cruise management international and cmi leisure management issue 7 … · 2019-09-16 · their...
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I S S U E 7 | S p r i n g 2 0 1 9C R U I S E M A N A G E M E N T I N T E R N AT I O N A L A N D C M I L E I S U R E M A N A G E M E N T
INSIDEPRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ................................ 3STOJAN DEDICATION .................................. 5CREWING DEPARTMENT .............................. 6IT & COMMUNICATIONS ............................. 9FINANCING DEPARTMENT .......................10NEWS ........................................................11
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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2 | NEW HORIZONS Spring 2019
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It doesn’t always require an inspirational quote by ‘someone well-known’ to get a message across. Most famous quotes weren’t even known, certainly weren’t considered inspirational, at the time they were spoken. At times it wasn’t for years after the fact, (or for some, centuries after), that they had some meaningful impact to those in society seeking words of encouragement for whatever purpose.
In my opinion, it takes more than just a famous quote; we need visionaries, determination, teams that share that vision, more determination, years of preparation, diligent coordination but ultimately, it takes; ACTION, amongst all stakeholders to get things done. So, this time; no famous quotes, or seeking ‘third party’ inspiration for this edition. We have plenty of examples of individuals around us who work hard each day and deliver the best possible performance, or who are inspiring through their actions to keep their own teams motivated.
We underestimate the impact we can have to move legions of our crew, staff, contractors, business partners and others to continue to work hard to ensure; safety, guest satisfaction, cost efficiencies, completion of projects and now delivery of new ships. We do all this day in and day out for hours at the time while managing our own personal and family challenges, and of course while running out of hours in a day. Yet, you all maintain a focus on the betterment of the ship, product, department and your respective organization! Well, I would call that quite inspirational! To the crew onboard our ships, I would like to thank you all for your hard work, commitment and ability to act. We appreciate your continuous efforts to keep going, for motivating whomever you lead, and once again, for concluding a successful transition period between seasons.
All this hard work done by so many and everything we have been working on, has been to get us to this point, i.e. to take delivery of our very first newbuild vessel. For years referred to as Hull CMHI-196-1, she will be officially named the MV Greg Mortimer in September, is now receiving the finishing touches and will be quickly followed by sister vessels.
I am delighted to have been able to join this Group and to be able to contribute to this moment. I hope you can see that all the initiatives we have started, investments we have made, sessions of training, review of our procedures and engagement of new team members > > >
PRESIDENT’SMESSAGE
“Everything we have been working on, has been to get us to this point”
Spring 2019 NEW HORIZONS | 3
and reaching out to our stakeholders have all been about preparing ourselves for our future at CMI Ship Management. We must change in order to deal with our existing fleet and for the growth of the fleet of new ships and other third-party vessels coming online. The changes are ongoing and therefore we need your ongoing support in this process.
While dealing with the ongoing challenges, you will note that we are not done yet, as we will never be done in our business, but can keep preparing ourselves for things to come by inspiring others and taking action. You will find in this edition an indication of what each department is contributing to the organization and I hope you will enjoy this issue!
Sincerely
Jim Barreiro de León
Safety + Communication + Integrity + Accountability + Transparency
OUR VALUES
4 | NEW HORIZONS Spring 2019
We must change in order to deal with our existing fleet and the exponential growth of new ships coming online and more third-party vessels we will be taking under management. The changes are ongoing, and we therefore need your continued support in this process.
Spring 2019 NEW HORIZONS | 5
STOJAN SUZNJEVIC
NOVEMBER 5, 1959 – JUNE 28, 2019
FACILITY MANAGER
GRAND CLASSICABahamas Paradise Cruise Lines
We acknowledge the passing of Mr. Stojan Suznjevic, former Facility Manager for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Lines and a
long-time member of the CMI (ISP) family. He left us on June 28, 2019, after losing his battle with cancer. Stojan worked
for our organization for the past 20 years and has seen everything, from our highs, to our lows. I might have met him briefly
during one of my visits onboard, and therefore I do not know him personally, but the outpouring of love, comforting words
and statements as to the caliber of man he was, personally and professionally, has been inspirational to all of us. He left
behind a legacy of dedication, professionalism and commitment on which others could find their own inspiration.
