Stuart Ostrow, ShipMoney: “Promote change to catch up”
At this year’s CrewConnect Global, we spoke to the leaders and stakeholders of this industry, and found out about their views on the changes in the maritime industry and their impact on crewing and seafarers.
Stuart Ostrow, President of Maritime Payment Solutions at ShipMoney, shares his experience in transforming and digitising crew payments.
What kind of innovative and transformative effects do digital technologies have on shipping?
“What we’re trying to do is effectively have the industry change how it pays its crew members. If you look at the shipping industry as a whole, it’s been paying its crew members the same way for the last 40 years. While that has not changed, the pace of change in terms of electronic payments or the digitalisation of payments has changed dramatically throughout the world. Cash is still sent out to the vessels and wire payments are still being made on behalf of crew members. So effectively our organisation is trying to promote change to catch up to how the rest of the world pays its staff.”
What are people’s reactions to new technologies? How do you ensure that technology is adopted?
“If we go back in time, my first company changed the way seafarers were paid in the cruise industry. Historically, the cruise line industry paid 100% of its crew members in cash. We developed a solution that changed how an entire industry got paid […], essentially the digitalisation of payments for the cruise industry.
We see similar parallels between the shipping industry and the cruise line industry in terms of how these are adopted. So the industry as a whole is very interested. Somewhat slow to adapt and change, but there is a recognition that the way in which they have been doing things is very inefficient, very expensive, and that these new solutions are beneficial to both the seafarers and the companies as well.”
Do you think shipping is ready to embrace the digital culture?
“Yes, I do.
As the president of my company, I certainly promote it every day. Somebody once asked me what we sell. And essentially, what we really sell is change. We are trying to change behaviour and change our process.
Part of it depends on the organisation. Some organisations are very open and adaptable to change; other organisations are more reserved, and take a wait-and-see approach. It also depends on the age and position of the individuals, and what country they are coming from. Some countries and some individuals are a lot more receptive than others. But every day, we see more and more interest, and we’re signing more and more clients to our solutions."
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