Star Shipping

Ships transport well over 80% of what is traded in the world. But shipping needs to reduce its environmental footprints. It is our ambition to restore our oceans. Through sustainability services and new innovations, through world-leading ship owning and ship management operations, and through worldwide partnerships, we will get here.

Grieg Star is the ship management unit of Grieg Maritime Group. We manage or act as owners representative for over 30 vessels within the Open Hatch and bulk segments.

Shipping has always prided itself in being the most environmentally friendly way of transporting goods. Still, close to 3% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the shipping industry. Over 80% of world trade is transported on ships. In a not too far future, that transport needs to be carbon-neutral. Our goal is to get there ahead of 2050, and from 2030 all new vessels in our fleet will have zero-emission technology. We are entering an exciting part of shipping’s history, and we are eager to be a leading operator in the maritime green shift.

In the following 30 years, we will see a revolution within shipping. Digitisation, robotisation, and automation will change the way we work. Decarbonisation will change our vessels and operations. Handling and leveraging this transformation is a crucial part of our strategy.

We support the goals of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association and have vowed to have carbon-neutral operations by 2050. In addition, all vessels ordered after 2030 will have propulsion with zero emission of greenhouse gases.

Both goals demand a shift in how we operate and think. We need to research, design and test propulsion systems and vessels to replace existing ships. But at the same time, we know that it is not sustainable to scrap ten or fifteen years old vessels.

Instead, we need to make sure our existing fleet has a steep decrease in emissions in the years to come. We need decarbonisation both through fleet renewal and through using cleaner fuels and retrofitting existing ships.

To get there, we have established a small team of maritime engineers and experts, led by our VP Decarbonisation. Their stretch goal is to get us to a carbon-neutral situation well ahead of 2050. And on the way, they will make sure we reduce emissions as much as possible.

The task is not a small one. Until the late 1700s, ships were propelled by oars or sails. Then came the introduction of steam engines. Just over a hundred years later, the first fuel oil engine was installed. And now, we need to find yet another solution. There is one big difference, though: with the steam engine and fuel oil engine, ship owners adopted new but existing technology to be more efficient. This time, we need to develop new and untested technology to avoid a climate crisis.

The Grieg legacy has always been to adopt new technology early on. When shipbroker Joachim Grieg set up his business in 1884, he was among the first to use the telegraph. We have built on that legacy and implemented digital solutions from the late 1990ies. But the changes we now witness are something different.

To succeed in the transformation ahead, we need to adopt digital solutions in all aspects of our operations. We need to modernise our systems. Sensor technology will deliver vast amounts of data, which with artificial intelligence can give us real-life monitoring of fleet activity and continuous routing and vessel performance optimisation. And the data will make it possible for us to implement actual predictive maintenance.

Better bandwidth onboard will dramatically change the communication between land and sea, possibly changing the competencies both onboard and ashore.

To leverage these changes, we need to develop our most important resource: our people. We aspire to have a team where everyone has embraced digital tools as the obvious way of working. In all departments, we will have people who push for better processes and methods of working, utilising the best possible tools. Digital is no longer something the IT department is handling. Digital is for all of us – all the time.

In 2019, the Grieg Group pledged: We will restore the ocean. We acknowledge that human activities often harms the seas, be it plastic or rising temperatures. Shipping lives on and of the deep blue waters, and we have a special responsibility to do what we can to restore our oceans to their former glory.

Decarbonisation is one obvious solution to some of the problems. But we know there are many other challenges following our operations. To be a sustainable ship management company, we need to handle those as well.

Our ballast water shall always be free of alien organisms when we release it out into the sea. Together with partners, we look into better ways to reduce hull fouling to minimise the release of toxic chemicals. We participate in special programs to avoid sound pollution in areas where endangered whales and other species live.

Over the last couple of years, we have also worked hard to reduce the use of plastic on board and ensure that we handle our remaining plastic waste properly. Refillable water bottles paired with installing water filling stations onboard have reduced our use of single-use water bottles by 67% compared to 2020.

In 2021, we also implemented a new procedure that stated that we would only land plastic waste in countries with adequate waste handling systems. It has been challenging to map which countries we could label as “green”. Still, we have done it – and are disposing of close to 80% of the remaining plastic waste in “green “countries.

More than 50 years ago, our former Chair of the Board, Per Grieg Sr, postulated nine “commandments” to high-quality ship management. Those are just as valid now as they were then, and are a part of our strategic focus on always having world-class operations. Our business is rapidly changing, with digitisation and new technology giving new and exciting opportunities. Still, our recipe for success lies in further developing the quality and competence of our people. In the future, world-class operations also mean sustainable operations – on all levels.

Our core business is the management of our Open Hatch fleet, a total of 30 vessels. We also act as owners representative for vessels on external management.

Our main job is handling the day-to-day management of Grieg Maritime Group‘s open hatch vessels. These multi-purpose geared vessels with box-shaped holds are a special kind of vessel requiring a particular set of knowledge and experience. We always aim to deliver world-class ship management services by combining experience and attention to safety and quality with innovation and continuous improvement. Our HSEQ-policy is the basis for our operations, and together with the other companies in Grieg Maritime Group, we disclose all our ESG-data annually. Our partner, G2 Ocean, trade all our ships worldwide, and together we develop our vessels to be the best our customers can get.

We have a group of highly skilled and experienced Vessel Managers, purchasers, HSEQ specialists, and engineers. Our onshore team have continuous contact with the officers of the vessels. They use an extensive range of systems to ensure that every part of the operation and maintenance of the ships are at its very best. In 1992 the then Chair of the Board , Per Grieg Sr., drafted the company’s nine rules for maintenance, starting with “Our vessels shall always be in top class condition”. The rules still apply and are followed by the Vessel Managers every day.

Our open hatch vessels meet our customers’ high-quality requirements to deliver superior cargo care. That also sets them apart from any other vessel type. Our highly qualified seafarers are trained for this particular vessel type and deliver incredibly high quality. An exceptional high return rate among the crew ensures familiarity with the vessels and operational requirements. We are proud to say that our seafarers are the backbone of the operation. Our recruitment agency, Grieg Philippines, handle all seafarer recruitment.

Grieg Star does not manage all Grieg Maritime Group vessels. To learn from others, we have set a handful of ships out to external ship management companies. To handle this, a small team within Grieg Star liaison with these partners. The same team handles interaction with ship managers on chartered vessels. Their job is twofold. Partly they act on behalf of the shipowner whenever management needs it. And partly, they discuss, evaluate and share knowledge with the external partner to ensure both parties learn from each other. Sustainable Development Goal no 17 is about partnership – and we believe in sharing knowledge with our partners.

Grieg Star has been present in the Philippines since 1982, employing Filipino officers and crew. We recruit all Grieg Star seafarers through Grieg Philippines, a modern crewing agency based in Manila. The company was established in 2009 to enhance the focus on training and competence development of our seafarers and build a common company culture. We source our cadets from the Norwegian Shipowners Association’s (NSA) Philippines Cadet Program in preparation for the future. At any given time, we have about 25 cadets in our system. Grieg Star Philippines deliver administrative services to Grieg Star and Grieg Philippines.