We thank Stojan and his family for the many years of service and
dedication to our organization and clients.
— JIM BARREIRO DE LEÓN | President
6 | NEW HORIZONS Summer 2019
CREWING DEPARTMENT
Investing in our Crew has many benefits for both owners
and employees, it offers a path for the employee to develop
professionally and personally, and for the Owners as the crew
will apply their new expertise to improve ship operations.
The training and development plans also serve as an
investment to ensure the crew members we are looking
forward for them to grow with our company for years to
come. During the training, employees acquire new ideas
and learn new skills, some through self-analysis and self-
awareness, other times collectively as a team.
During our latest fleet transition period, between April 11 -
14, 2019, in Las Palmas, Spain, CMI arranged for a Basic and
Advanced Onboard Management Training for the Officers
and Crew of the Ocean Atlantic, Ocean Endeavour and
Ocean Adventurer, with a separate Workshop session for all
our Captains. Everyone was excited about participating in
teambuilding exercises, interaction with shoreside personnel
and each other. A lot of attention focused on Company
Policies & Safety Culture and the importance of leadership,
teamwork, responsibilities and communication.
For the first time in the Company’s history, a 4-day Well-
Being Workshop for the Crew and a Leadership Workshop
for the Captains of our expedition fleet were held
onboard the MV OCEAN ENDEAVOR. The Well-Being
Workshop was attended by the crew and officers of the
beforementioned vessels, while the Captains on vacation
at that time, were flown in to attend as well; we covered
the following topics:
• Well-being onboard
• Introduction to Company Policies & Safety Culture
• Prevention of Illegal Activities & Reporting
• Interacting with Guests
• Bullying and Sexual Harassment
• Social Medial Policies
The Captains attended the CMI Management Onboard
Advanced Training, as well as Well-Being Onboard,
Company Policies & Safety Culture, Sexual Harassment,
Leadership, Stress Management among other high crucial
topics were discussed.
Captain Jens Hoybye and Chris Dlugokecki prepared the
presentation for the Captain’s Workshop. The Workshop
was aptly called: “Introduction to the Future of CMI”, in
which they together with our President & CEO, Mr. Jim
Barreiro de Leon outlined the Company’s Mission, Vision &
Core Values and elaborated on what they can expect from
the Company, while delineating what we expect from our
CMI Captains. A similar presentation will be prepared for
Chief Engineers and other officers.
Leadership and Management Workshops were attended by
12 of our Captains, most of whom did not hesitate to spend
their precious vacation time improving themselves to be
better managers and leaders through these workshops. Their
commitment is sincerely appreciated, and in return they
had the opportunity to meet the other Captains in the fleet,
compare notes and concerns, share experiences, but also
to make new friends, learn about each other’s families and
share some good laughs.
Topics covered in the Leadership Workshops were:
• Wellbeing-onboard. Supporting each other
• Assertive style rather than aggressive one
• Stress management and peer support on board
• Caring About Your Staff
Captains Workshop and Crew Training
Spring 2019 NEW HORIZONS | 7
The Leadership Sessions were led by Mr. Bogdan Alec Zelenski from Argentum Training and Mr. Alexander Dmitrievich,
Clinical Psychologist from IMCRS (Intelligent Management & Crisis Response Solutions), both with vast maritime
background. Their connection to CMI Officers and Crew was natural and all parties actively participated. Paintings,
blindfolds, teamwork projects, peer trust, chocolates, movies, arguments, discussions, laughs – all became part of this training.
