Community

Drawing on our Social & Relationship Capital

We recognise our obligations as a responsible member of the communities in which we operate, and we seek to ensure that the interests of these communities are represented within Pacific Basin and vice versa. Our engagement in and contributions to these communities takes a number of forms, in an effort to support their – and our – longer-term sustainability.

We achieve this by:

Maintaining regular engagement with stakeholders and organisations connected to the shipping industry and the places and jurisdictions in which we operate;
Ensuring we comply with the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which we operate;
Being mindful of the implications of our business activities on our communities and stakeholders;
Supporting through activities and donating financially to the most deserving communities and causes most closely connected to our business – in particular seafarer welfare; and
Supporting and sponsoring our employees who get involved in the communities in which they and Pacific Basin are active or reside, and who participate in groups and associations related to aspects of the shipping industry

Our engagement in and contributions to the communities in which we operate are an important part of sustainability at Pacific Basin. We continue to donate to and be actively involved in good causes, the majority of which relate to seafarer causes and other staff-driven initiatives.

Aspect B8 (Community Investment)
General Disclosure

KPI B8.1
Focus areas of contribution

KPI B8.2
Resources contributed

The Seafarer Community

As one of the largest foreign employers of Chinese crew and a significant employer of Filipino crew, we invest in recruitment activities and training programmes in Dalian, Manila and Hong Kong. Community donations are focused on seafarer welfare causes.

Our Human Resources Director is an Asian Ambassador of the Sailors’ Society, an organisation we support because of our particular interest in the welfare of seafarers and their dependents globally. Through this role, we promote regionally the need to support the welfare of seafarers whose lives at sea are not easy and who give so much to the business of shipping.
In 2016, our charitable donations and sponsorship amounted to over US$55,000, including donations to the Sailors’ Society and the Mission to Seafarers.
We sponsor a minibus in Manila for the use of the Sailors’ Society to provide free transport to all seafarers in Manila and to facilitated ship visits by the Manila port chaplain.
Funding other good causes, a Pacific Basin team completed the mountainous 100km Oxfam Trailwalker trek for the twelfth consecutive year in aid of Oxfam’s poverty alleviation programmes.

Our US colleagues also contributed to Dress for Success, an international not-for-profit organisation that empowers women to achieve success in the workplace.

“Our sponsors’ long-term support is crucial to sustaining our welfare output. And continuation of these crucial alliances and the industry’s recognition of seafarers’ need for our welfare work is fundamental to being able to sustain our free provision of services.”

The Sailors’ Society

Ports Where our Ships Trade

Our ships trade globally and our crew and ships are considered ambassadors for Pacific Basin wherever they sail, so we inspire them to:

strictly abide by requirements under applicable environmental law so as to minimise our impact on the cities, towns, ports and shorelines we visit;
show skilful seamanship and act professionally in the way they conduct their ships’ business;
be respectful law-abiding visitors, to show warm hospitality towards visitors on board, and to be in every way becoming of Pacific Basin personnel; and
establish and maintain good relations with port authorities, agents and other stakeholders in the places we visit.

One measure of our success in this area is the feedback we get from stevedores, port operators and other stakeholders in the ports where we call. Here are examples of commendations we received in 2016:

We commend the vessel for the level of professional courtesy, cooperation and hospitality this crew demonstrated at both ports. If an issue arose, the crew were prompt in addressing it without hesitation. This is typical of Pacific Basin vessels, however this crew was above and beyond in their efforts and this goes a long way to keeping a smooth operation. We look forward to seeing this vessel and crew again in Longview or Coos Bay.

Stevedores and International Longshore and Warehouse Union in Longview and Coos Bay, USA

The Captain, Chief and crew were of the most professional crew that we have worked with. It was a great loading, we enjoyed having them as a part of our operations in Kodiak AK, and will welcome them at any time again to our port.

