John Wood

Assistant General Manager and Head of Manning and Marine at CLSICO

Speaker

Beginning his sea service in 1981, John sailed as navigating officer up to senior management level on various types of ships, including bulk carriers, containerised bulk carriers and tankers (product, chemical, VLCC and VLGCs)

John holds a Higher National Diploma in Nautical Science from South Tyneside College in the UK as well as obtaining a UK Class 2 (Deck) Certificate of Competency

Working in marine HR since 1994 and having lived/worked in Manila for 5 years, John has in depth experience of working with Chinese, Filipino, North and East European, Indian as well as Malaysian seafarers

John brings a wealth of knowledge of marine HR and ship's operations having worked for 2 of the largest ship management companies in the world before joining China LNG Shipping (International) Co Ltd (CLSICO) in 2014

Having demonstrated his leadership capabilities by effectively co-ordinating CLSICO’s marine HR response throughout the pandemic and all of the challenges that brought, John was promoted to Assistant General Manager/Head of Manning & Marine with CLSICO last year (2023) and aside from overseeing the day-to-day operations of both departments, he is now heavily involved in their project to deliver 3 newbuild 173,000 m³ dual-fuel X-DF motor LNG carriers scheduled for 2025

Over his years in marine HR, John has developed very strong contacts with the ITF and national seafarer's unions and now heads the Hong Kong Maritime Employers Group representing owners/managers of Hong Kong flag ships when negotiating the terms and conditions of employment for seafarers sailing onboard HK flag ships covered by the HK CBA

John is passionate about recognising/nurturing and developing talent and building effective teams to meet the future needs of the shipping industry.