> “It was very good idea finally meet each other (Captains) and Office representatives”
> “This training helped us to unite and understand each other more”
> “We would like to meet this way once or twice in a year”
> “Knowing the Company’s Mission, Vision & Core Values helps me to understand my company more”
> “I liked company shared their strategic goals for future with me”
> “Knowing what is important for company and why, made me to understand how important I am”
> “Training helped me to see my role as a Leader on board”
> “Wellbeing of crew on board is a key to everyone’s happiness”
> “Safety starts from ourselves”
> “It is high important to avoid lack of communication and understand human factor while making any orders/ explanations”
> “It was really interesting to learn more about Bulling and Sexual harassment, I learned a lot and will share with my team, that will help to avoid a lot of unpleasant situations it in future”
> “This training has taught me how to become a better leader and represent my company on a high level every day”
> “Stress can be positive- that is so new to me”
> “The way I care my staff- my staff cares about me and guests”
> “It was very useful to understand proper way of interacting with guests”
> “I liked to feel company values me and my ideas”
> “This training showed me how to maximize interaction between ship/shore”
> “Common goals can connect us all as a team”
> “Company’s expectations to Captains were very clear and informative”
> “I really enjoyed this training and learned a lot”
> “Team building exercises were very fun and I made my conclusion”
> “I will use this knowledge to make my life, life crew and guests better”
> “It was really nice to meet Company representatives and have availability to spend time in formal and not formal atmosphere”
The participants shared their impression and testimonials on the last day of the training:
Captain Gorodnik Yuri Captain Soto donael Captain tikhvinSki oleG
Captain tililYuk MYkola Captain aShanin dMitriY Captain klaptenko oleG
Captain Gonta YaroSlav Captain SaterSkoG Sten JoaChiM Captain levakov YevGeniY
Captain BarrioS alCiBiadeS Captain paraGe herve Captain kinGSton JereMY
CREWING DEPARTMENT, CONT’D
Participants were:
What year did you start working with CMI? I started
working with Scandinavian World Cruises in 1991 and
moved with the companies until CMI.
What was your first ships name and the position you held?
On June 27, 1967 when I was 23 years old, I joined a cargo
ship as an OS.
What has been the most challenging situation you have
been through while on ISP/CMI ships? Nothing special,
but a lot of situations which required your experience and
the right decision.
What are the best memories about ISP/CMI/etc., over the
years? Also, nothing special, but to compare with previous
companies ISP/FleetPro/CMI are very good companies for a
seaman and have good relationships with the seafarers.
What is your favorite ship? It was Regal Empress and
Nova Star.
What would you like to say about ISP/CMI/etc.? They
are good companies for seafarers as we always know that
we will return in time. The companies always take into
consideration and try to satisfy if the seafarer would like
to extend or change the terms of his contract or vacation.
Salary is always correct and on time.
What is Oscar’s secret to good health? What advise could
you give to all seafarers, as you are 75 years old and still
running? The secret is very simple – physical work, no
smoking, very seldom and very small amount of alcohol on
vacation, or a glass of beer, but never drunk, and do not
refuse the sex!
Captain Tiliyukn, “I would highly recommend keeping Oscar in the Company as long as he can. He is hard worker, clever, a well-organized and experienced Bosun. As I have said before – he is a “Gold Find” of the Company”!
LON–GEV–I–TYNOUN: Long Life / Long Existence or Service!
Bosun OSCAR CASTEJON from Honduras has been with the
ISP/FP/CMI Group since 1991 and 28 years later, all shipboard
teams are fighting to have him on their vessel.
Here’s what Oscar had to say about his time with the companies:
Bosun Oscar Castejon with VP Crew Operations, Tatjana Espinel at one of the training sessions in Las Palmas. The butterfly was part of their workshop and represents a seaman’s life. He asked for the picture, which was gifted to him for his cabin.
On the last day there was a special Gala Dinner for Captains
and Senior Officers during which we shared stories through interactives games with
plenty of interesting information on each and every participant.
All participants are looking forward to the next Forum and Trainings and to
continue this great tradition.
— TATJANA ESPINEL | VP Crew Operations
8 | NEW HORIZONS Spring 2019
Spring 2019 NEW HORIZONS | 9
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATIONS2019
CMI continues through 2019 to implement its communication project plan as scheduled and we are on track to
improve and support all managed vessels. In 2018, 324 projects were identified projects with 229 completed to date.
