INTERTANKO started the ball rolling on the Poseidon Challenge in April 2005 immediately after the Athens Tanker Event when a group of tanker owners and other tanker industry representatives went out to the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion to mark the intention of encouraging and inspiring companies and individuals in the oil transportation sector to work together to raise standards even further and set new goals of excellence.

The Poseidon Challenge is part of our revised strategic plan for INTERTANKO which in short says that INTERTANKO members will lead the continuous improvement of the tanker industry’s performance in striving to achieve the goals of - Zero fatalities - Zero pollution - Zero detentions.

These aggressive goals were agreed to at our Council meeting in November. It has taken effort and courage to get agreement on this proactive approach. Nevertheless, we feel that we must take our future into our own hands with a serious commitment to continuous improvement.

Members of INTERTANKO and others from the international tanker industry at Sounion

The Poseidon Challenge is part of a strategy to take tangible forward steps towards these goals, and to work together with the industry to achieve practical and effective action. It is an invitation to all participants in the Chain of Responsibility to join INTERTANKO members and work together in a sustained commitment to continuous improvement. It is founded on the principle that these shared goals can best be achieved by proactive, voluntary, efforts to set our own high standards for performance rather than by waiting for governmental or environmental "policemen" to do it for us. Further, it recognises that every link in the Chain of Responsibility is vital and must perform to the same high standard for these goals to be achieved.

"We want and need all those in the Chain of Responsibility, who directly impact tanker safety and efficiency, to demonstrate a genuine long-term commitment to achieving real, measurable results in the bid to raise standards even further."

We are inviting Class, Flag States, Port States, Regulators, Pilots, Salvors, Educators, Brokers, Builders, Charterers, Suppliers, Bunker Suppliers, Insurance, Port Operators, Agents, Financiers, Ship Managers et al to come to the Singapore Tanker Event and launch the Poseidon Challenge by vouching for their part in this bid to achieve these ‘zero’ goals and become the industry we want to be. And a vital part of our approach is to have tanker owners demonstrate their own commitment to continuous improvement, undertaking the same challenge and ourselves leading the way upwards to the next level of performance.

The Poseidon Challenge is not a PR programme, and while we expect it will generate some interesting PR, that is not our objective. It is a long-term part of our work programme - and hopefully that of the whole industry. We want and need all those in the Chain of Responsibility, who directly impact tanker safety and efficiency, to demonstrate a genuine long-term commitment to achieving real, measurable results in the bid to raise standards even further.

We intend the Poseidon Challenge to be an annual event. Each year we will all report on our individual successes, and disappointments; we will learn from the achievements and failures of others; and we can then recommit to achieving our goals.

Representativers of international shipowners and other members of the international tanker industry with INTERTANKO Chairman Stephen Van Dyck (5th from right)