Policies
Safety Policy
CASTOR SHIPS S.A. takes all reasonable precautions and measures during the operation of managed ships, to ensure safety at sea, prevention of human injury or loss of life, and avoid property damage.
The Company’s goal is to achieve ZERO incidents through continuous improvement.
The Company’s management, to support its policy, adheres to the following principles:
- Compliance with all applicable laws and mandatory rules and regulations and consideration of the applicable codes, guidelines and standards imposed or recommended by the IMO, Flag Administrations, Class Societies, and Industry organizations.
- Adherence to Castor Integrated Management System (CIMS) which promotes the concept of HSQE excellence, continuous improvement, and enhancement of personnel skills.
- Assignment of employees with sound skills and capabilities to the necessary areas of responsibility, including adequate verification resources.
- Definition of the organization, responsibility, authority, and interfacing of the various management functions within the CIMS framework.
- Provision of safe and environmentally sound practices in the operation of the managed ships.
- Provision and maintenance of a safe working environment onboard and ashore.
- Identification of all hazards related to work and operations onboard and ashore, taking mitigating measures to minimize relevant risks.
- Provision of the necessary training to ensure that the Company’s employees can achieve safety and pollution prevention objectives in their scope of work.
- Establishment and Maintenance Safety culture across the organization.
- Achievement of Operational Excellence through zero incident & customer’s satisfaction.
- Provision of facilities, systems/equipment, and a maintenance system suitable to achieve the Company’s objectives.
Quality Policy
CASTOR SHIPS S.A. endeavors to earn the confidence of the shipowners, charterers, seafarers, and other interested parties and recognition as a high quality and trustworthy international ship manager. This is possible only through the provision of flawless services that satisfy all relevant requirements.
CASTOR SHIPS S.A. provides professional ship management services to owners and charterers, protects their interests and assets under its management, fulfills their expectations and:
- Always complies with all applicable legal and other requirements to continually improve the effectiveness of its CIMS.
- Adopts a proactive approach to its clients’ needs and is responsive to their requests, suggestions, or complaints, always trying to improve the value of its services.
- Encourages employee teamwork, personal improvement, cooperation, innovative thinking, initiative, leadership, decisiveness, and focus on the client’s needs and satisfaction.
- Sets measurable and meaningful objectives and targets and reviews them frequently.
- Addresses the needs of interested parties who receive the Company’s services or whom these services may impact.
To objectively assess its performance, the Company:
- Establishes criteria for the quality of its services.
- Monitors, measures, and analyses its objectives and targets for continual suitability to verify the effective implementation of the established processes.
- Identifies and manages the risks and opportunities of its services.
Environmental Policy
CASTOR SHIPS S.A. commits to continually improve its environmental performance in all areas required by the international regulations and laws and to ensure:
- Pollution prevention that emphasizes on source reduction, including necessary funding and human resources, to effectively maintain the onboard systems, equipment, and components.
- Minimization of the environmental impact of its operations.
- Continuous reduction of environmental risks.
Our goal is to achieve
Zero spills or releases to the environment
and
reduction of the permitted emissions aiming to Zero.
To achieve this goal, CASTOR SHIPS S.A. adheres to the following :
- Complies with all applicable environmental laws, regulations, and requirements and applies responsible standards where laws, regulations, and requirements do not exist.
- Responds quickly and effectively to environmental incidents resulting from its operations.
- Minimizes any significant adverse environmental impact of new developments & minimizing the environmental impact of operations. This is done through the use of the environmental management procedures and planning, and through the assessment of
environmental impacts, before starting a new activity or project; - Assesses all identified risks for the environment and establishes appropriate safeguards.
- Shows concern and respect for the environment, emphasizes on every employee’s responsibility toward environmental performance and fosters appropriate operating practices and training.
- To educate, train and motivate employees to raise their awareness of the strategic importance of environmental management, encourage concern and respect for the environment so as to enhance their skills so that they can conduct their activities in an environmentally responsible manner;
- Undertakes appropriate reviews and evaluations of its operations to measure progress and to foster compliance with this Policy.
- Raises awareness of the threat that climate change poses to environmental sustainability, health and wellbeing of communities and future generations.
- Shares its experience with others to facilitate improvements in the industry’s performance.
- Manages its business to prevent environmental incidents.
- Designs, operates, and maintains facilities to this end.
Energy Efficiency Policy
CASTOR SHIPS S.A. believes that although shipping is by far the most fuel-efficient means of transport, additional action is necessary to improve the energy efficiency of ships related operations further. Increased energy efficiency eventually results in increased environmental protection by reducing air emissions.
To enhance the energy efficiency of the shipboard operations, CASTOR SHIPS S.A. commits to:
- Establish and maintain a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP).
