Dear readers,
Commercial shipping has always faced its fair share of challenges, shaped by the global nature of our industry.
Yet, I believe many of you will agree that recent years have brought an unprecedented frequency of significant disruptions — each demanding swift understanding and decisive action. From the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and sanctions to ongoing geopolitical conflicts, shifting decarbonisation regulations, and trade wars — navigating this evolving landscape has required exceptional resilience and collaboration.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our BSM colleagues — at sea and on shore — as well as to our customers and partners across the maritime value chain. Your unwavering dedication and hard work have been instrumental in helping us weather these difficult waters and continue delivering on our promises.
Looking ahead
As we move forward, BSM remains committed to its core mission: ensuring vessel availability, optimising OPEX and preserving asset value for our customers.
Key to this is our people. Our customers’ vessels are only as good as the seafarers we place on them. That is why we continue to invest in our pool of highly skilled crew members - while also focusing on attracting and retaining top-tier shore-based talent.
To support our operations at scale and maintain excellence, we are continuously investing in MariApps PAL—the Schulte Group’s industry-leading maritime IT ecosystem. With the integration of emerging technologies such as AI, PAL empowers us to elevate the quality, transparency and efficiency of our services while keeping us and our clients at the forefront of maritime innovation.
A fuel-agnostic future
No outlook on the maritime industry is complete without addressing decarbonisation. It seems clear that the future will not be defined by a single “magic” fuel. Instead, we are most likely heading into a multi-fuel era — and as ship managers, we are by definition fuel-agnostic. Our role is to support our clients, regardless of the technological path they choose.
With 60 LNG vessels currently under our management—including LNG bunkering vessels (LNGBVs) and LNG dual-fuel vessels—we are well positioned thanks to our extensive gas crew pool and the deep expertise embedded in our shore teams. This year, we look forward to welcoming our first methanol dual-fuel vessels and are actively exploring the potential of ammonia. You’ll find more on this topic in our coverage of BSM’s recent Ammonia Day in this issue.
An honour and a responsibility
There is no shortage of work ahead, and I am looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that lie before us. Having spent nearly two decades within the Schulte Group and BSM, I am honoured to step into this new role. Our depth of experience, global reach and unwavering focus on quality give me full confidence in our ability to continue being a resilient and trusted partner for our customers - now and in the future.
Sincerely,
Sebastian von Hardenberg
Chief Executive Officer
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement
