Chemical & Product Tanker Conference: industry champions take home awards 

The award recognised Mr Skov’s exceptional abilities as a leader and executive in the product tanker space. His record is remarkable, having been the co-founder and chief executive of Hafnia Tankers, a newly established product tanker company created by the merger between Hafnia Tankers and BW Tankers in 2020.

Hafnia’s vice president, people, culture and strategy, Mia Krogslund Jorgensen, said: “Mikael is a great leader and has a sincere interest in people and their ideas and what they can bring to the table.” She added that he is competitive, commercially minded and has a great memory, meaning he can bring whatever he has read, heard or experienced and contextualise this for the business.

Hafnia vice president commercial and pool management, Peter Kolding, said: “Mikael is always curious,” and added that this extends outside the industry. “In any company, the CEO represents the company to the world,” said Mr Kolding,” and I am proud that we have Mikael.”

“He sleeps with his boots on!”

Hafnia executive vice president technical,l Ralph Juhl, said: “I have known Mikael for twenty-plus years. I would characterise Mikael as someone who never sleeps – he sleeps with his boots on!” He added that Mikael is one of the best leaders he has have ever met, restless and tireless for improvement and driving the business forward.

The Distinguished Service Award is presented to an individual who has made a contribution of significance to shipping during their lifetime. The Distinguished Service Award was presented to John Ramage, the chief operating officer of International Registries, Inc and its affiliates (IRI), which provides administrative and technical support to the Republic of the Marshall Islands Registry.

The award was presented by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright senior consultant, Harry Theochari, who said: “This is a really critical time for the shipping industry and we need all the great people we can get; in John Ramage, the chief operating officer of IRI, we have a real superstar.”

He added: “He is someone who is totally committed to the shipping and maritime industries. He is always looking for improvements and driving the industry forward. But above all, he is a good man.” Although a flag is not focussed on seafarers, Mr Ramage used his position to speak out on their behalf during the Covid pandemic.

Mr Ramage joined the industry at a time when oil spills from tankers were at a peak and he said:” I am glad to say that I have stayed in the industry long enough to see 99.9% of cargoes carried without any pollution.”

Returning to the theme of seafarers, Mr Ramage expressed the hope that seafarers would receive the respect they deserve, not just from owners, but from all in the industry. He acknowledged that this is not such a big issue in the chemical carrier and product tanker sector, due to the specialist nature of the vessels. He said he hoped that in other sectors, seafarer importance and their contribution would be recognised and that there would be a decline in the tendency for managers to run ships from the office, rather than letting the crews make the decisions based on their knowledge and experience.