Today was heavy on company visits because we visited Bernard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), Columbia Ship Management (CSM), and Medochemie. While I anticipated back-to-back ship management visits to be repetitive, each company had a unique presentation and taught us about different aspects of the business. BSM focused on the training aspect and walked us through how they prepare seafarers. They explained how there are international standards they tech to ensure uniform education across the shipping industry. They also showed us their engine and bridge simulators. These immersive simulators give students a chance to gain experience in a wide range of situations. Our next visit was CSM where we spoke more about the business and analytics behind ship management. They showed us their main operations room which housed 8 TVs showing vessels location, planned routes, and current weather. They explained how they use this information to advise ship managers on route changes and optimization. After lunch at the marina we headed to Medochemie, our final visit of the day. Here we learned about the strict quality assurance policies need for pharmaceutical production and were able to tour their warehouse. Overall, it was an information filled day, and I learned many cool things. Tonight is our farewell dinner and one last meze.