We continue to bring new technologies on board and to fulfill the 95 remaining projects that are ongoing in different
stages. There is an aggressive plan for 2020 to continue all projects; however, our focus will be on Cybersecurity of
data and emails across the fleet. The first step has already been taken in the introduction of a new corporate antivirus,
WEBROOT, that comes with a more simplistic way to protect computers and servers across the fleet.
Key features that the new CORPORATE ANTIVIRUS will provide:
• Next-Generation threat intelligence – The ever-increasing volume, speed, and sophistication of cyber-attacks require a move beyond traditional security Webroot with this new intelligence.
• Cloud-Based Security Platform – This is enhanced by the contextual analysis engine to correlate information with deep insight across the online threat landscape.
• Self-Learning Platform – Continuously scans the internet and incorporate inputs for millions of sensors, so Bright-Cloud services can quickly and accurately identify previously unknown threats.
• Monitoring and Reporting – An easy platform that is very intuitive and easy to manage when a threat has arisen with intelligence and intuitive scans.
Cybercriminals are continuously launching dynamic, stealth threats that are targeted and designed to infiltrate defenses through multiple network entry points. CMI, with our partners are working on protecting all data and emails circulating across the networks of the ships and office.
The chart above provides an overview of the outstanding projects and we are ready to take on the projects for 2020 and beyond.
— ROLAND HUBATI Vessel IT Coordinator & Communications Officer
10 | NEW HORIZONS Spring 2019
PERSONNELI am pleased to introduce the additions to the Finance/Accounting Team. The new personnel are all highly qualified and are undergoing hands-on training to learn the business and provide even more value to the Company in the long term.
Cesarina Medina/Accounts Payable SupervisorCesarina holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo and has over 17 years of relevant business and accounting experience. Her previous position
was Accounts Payable Manager for a limited liability trust company in Miami and she has worked as Accounting Manager and Sales Manager at other companies. Cesarina is bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish fluently as well as having high knowledge of the Great Plains (GP) accounting system in use at CMI. With this addition to our team we are beginning to steer the AP process forward into the future, especially with the upcoming implementation of the purchasing system in InfoShip.
Herminia MilanesHerminia has over 22 years of accounting and finance experience in a variety of industries with the latest at Retail Technology Experts, American Armor, Envision as a Consultant
and from Starboard Group Management as a Corporate Accounting Manager. She is a hands-on manager with extensive hospitality experience in addition to having over 15+ years of in-depth Great Plains (GP) experience. She has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Miami Dade College and BS Business Administration in Economics from University of Havana, Cuba. She is bilingual in English and Spanish. We are excited to have her join our team and
incorporate her prior experience to improve our processes and procedures in the Finance Department.
Alejandro ArmasAlejandro comes to us from The Apollo Group in Miami where he worked for two years as a Staff Accountant. He obtained a BA in Finance from Florida International University and served
in the US Marines for four years. Alejandro will be trained to handle all accounting matters related to the Victory I, Victory II and MV Quest vessels.
PROCESSESImprovements to internal processes are on-going, vendor payment controls are being strengthened. ACH payments have been implemented in the vendor process allowing the elimination of paper checks.
AUTOMATIONSeveral projects have been initiated and will soon improve efficiencies and reporting. We are nearing completion of interface between Great Plains Accounting System with InfoShip Purchasing module. Great Plains Software will be upgraded to a newer version as the current version will soon be unsupported by Microsoft.
Concur Expense and Invoice processing software to automate expense reporting and invoice processing is being rolled out.
We continue to build on the many achievements made prior to my arrival and for your constant feedback to aid us making further and future improvements that CMI needs.
— BILL COLOGNE | VP Finance
FINANCE DEPARTMENTWith the growth in vessels we have now divided our ships in two more manageable fleets. This will improve customer service and reporting timelines, as the department has been consequently also divided in two teams. Each team has one dedicated Accounting Manager, Sorel Joseph and Herminia Milanes to better focus on the specific reporting requirements of each client.
CMI’s Finance Department continues to go through a transition phase as it relates to personnel, reporting structure, processes and automation.
