Thom Herbert recognised for the instrumental role he plays in the current success at Idwal and in the progression of the industry.

CARDIFF, UK (Wednesday 9th November 2022) – Idwal has announced that their Senior Marine Surveyor and Crew Welfare Advocate, Thom Herbert, has been presented with a special award under the title ‘Future Leaders of the Year’ at the Seatrade Maritime Awards, held Tuesday 8th November at the Guildhall, London. Thom was selected by the Editorial Board at Seatrade Maritime, who described him as an ideal and worthy recipient of this award for 2022.

At Idwal, Thom is Senior Marine Surveyor with responsibility for portfolio management of customer fleets, development and improvement of products, training of new members to the team, and deputising in the management of the Technical team, when required. Before moving ashore and starting at Idwal in 2019, Thom worked at sea as a deck officer on a variety of vessel types, including oil and gas tankers, and a small luxury cruise ship.

Thom is also very proud to be the Idwal Crew Wellbeing Advocate and, to date, this has led to the implementation of crew welfare-specific questions into the Idwal inspection checklist, becoming a sponsor to the Seafarers Happiness Index, as well hosting webinars on the topic with the Standard P+I Club and the Seafarers Happiness Index. Through this role, Thom hopes to better highlight these issues to the wider shipping community with the sole aim of implementing resolutions to improve crew welfare as a whole.

At the star-studded black-tie event on Tuesday evening, Thom accepted his award and said: “The welfare of seafarers has become something that I am incredibly passionate about and I have been lucky enough to work for a company that not only acknowledges the issues around crew welfare but actively supports those that look to make a difference.“

Find out more about Idwal’s initiatives around seafarer wellbeing on their dedicated page: www.idwalmarine.com/crew