Discussion with Capt. Devasish Bhaumik, General Manager at Fuyo Ship Management
How did you start and how your career evolved?
I began my career in 1990 in Mobil Shipping. I completed a four-month pre-sea training program and joined my first vessel, and spent nearly two years at sea completing my cadetship before sitting for my certification exams. I then returned to Mobil as a Third Officer. In 1997, I went to Southampton to complete my Chief Mate and Master examinations and then moved to HMS Ship Management, where I was promoted to Chief Mate. Later, I joined OMI, a US-based company, completed my Master Mariner exams in South Shields, and was promoted to Master. When OMI was acquired by Teekay, I continued sailing with them.
My shore career began in 2010 with MISC in Kuala Lumpur, there I gained exposure to LPG, LNG, container ships, and bulk carriers. Later I worked with heavy-lift and offshore vessels in various ship management companies. In 2023, I moved to Osaka to join Fuyo, a ship-owning and ship-management company, where I work today.
What do you do in your current role?
I am the head of ship management and oversee six major operational teams: HSEQ, Technical, Crewing, and Operations, IT and Purchasing. These teams report to the Deputy General Manager, who reports to me. Together, we handle every aspect of ship management, from safety and maintenance to crew competence and operational planning. My core responsibility is ensuring that vessels remain fully operational and ready to sail without delays. This means maintaining high inspection standards, SIRE and CDI for tankers and RightShip readiness for bulk carriers, even in cases where inspections have become less frequent. Our philosophy is simple: a vessel should always be in inspection-ready condition, which reduces risk, enhances safety, and protects commercial performance.
What has changed most in shipping over the last 35 years?
The fundamental principles of navigation have not changed. Safe lookout, situational awareness, correct watchkeeping, and sound decision-making remain the backbone of ship operations exactly as they were decades ago. What has changed dramatically is communication. When I started, the only contact with shore was through basic email. Today, ships have real-time connectivity through systems like Starlink, enabling video calls, large data transfers, and continuous shore interaction. While this connectivity improves coordination, it also creates communication fatigue. Shore offices send frequent requests for information, documentation, and updates, which increases administrative burden onboard. In many cases, crews spend more time responding to emails and completing paperwork than focusing on safe navigation and operations.
How will things change with AI?
AI will inevitably play a major role in shipping’s future. With ships generating vast amounts of technical, navigational, and operational data, AI can analyze patterns, predict failures, optimize routes, and support decision-making. The ability to combine onboard data with shore-side systems gives AI the potential to significantly enhance vessel performance. However, the biggest risk is over-reliance. AI models cannot distinguish good data from bad, and shipping-specific data is limited online because most companies keep operational datasets private. Crew may start asking AI tools for advice and different models can produce conflicting or incorrect answers. While no major incidents have been reported yet, it is only a matter of time. AI should support human judgment, not replace it.
What are the biggest challenges facing shipping today?
Communication overload. Vessels are constantly asked for reports, forms, clarifications, and documentation. This reduces focus on operational basics, which is why I implemented a “Back to Basics” initiative to re-emphasize that safety and navigation come first. Another major issue is the unrealistic size and complexity of Safety Management Systems. Many SMS manuals now exceed 3,000–4,000 pages, and it is impractical to expect every Master, officer, or crew member, often with varying English proficiency, to fully understand and apply them. This creates a gap between what regulators expect and what can realistically be done onboard. Regulatory pressure is rising. Environmental rules require expensive technologies such as scrubbers, VLSFO, and dual-fuel engines, all of which add heavy financial and operational burdens. Biofuels, for example, remain extremely costly and are not yet tested at scale. Small owners are disproportionately affected, even simple regulations like port garbage disposal become expensive and impractical when ports refuse waste or charge exorbitant fees.
Geopolitical instability now influences shipping far more than in the past. Tariffs on Chinese-built vessels create uncertainty for owners, especially when newbuilds take three to four years to deliver. Conflicts and violence such as the Russia–Ukraine war, Red Sea drone attacks, and renewed piracy expose seafarers to risks, forcing many ships to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope and significantly raising fuel consumption, transit times, and consumer prices. Unlike older geopolitical issues like the Cuba sanctions, today’s tensions involve major global powers acting unpredictably, making long-term planning extremely difficult.
Regulatory uncertainty adds further pressure. A vessel ordered today may not meet future emission standards, and older ships require millions in upgrades to remain compliant. With asset prices rising and regulations constantly evolving, many owners prefer to wait rather than invest, large companies like MOL choose to channel profits into real estate instead of new ships. This “wait-and-watch” mindset slows fleet renewal, increases vessel ages, tightens supply, and drives shipping costs upward. These dynamics contribute to gradual consolidation, as smaller owners struggle with rising costs and compliance demands, while large players like MSC and Maersk expand.
However, consolidation will not happen quickly. Owners hesitate to buy or sell because they cannot predict the geopolitical or regulatory environment of the next decade, and even those with cash avoid risky newbuild orders. At the same time, trust in third-party ship managers is weakening. Incidents such as the Dali bridge collision raised concerns about whether managers consistently maintain safety standards, prompting some owners to take operations back in-house. Collectively, geopolitical volatility, regulatory uncertainty, rising costs, and declining trust in managers are reshaping the industry’s structure and economics for the decade ahead.
Your advice for young people coming to shipping?
Shipping remains a rewarding and meaningful career, and I would still strongly recommend it. But anyone entering the industry must be prepared for continuous adaptation. New fuels, new technologies, and new regulations are reshaping shipping far more rapidly than in the past. Take nuclear propulsion, for example, it is technologically viable and already proven through naval vessels and earlier cargo ships. Nuclear ships offer zero emissions and exceptionally long operational life. However, major questions remain around port acceptance, public perception, and the specialized crew training required. Similar challenges exist for dual-fuel engines, biofuels, and other alternative technologies. Future officers and engineers must be trained from the start to handle these transitions, both technically and mentally. Adaptability will be as important as technical competence.
For the next generation, the most important skill will be adaptability, the willingness to learn new systems, and stay current with regulatory and technological change. Those who can learn quickly and adjust will thrive in the industry’s next era.
