had a radar, Those that did probably only had one and turned it off as soon as they lost sight of land. The environment is changing dynamically. And it’s changing all the time, and the next generation that we face through our strategic plan will be no different. So we want to encourage membership. We want to encourage active membership through participation as brilliantly demonstrated already in Ukraine, but we want to extend those values globally. So that we can encourage people to invest in their own professional development, invested their own professionalism, to be the safest, most effective seafarers they can be.

• Iryna Potapchuk

The next year,2022, the Nautical Institute will be celebrating its anniversary what preparations and events are planned to be held in connection with his Golden Jubilee, which will be celebrated in many countries?

• John Lloyd NI CEO

We are so excited to be celebrating our 50th Anniversary in 2022. We hope to start those celebrations in the later part of 2021, but because of covid and other restrictions, it looks like we will be commencing our events in London in April.

And then during the ensuing months, we will have a global jamboree of technical engagement to the west through the United States and through Canada through the East,in Hong Kong, we’ll go to India, Australia And we will have several events in Europe as well. And of course, it’s a celebration of 50 years. But it’s a celebration of commitment to professionalism and continuing professional development.

So these will be a celebration, but there going to be a technical celebration of events that focus on leadership skills in a changing environment. That’s what the Nautical Institute demonstrates its leadership and though leadership for the future. So we’re very excited by those events, and we look forward to sharing professional expertise on a global basis.

• Iryna Potapchuk

And, in conclusion, your wishes to the member of the Nautical Institute of Ukraine and Ukrainian seafarers .

• John Lloyd NI CEO

I would like to say, thank you very much for being the backbone of the Nautical Institute. The Nautical Institute is not a building, it’s not, the Executive it is not the Chief executive.

It is his membership and its membership spreads the message of professionalism and engagement. You are the Nautical Institute, every single one of you. You’re part of a professional family that extends all the way around the world. It’s a supportive family that helps us draw upon each other’s strengths. And if we can build upon each other’s strengths, then we can all become better , safer at what we do.

And you’re part of that fact that you were leading part of that family, as demonstrated by the longstanding position of the branch, the influence that you have locally, and through that influence locally, the impact on a global basis as well. So, my thanks to you all, and I look forward to coming back to you again soon.

• Iryna Potapchuk

Thank you ever so much for your interview, for your answers and for your time.