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Tuesday, July 15, 2025

You Cannot be a Leader if…

Maritime Activity Reports, Inc.

June 19, 2025

© video / Adobe Stock

© video / Adobe Stock

“You cannot be a leader if you don’t know what is going on,” says Rik van Hemmen, President of marine consulting firm Martin & Ottaway.

van Hemmen, writing in the June issue of Maritime Reporter magazine, recounts of some of his experiences in oil spill response to demonstrate that it’s a truth that is not always recognized.

On one salvage operation, a high-ranking government official was laughed out of the room after loudly proclaiming: “I am in charge now, and nothing happens until I say so.” The next thing he said was: “So what are you going to do?” The response? “I thought you were going to F@$*ing tell us.”

Another story he tells relates to BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout. “There was a lot going on, but one news bit that showed up was a university professor who had done his own calculations on BP’s estimates of the amount of oil that spewed from the wellhead and came up with a larger number. The reporters checked with BP, and BP said that their estimate was correct and therefore the professor’s estimate was wrong. A great way to create an enemy.”

Instead of insisting that the professor was wrong, the better solution, says van Hemmen, would have been for BP to tell the reporter: “We appreciate the effort this professor has put in and will put him in touch with our technical team so we can compare numbers. Can you please provide me with his contact information?”

van Hemmen cities another leadership lesson, this time from a desktop exercise where he learned the power of cooperation. “What is most interesting is that I learned that tactical nugget in training and not by embarrassing myself in the field.”

Read more here.


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