Star Shipping

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.