- Increase energy efficiency and minimize energy waste. A set of time-specific, measurable – whenever practicable – and achievable targets are established and maintained, which relate to a combination of design optimization, in-service performance monitoring, and best-practice operational management processes.
- Promote energy efficiency awareness through training to all employees.
- Apply practices and invest in clean-energy technology that contribute to a rational management and efficiency of the available resources
- Provide the framework for setting and reviewing energy objectives and targets and ensure the availability of information and of necessary resources for their achievement.
- Monitor and comply with all applicable legal requirements related to ship energy efficiency management.
Cybersecurity Policy
CASTOR SHIPS S.A. aims to:
- Protect information and operation technology assets from all threats, whether internal or external, deliberate or accidental, ensuring their integrity and operational governance.
- Ensure operations continuity.
The Company’s management, to fulfill these objectives, is committed to minimize the impact of cyber incidents and to ensure:
- Compliance with regulatory requirements
- Protection of IT and OT systems identified as vulnerable to cyberattacks from loss of confidentiality (information accessibility only to authorized individuals), integrity (safeguard accuracy and completeness of information and processing methods), and availability (authorized individuals have access to relevant information when required)
- Allocation of specific and clear responsibilities and tasks ensuring effective cyber risk management
- Preparation of cybersecurity procedures and protection measures based on identified vulnerabilities and Risk Assessments
- Establishment of contingency and recovery plans
- Cybersecurity training and readiness of all staff
- Reporting and investigation of all security breaches, actual or suspected, along with detailed investigation.
- Prepare contingency plans for emergencies relating to cyber security incidents;
To support this Policy, there are procedures in place, including incident handling, information backup, system access, antivirus controls, passwords, and encryption.
This Policy abides all personnel employed ashore and onboard, contractors, visitors, vendors, agents and any person using the Company’s IT and OT systems.
Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct
The Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct are based on CASTOR SHIPS S.A.’s beliefs and values, establishing its commitment to honesty and integrity.
The primary function of these Codes is to make the fundamental values and principles, guiding the activities of the Company, known within the organization and its managed ships and to all agents, contractors, suppliers, and other cooperating third parties.
These Codes aim to ensure that robust and precise values and highest standards of behavior unite the Company and orient individual conduct to confirm the image of correctness, prestige, and good reputation, which have always been CASTOR SHIPS S.A.’s assets.
CASTOR SHIPS S.A. expects from all personnel behavior according to the established principles, laws, rules, and standards, as follows:
Employees must:
- NEVER be involved in harassment, abuse, discrimination, or child pornography.
- NEVER conceal any identified unsafe act or event which affects or could affect health, safety, the environment, and the property.
- Impartially perform their duties and act in honesty and good faith.
- Treat all information regarding operations, projects, or any other work carried out as confidential to the extent that such information does not conflict with Company Policies and is not already disseminated or made generally available to third parties.
CASTOR SHIPS S.A.:
- Strongly prohibits any offer, gift or bribe in any form direct or indirect, including kickbacks in all operations as well as the use of other routes or channels for provision of improper benefits to, or receipt of improper benefits from agents, contractors, suppliers, or employees of any such party or government officials.
- Conducts procurements fairly and transparently.
Regarding Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing:
CASTOR SHIPS S.A.:
- Has a very strict sanctions policy in line with the latest requirements of OFAC, OFSI, AMSA, DFAT, EU, Paris PSC MoU, etc. and complies with all applicable laws, regulations and industry recommendations in relation to anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing.
- Regularly reviews information of existing and potential business partners and customers and ensures that sanctioned entities and individuals listed in the OFAC (USA), UN and EU sanctions lists, as updated from time to time, are identified and no business is conducted with them.
Regarding Prohibition of forced labor, child labor and human trafficking:
CASTOR SHIPS S.A.:
- Is committed to a work environment that is free from human trafficking, forced labor and unlawful child labor.
- Will not tolerate or condone such activities in any part of its organization. Company employees, contractors, subcontractors, vendors, suppliers and others through whom the Company conducts business must avoid any action that constitutes trafficking in persons, forced or child labor and must comply with all applicable laws, regulations and recommendations in relation to the above.
- Ensures that its employees are of legal working age for their position and complies with ILO and MLC standards, as well as with the applicable State laws for youth employment or student work, such as internships or apprenticeships.
- Takes measures to verify, evaluate, promote awareness about, and address risks associated with forced labor, child labor and human trafficking in its direct business dealings.
Examples of actions undertaken include the following:
o Evaluating and addressing business risk in the area of forced labor and human trafficking
o Supplier verification of compliance with applicable anti-slavery and human trafficking
o Awareness of Company employees.