Jim Barreiro de León | President and CEO | Executive
Maria Cruz | Senior Accountant
Alejandro Armas | Staff Accountant
Gladys Acosta | Billing Specialist | Staff Accountant
Herminia Milanes | Accounting ManagerThird Party Ships
Sorel Joseph | Accounting ManagerSunStone Ships
Cesarina Medina | AP Supervisor
Francis Farinas | AP Specialist
Bill Cologne | VP FinanceCMI
FINANCE
Spring 2019 NEW HORIZONS | 11
NEWS
With the start-up of the first Infinity-
Class vessel, GREG MORTIMER
fast approaching and CMI’s HR
Department’s focus on crewing the
vessel, the Captains who will serve as
Masters onboard have been selected.
In command of the GREG
MORITIMER will be Captain Oleg
Klaptenko and Captain Ulf-Peter
Magnus Lindström, as introduced
below. They will work on a 3-months
on/3-months off schedule.
I was born in the small Ukrainian
town of Nizhyn where I also spent my
childhood and schoolyears. I later
moved to Saint-Petersburg of the
Russian Federation to study naval art
at Admiral Makarov State Maritime
Academy. Possessing maritime skills
took time and hard work; however, the
time passed all too swiftly, and the work
involved much effort that seemed to
require reading the water, the current,
the waves, the clouds, and even the
smells. Over the years I rose up through
the ranks and qualifications, earning
certificates as a Chief Mate in 2003, a
Master in 2006, Ship Security Officer
in 2008, followed by the credentials
in ship handling and maneuvering in
2010, and in ice navigation in 2011.
My career started in 1993 with the
Russian Federal State Hydrographic
Department when I sailed to the
regions of the Russian North.
In June 1999, my sea-life took a
new turn when I was employed
by Oceanwide Expeditions (the
Netherlands) serving as a Second and
Chief Mate of passenger vessels in the
waters of the Arctic and the Antarctic
Peninsula. After being promoted to
Master Mariner, I navigated the
expeditionary vessels under charter
of Supernova Expeditions Ltd. to
the Canadian Arctic, Greenland,
Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, Novaya
Zemlya, Kamchatka Peninsula, the
Kuril Islands and Sakhalin.
In August 2011, as Captain of the M/V
Akademik Shokalskiy with 90 persons
on board, I successfully maneuvered
through the North-East Passage
without the assistance of an icebreaker.
AT THE HELM OF THE GREG MORTIMER
Oleg Klaptenko:(As narrated by him)
CAPTAIN OLEG KLAPTENKO
12 | NEW HORIZONS Spring 2019
Captain Ulf-Peter started his career
at sea in the summer of 1975, working
on dry cargo ships and ferries between
Finland, Poland and Sweden. He
also participated in many sailing boat
competitions in Europe both as crew
and helmsman, then later navigator.
He served in the Finnish Navy in the
Special Diving Forces after graduating
first as Deck Officer and later Captain
from the Maritime Institute of Turku in
Finland 1993.
He worked in different officers’
positions on tankers and later on dry
cargo ships and the first ship under his
command was a VLCC tanker in 1994.
He was also responsible for the building
and re-commissioning of dry cargo and
cruise ships and for several years he was
the Maritime Inspector for the Finnish
Maritime Administration, inspecting
the building of new ships and
specializing in radio communications.
Since 1996, Captain Ulf-Peter worked
in Hamburg, Germany in a shipping
office handling safety and security
issues and partly working on board dry
cargo ships. He moved to Hamburg
permanently in 2000.
Since 2007, he has worked on different
sized cruise ships as master with ice
experience for several years in both
the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as in
the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean, the
Mediterranean, both the Red and Black
Seas and basically the entire European
coastline. In 2008 he was appointed
Maritime Specialist in Helsinki Court
where he is still active today.
Captain Ulf-Peter Lindström worked
with CMI earlier in 2014 to 2016 and
during his free time he enjoys sailing,
diving, horse-back riding, hiking,
cycling and photography. Moving
to South Africa in 2017 has added
another exciting chapter in his life with
lots of exploring to be done!
