2021 SMART4SEA Personality Award

Graham Westgarth, V.Group Chairman, received the 2021 SMART4SEA Personality Award.

With his dynamic personality and outstanding endeavours, Mr. Westgarth continues to inspire the maritime industry towards a more digital future, in which seafarers remain a top priority. His efforts in leading V.Group towards digitalisation, whilst actively lobbying to raise awareness of the role of seafarers, and spearheading industry actions during the pandemic were praised.

On behalf of the sponsor, Mrs Athena Kanellatou, Director, Digital Solutions, Customer Co-creation, MacGregor commented: ‘’Mr Graham Westgarth is a man of character, a person of influence, a voice of reason with care and thought for the future. V.Group’s Chairman has a long-distinguished track record in the maritime sector and has served several highly regarded positions in the industry. He has been the leading industry voice in prioritizing seafarers as key workers.’’

Accepting the award, Mr. Graham Westgarth, Chairman, V.Group stated:

‘’I feel both privileged and grateful to have worked for almost 50 years in an industry I am so passionate about. The reasons that I remain passionate are simple. Firstly, shipping is vital to the global economy; without it, the world wouldn’t have been able to develop and prosper in the way that it has. Secondly, and for me, most importantly, it’s the people. This is an industry which works around the clock, 365 days of the year. To sail and support ships requires extraordinary commitment, both onshore and on the vessels themselves and I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work alongside and lead such people. ”

“At this point, I would like to mention seafarers in particular, and the need to have them globally recognized as key workers. V.Group, along with many others, have been working to have this status accepted and while we have had some success, there is much still to be done. Supporting the many efforts towards this will continue to be a top priority for V.Group’’

“In closing, I am grateful for such an accolade whilst recognising that most of the work has been done by the commitment and expertise of people within V.Group. I want to thank every single person in V.Group, who made this recognition possible. We are a people focused organisation, and this recognition is testament to the talent and teamwork of our employees”.

For more information on all 2021 SMART4SEA Awards winners , please visit https://safety4sea.com/the-winners-of-2021-smart4sea-awards-announced/