Operating context
The company provides marine towage and harbour-support services through vessels, shore operations, crews and specialist equipment. Its assignments may include routine ship assistance, movement within harbour limits, standby duties and response support. Each job requires a precise understanding of vessel capability, weather, current, traffic, communications, tow configuration, the assisted vessel and the authority of the people directing the manoeuvre.
The Board seeks an Independent Director who can connect marine assurance with commercial reality. A contracted vessel is not necessarily operationally available; a completed movement is not necessarily evidence that risk was well controlled; and a high fleet-utilisation figure can conceal maintenance deferral, fatigued crews or insufficient standby capacity. The role demands judgment that protects life, environment and critical port operations while improving contract and capital discipline.
Purpose of the appointment
The Director will strengthen oversight of vessel fitness, crew competence, marine procedures, maintenance, emergency response, customer and port contracts, insurance, claims, fuel, procurement and fleet investment. The appointee will help the Board determine which services and operating conditions the company is equipped to accept and where it must decline, delay or impose additional safeguards.
Eight Board imperatives
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Match every assignment to proven capability. Establish decision criteria covering vessel power and manoeuvrability, tow equipment, assisted-vessel characteristics, water depth, berth, current, weather, traffic, crew and contingency. Commercial urgency must not overrule the master's safety authority.
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Protect vessel fitness and maintenance truth. Distinguish statutory validity, technical availability and mission readiness. Review critical machinery, propulsion, steering, towing gear, communications, navigation, fire systems, spares, deferred defects and reliability trends.
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Build competence beyond certificates. Govern recruitment, medical fitness, familiarisation, simulator or practical assessment, emergency drills, local knowledge, command succession and contractor competence. Rosters must address fatigue, travel and real recovery time.
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Strengthen manoeuvre and incident assurance. Require pre-job exchange, risk assessment, communications, abort points, near-miss reporting, voyage or operational evidence, independent investigation and fleet-wide learning. Normalising a successful but uncontrolled manoeuvre is unacceptable.
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Make contract obligations executable. Examine response time, guaranteed availability, substitution, operating envelope, port or customer directions, fuel, crew, indemnity, pollution, liability caps, performance deductions, indexation and termination before accepting risk.
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See complete vessel and contract economics. Include crewing, maintenance, dry-docking, surveys, insurance, fuel, standby, mobilisation, spares, downtime, financing, claims and residual value. Revenue days alone must not define profitability.
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Prepare for compound emergencies. Test propulsion or towline failure, collision, grounding, pollution, fire, severe weather, medical evacuation, communication loss, cyber disruption and simultaneous vessel unavailability. Shore command and external coordination must be rehearsed.
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Allocate fleet capital with restraint. Evaluate purchase, charter, repowering, life extension and retirement using contracted demand, operating limits, maintenance capability, fuel and emissions exposure, financing, residual value and downside redeployment.
Matters reserved for Board judgment
The Director will contribute to major harbour or customer agreements, new vessel classes, long-term charters, acquisitions, life-extension programmes, critical maintenance deferral, claims settlements, insurance limits, service expansion and partnerships with other operators.
Each material fleet proposal should identify the operating need, capability gap, crewing, technical support, dock and spare availability, lifecycle cash, emissions implications, financing and fallback if contracted demand is delayed. Acquisitions must be tested for vessel condition, title, encumbrance, survey history, class or statutory matters, claims, crew liabilities and hidden maintenance.
Evidence expected by the Board
Reporting should cover vessel mission readiness; critical defects; planned maintenance and dry-docking; towline and equipment failures; crew competence and fatigue exceptions; near misses; serious incidents; fuel variance; downtime; contract availability and deductions; claims; insurance matters; vessel-level cash return; capital benefits; audit findings; and emergency-drill outcomes.
Assurance should include vessel visits, maintenance-record sampling, operational observation, crew interviews, fuel and stores reconciliation, contract-to-invoice testing and reperformance of readiness decisions. Masters and safety personnel must have a direct route to independent Board oversight when they believe commercial pressure is compromising a marine decision.
Candidate profile
Candidates should bring at least 25 years of senior experience across shipping, marine services, ports, offshore operations, vessel management, logistics, industrial safety, insurance, finance or maritime governance. Suitable candidates may include former CEOs, COOs, fleet directors, harbour or marine leaders, technical superintendents, risk executives, CFOs or experienced Board members.
The candidate should be able to examine vessel-level evidence while retaining strategic and financial perspective. Experience with marine incidents, charter or concession contracts, fleet renewal, insurance, regulated operations or emergency command will be particularly relevant.
Independence and eligibility
Active inclusion in the IICA Independent Directors Databank is mandatory. The candidate must meet the enterprise's enhanced independence standard. Relationships involving promoter entities, ports, shipping customers, vessel owners, shipyards, classification or inspection providers, insurers, financiers, fuel suppliers, crewing firms or competitors must be disclosed.
The appointment may not be used to obtain charters, agency work, vessel transactions, crewing, repair, insurance, fuel, finance or consulting assignments for connected parties.
Opening contribution
In the first 120 days, the Director will visit vessels and shore control, review serious incidents and near misses, examine maintenance deferrals and readiness logic, reconstruct economics for different vessel and contract types, assess crew succession and observe an emergency exercise.
Within one year, the Board expects clearer operating limits, stronger maintenance truth, protected master authority, realistic vessel economics and emergency readiness demonstrated through evidence rather than documentation alone.