Tjitso Westra is Senior Adviser at the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners, responsible for seafarer education, training and certification, manning of ships and seafarer travelling. He is a Master-Mariner with around 14 years of seagoing experience on general cargo and project cargo ships. Mr. Westra has long standing experience in representing the industry in IMO, ILO and the European Union on matters related to seafarer training and certification and seafarer travelling.

The work of the Crewing & Training Sub-Committee is instrumental in ensuring that the human element in shipping is taken fully into account. The Sub-Committee’s core task is to contribute to sound global minimum competency and certification standards for seafarers, meeting the needs of the shipping industry and robust enough to accommodate technological and operational developments.

Tjitso Westra, Chair ICS Crewing and Training Sub-Committee