Early this October, our “Stronger Together” themed conference was brought to Manila, building on earlier events with an agenda packed full of insightful talks, networking opportunities, and performances, including a surprise guest appearance by world boxing legend Manny Pacquiao – a big ‘hit’ with participants!
For two days (Oct 4-5), the ballroom of New World Makati Hotel was decked out in Anglo-Eastern colours, ready to welcome over 350 seafarers, clients, and guests for the first time in more than four years. Chief executive officer Bjorn Hojgaard opened the much anticipated event with a welcome address in which he praised seafarers for the sacrifices they made during the pandemic and emphasised how much we all owe them.
As the backbone of the global economy, shipping has contributed to a reduction in global poverty over the last six decades, he further noted, while echoing the core themes of decarbonisation, digitalisation, training, safety, and the importance of continuing to “do the right things the right way” as the way to take the industry forward.
Following the address was the first talk of the officers’ segment led by group QHSE managing director Vikrant Malhotra, who spoke on performance improvements at Anglo-Eastern, notably the increase in training person-days and decrease in injury and accident rates over the last two years. Continuing the focus on safety was external speaker Madhu Thottankara of Rio Tinto, who shared his company’s safety journey across globally managed assets and the need to focus on crew wellbeing.
After a short break, the energy picked up again with talks by chief operating officer for Asia Carsten Ostenfeldt, chief technology officer Torbjorn Dimblad, and group managing director of Marine HR Vinay Singh. Each speaker cast light on the changes and transformation that Anglo-Eastern has gone through from the viewpoint of their respective areas of expertise, while discussing the many projects and initiatives their teams have been working on since the last conference.
Next up was Dr Delna Shroff, Anglo-Eastern’s resident senior psychologist, who explained the pillars of psychological safety and the dangers of remaining silent. She also shared advice on how to ensure a safe working environment that avoids the ‘iceberg of ignorance’, where the full scope of issues are unknown to those at the top of the organisation.
Nothing could psychologically prepare participants for the next segment of the day, however, for which the emcee offered a teaser that set the room abuzz with excitement in anticipation. A surprise guest speaker was due to arrive, but who could it be? With the sound system on full blast and cameras at the ready, everyone had their eyes glued to the doors, which suddenly opened to reveal the man, the myth, the legend: Manny Pacquiao. And what an entrance it was!
Amidst a sea of cheers and smiles, the world boxing champ made his way across the room to the stage, where he took to the mic and delivered an impactful message to the awestruck audience. Speaking from the heart, he inspired those present to never lose hope no matter how difficult circumstances may be. Opportunities will come in time, and once blessed with success, he stressed the importance of helping those in need while remaining humble.
With participants pumped up after Mr Pacquiao’s surprise guest appearance, it was time for lunch before getting back to business with speakers Swapnodeep Mondal and Aalok Sharma, group directors of operations and training, respectively. Key data points were shared and the value of LIFE (Learning and Improving From Events) was addressed, after which the executive management team took their seats on stage for an interactive Q&A session to close the day – but not the night!
Evening bore witness to a grand gala dinner that featured an abundance of entertainment, from singing and dancing to a captivating seafarer-inspired musical arranged and performed by Anglo-Eastern’s very own. An amazing performance and team effort! Hats off to Adel Villacastin, Ana Espiritu, Andrei Mazo, Cristina De Mesa, Ella Pabio, Jhoan Caderao, John Suyat, Josue De Vera, Joy Gonatice, Laoni Tabligan, Lenard Ternal, Romela Cosare, and Zeena Briones for capturing the enduring spirit of seafarers in this musical tribute.
Day two was dedicated to ratings and featured a few encore presentations from the officers’ segment, as well as new talks by honourary guests Dr Irene Tan of the Specialty Board of Philippine Psychiatry, and attorney Hernani Fabia who covered compliance updates arising from the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention).
Concluding the event were three final talks by QHSE manager Deepak George, Manila branch manager Neeraj Dhingra, and HR director of crew management Priyanka Gupta, who led informative sessions for the attending ratings. At the same time, clients and guests were escorted to the Anglo-Eastern Maritime Training Centre for a tour of the Manila facilities, including the new ballast water treatment system and full mission engine room simulators.
Well done and a very big thank you to the team that helped pull this incredible two-day event together and make it what it was, and a separate shout-out to those who worked relentlessly to secure Manny Pacquiao! We would also like to thank our seafarers, business partners, and guests who were able to join us for this special occasion. It was a true One Team effort and production, and we are already looking forward to the next one!
AE conferences go green!
Following the lead set by February’s Anglo-Eastern Mumbai Conference, steps were taken to ensure the Manila event was also eco-friendly, with no single-use plastics supplied throughout the full two days of the ‘near zero waste’ conference. Drinking water was supplied in glass bottles and no plastic straws, stirrers, or cutlery were provided to participants.
What little waste the conference did produce, such as name tags and lanyards, was collected for recycling or repurposing into household products for donation. Not only did this help minimise waste, it had the added benefit of providing work to those in the local community tasked with repurposing the items and household goods for those in need.