In June 2012, my sea-life took yet
another turn when I was employed by
CMI Inc. (formerly FleetPro and ISP)
where I have served on the M/V Sea
Spirit, M/V Ocean Nova, M/V Sea
Adventurer and M/V Ocean Diamond.
In July 2013, I was successful in
obtaining a Pilot Exemption Certificate
allowing me to sail around Svalbard
without the assistance of a pilot.
Over the years I have gained extensive
experience in ice seamanship,
conveying different displacement
vessels in various ice conditions:
pack-and fast-ice, multi-year ice, with
the voyages often conducted at night,
in the extended Arctic darkness and
with limited visibility. Passengers
from different countries and of various
nationalities on the expeditionary
vessels make the Captain serve as
an agent and private ambassador of
international friendship.
NEWS CONT’D
ULF-PETER MAGNUS LINDSTRÖM
CAPTAIN OLEG KLAPTENKO
— TATJANA ESPINEL | VP Crew Operations
Spring 2019 NEW HORIZONS | 13
These are exciting times for us here in CMI Ship
Management. With the highly successful and rapid
progression of Sunstone Ships’ Project Infinity, we at CMI
are facing our most promising pipeline of future business
in our history, and a significant part of our strategic focus
is therefore on readiness for the growth of our fleet. This
means, finding new ways to improve the efficiency, reliability,
and scalability of our internal processes, in order to not only
keep up with the growth, but also seize the opportunities for
economies of scale that this growth brings about. For this
reason, we currently have several exciting projects underway,
focused on automating processes that are currently manual,
so that we can absorb the growth while simultaneously
improving our quality of service.
INFOSHIP–GP INTEGRATION
As you may know by now, either from your direct
involvement aboard our vessels or in the office, or from
reading our updates in this newsletter, we have been
working diligently over the past months to implement
our new ship management software, INFOSHIP. This
implementation includes a direct interface with our existing
accounting software and will not only improve our ship
management services, but also the back-office processes and
accounting speed and accuracy. While we had originally
expected to be live with all modules of INFOSHIP, as well
as its interface with our accounting software at this time,
unfortunately we experienced delays in the rollout, resulting
in World Odyssey being the only vessel live on the complete
INFOSHIP platform thus far. The development of the
interface with Accounting has been further delayed and
completion of the INFOSHIP rollout to the existing fleet,
including the interface with Accounting, is now expected
by the end of August.
CONCUR
In addition to the INFOSHIP implementation, two more
automation projects are ongoing;
– Concur Expense – Concur Invoice
Concur Expense is a cloud/app-based expense reporting
tool which will automate the preparation, submission, and
settlement of office employees’ expense reporting. Rather than
having to save receipts during business travels then complete
a report template with attachment of all receipts upon their
return to the office employees will now be able to capture their
expenses directly on the Concur platform via a smartphone
app as they are incurred, and once they have no more expenses
to report for reimbursement, simply hit “submit”. Additionally,
employees will no longer be required to submit separate
expense reports for each company/vessel they have incurred
expenses for, as Concur will allocate the expenses to the
relevant companies on the line item level. The result is a much
more seamless expense reporting process for the individual
employees, and as expenses are captured in the system in
real time, approving supervisors, as well as accounting will
have complete visibility of expenses pending submission for
reimbursement and can follow up in a timelier manner.
Lastly, employees can track the approval and reimbursement
status of their filed expenses at any time and know when
they can expect settlement.
The other Concur solution currently being rolled out,
Concur Invoice, is a cloud-based invoice capture/invoice
processing solution, whereby all vendor invoices are
captured centrally and electronically, after which the entire
processing and document flow takes place electronically,
with a minimum level of human intervention required. This
will greatly reduce the time spent processing and approving
vendor invoices and will furthermore provide full visibility
of the whereabouts and status of each individual invoice,
from receipt to settlement.
We expect these two Concur solutions to greatly improve
our internal processing efficiency and accuracy, but just
as importantly, to improve our processes in terms of
Transparency and Accountability; two of CMI’s core values.
— CHRISTIAN LUND | VP Strategic Planning
OPTIMIZATION BY WAY OF AUTOMATION
AN UPDATE ON OUR PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS