Steve Blair is a senior Marine Executive with extensive experience in developing and implementing operational procedures to ensure regulatory compliance while delivering high standards to clients. He has extensive experience in shipboard management, business management, international management systems auditing and certification. A sound knowledge of current oil tanker developments and legislative requirements as a qualified Class Surveyor, ISM Code Auditor, ISPS Code Auditor, Marine Warranty Surveyor, Inspector to oil majors and Flag State Administrations spanning over a 25-year career ashore.
A twenty-year career with ABS culminated in the position of Director, Business Development – Management Systems Certification. Prior to this Steve was Head of Management Systems Certification, ABS Europe from 2000 to 2015. During this time, he was accountable for the certification of ABS client companies and their ships in meeting the requirements of the ISM Code, ISPS Code, ISO 9000, ISO 14000, OHSAS 18000, and ISO 50001 standards via the ABS Guide for Marine Health, Safety, Quality, Environmental and Energy Management. Liaising with ship owners, managers, Flag Administrations, Port States and other regulatory bodies on ISM, ISPS and ILO, MLC-2006 related matters.
Responsibilities also included, developing, training and performance managing a team of 100 auditors across the EMEA area.
He has also delivered seminars on ISM Code, ISPS Code and ISO compliant marine management systems, providing international representation in several global forums and high-profile seminars.
Prior to joining ABS, he was at sea for 17 years, including command of crude oil tankers. He has also spent several years working for independent marine surveying companies carrying out ship vetting inspections on behalf of oil majors and was appointed flag state inspector on behalf of two of the major Flag Administrations. He has also spent time as a P & I and cargo surveyor during a varied and diversified career. Just prior to joining ABS he worked for a specialist firm of marine surveyors and loss adjusters involved in the offshore oil and energy industry.
Captain Blair is an ex-student of the College of Nautical Studies, Warsash, Southampton and is an Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute and a Freeman of The Honourable Company of Master Mariners.
Expertise
Maritime Skills
- Maritime Operations
- International Shipping
- Navigation
- Safety Management
- Maritime Security
- Ship Management
- Crew Vetting
- Tanker Operations
- Marine Operations
- ISPS Code Compliance
- ISO 14001 Certified
- Auditing
- Maritime Safety
- Risk Assessment
- Marine Survey
- Vessel Operations
- Tanker Operations
- Floating Production Storage & Offloading
- Energy Operations
- LNG Operations
- Shipyards Operations
Business Skills
- Leadership
- Business Development
- Negotiation
- Technical Support
- Communication
- Staff Development
- Client Relations
- Networking
- Team Building
- Decision Making
- Cost Control
- Contract Manage
- Influence Others
- Consulting
- Mentoring Training
- Budgeting
- Senior Executive
- Customer Service
- Generating Revenue
- International Business
Auditing
“An effective internal audit function is a fundamental component of good ship management”.
The internal audit plays an important part in demonstrating the effectiveness of a Company’s Safety Management System. Internal audits provide a number of important services to the Company management. These include detecting and preventing deficiencies which can result in an incident or an accident, testing internal controls, and monitoring compliance with the Company’s policies and procedures. Establishing a robust internal audit function provides a vital step in the growth of the Company and its fleet.
Epic Marine Services can provide you with an impartial, independent overview of your management system and carry out audits against ISM Code, ISPS Code, ILO-MLC,2006 Convention, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 50001.
Consultancy
Safety Management System (SMS) design, consolidation, refinement and rationalization.
We will work with you to develop a unique management system meeting the aims and objectives of the Company and the standards to which they wish to subscribe. Our approach will involve your personnel to make your new or improved system “personal” to those who will work with it, and therefore create a feeling of “belonging” to the system, rather than having it imposed upon them
We can build a system to include one or more of the following standards:
- ISM Code
- ISPS Code
- ILO-MLC, 2006 Convention
- ISO 9001:2015
- ISO 14001:2015
- OHSAS 18001:2007
- ISO 50001:2011
- OCIMF Tanker Management and Self-Assessment (TMSA3)
- OCIMF Offshore Vessel Management Self-Assessment (OVMSA)
Mentoring, Training and Consulting for Senior Management.
- To build high performing and effective teams both onboard the ships and ashore.
- To understand, manage and solve conflicts whenever they arise.
- To improve decision making, trust, collaboration and cooperation amongst teams.
- To develop employee potential, motivation and ability to be creative and innovative.
Incident Investigation
Whenever an incident occurs, the claimant or prosecuting authority will often allege that the Ship Operator/Manager failed to exercise due diligence in ensuring the vessel’s seaworthiness or failed to exercise adequate care and attention and that those failures were causative of the loss or damage suffered. Invariably those failures by the Ship Operator can be traced back to compliance with mandatory rules and regulations and the way in which the Ship Operator managed safety and operational risk. That in turn will focus on the way in which the Ship Operator had developed, implemented and had been monitoring its Safety Management System as required by the ISM Code.
Epic Marine Services can investigate maritime incidents and analyse the evidence which will assist in understanding not only ‘what’ happened but also ‘why’ the accident or incident happened – and specifically on human factors and what failings of the Safety Management System might have contributed to the incident on that particular occasion.
Additional Services
Navigational Audits
Navigational Audits are a tool to increase the navigational safety standards in a shipping company.According to OCIMF TMSA element 5, the operator shall arrange independent navigational reviews to check the navigational competence.
A Navigational Audit is a systematic control of how the ship operator’s navigational procedures are followed. The audit is performed whilst the ship is on passage between two or more ports in order to monitor all aspects of navigation during the voyage.
Epic Marine Services have carried out Navigational Audits for a number of Ship Operators.
Training
Epic Marine Services offers classroom-based training tailored to a company’s own requirements. Additionally, we can provide the following courses:
- ISM/ISPS/MLC Awareness (individually or combined)
- Internal Auditor
- Tanker Vetting
- Writing procedures and checklist development
Competency Management
Competence management aims to identify present and future competence needs based on your strategic plans and business goals and can be an integral part of an established management system.
Epic Marine Services can help you to develop a Competency Management System, which should lead to:
- Overall improvement of competence level in the organization linkedto KPI’s;
- Minimising the risk involved in business in terms of financial loss,accidents due to system failure, near misses, safety and environmental pollution
References
Epic Marine Services Ltd has worked with companies and organisations all over the world.
for in-depth work experiences.
Get In Touch
Please use the form below to send Epic Marine a message. You can also call us on +44 7790 800 481.
If you’d prefer you can email us with any enquiries you have – simply send an email to steve.blair@epicmarine.co.uk and we will endeavour to get back to you in the quickest possible time.
We look forward to hearing from you.