Customers in Kodiak, Alaska

Our Hong Kong Community

We take an active role in Hong Kong where we are headquartered, listed and where our owned dry bulk fleet is flagged. We are members of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association executive committee, the Shipping Consultative Committee of the Hong Kong Administration and the Seafarer Advisory Board. We also support various maritime and related causes in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM) – We have been supporters of HKMM since its establishment in 2003 and we are inaugural partners under the museum’s CSR Partner Programme which matches the museum’s programmes and initiatives with our shipping and Hong Kong community-focused social responsibility priorities.

Public and education programming expanded further in 2016, with visitors almost doubling to 181,000 (including over 20,000 student and community group visitors) to the museum’s permanent galleries. In addition to showing its permanent collections, which expanded with important new acquisition and gifts in 2016, the museum arranges special presentations and events, and its most notable special exhibitions in 2016 included “Trading China” – a scholarly look at the fine porcelain trade between China and the West during the 18th and 19th centuries.

HKMM installed a state-of-theart bridge simulator in 2016. We occasionally turn to the museum and its exhibits for tools that enhance the quality of training of our young staff.

Maritime Awareness Week – We frequently support Hong Kong’s “Maritime Awareness Week” to generate enthusiasm amongst young Hongkongers for shipping as a worthwhile career.
Maritime Education – We regularly recruit interns from Hong Kong’s Maritime Services Training Institute, which is part of the Vocational Training Centre, some of whom transition into full-time employees.
Our Human Resources Director serves as vice chairman of the Maritime Education and Training Sub Committee of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, helping to work with government and academia to raise the profile of maritime education in Hong Kong and promote shipping careers to young Hongkongers.
Student Scholarships – In 2016, we funded two more scholarships at Hong Kong Polytechnic University where three students are currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Shipping and Transport Logistics under our sponsorship. Three recipients of our scholarship now work at Pacific Basin in Hong Kong, London and Vancouver, and one is on track to join Pacific Basin’s fleet.
Supporting local employment – We employ on some of our ships a number of senior officers from Hong Kong, and we have run an officer cadet recruitment and training scheme in Hong Kong since 2013.
Pacific Basin Soccer Sixes – In June, we hosted the fifth instalment of the Pacific Basin Soccer Sixes intercompany football tournament in which Hong Kong’s shipping and related services companies fielded 16 teams in friendly competition. Pacific Basin was very proud to have been crowned champions for a third consecutive year while also facilitating this increasingly popular sporting event for the Hong Kong shipping hub.
Pearl River Delta Emissions Control – The voluntary Fair Winds Charter which we signed up to in 2013 resulted in new Hong Kong regulation, effective 1 July 2015, requiring ocean-going vessels to switch to clean marine fuel with sulphur content not exceeding 0.5 per cent while at berth in Hong Kong. This first such regulation in Asia has led to similar standards being adopted by neighbouring Shenzhen Port effective 1 October 2016 and several other key Pearl River Delta ports effective 1 January 2017. This is expected to result in reduced air pollution in the region and create an even playing field for Hong Kong and other southern Chinese ports.

The Shipping Industry

We are active contributors within the shipping community and have a voice in the international dialogue with legislators and other parties on topical issues and future legislation in our industry.

Pacific Basin and its senior management ensure our regular engagement with the shipping industry and relevant governmental and regulatory bodies through membership of appropriate industry organisations such as:

International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (Intercargo);
The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO);
The Baltic Exchange;
Lloyd’s Register Asian Shipowners Committee;
ClassNK Hong Kong Owners Committee;
Lloyd’s Register and ClassNK Technical Committees;
Safety and Loss Advisory board of the Standard (Asia) P&I Club;
Hong Kong Shipping Consultative Committee
Executive Committee members of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, an influential organisation within the International Chamber of Shipping and the International Maritime Organization (IMO);
Sub committees of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, such as the Marine Sub Committee and the Maritime Education and Training Sub Committee; and
Customer Relations Group of the Hong Kong Shipping Register.

In 2016, our senior management assumed one new notable shipping association position: our Operations Director was appointed as a Substitute Director of the Board of Directors of The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO).

History