Portrait of Benoît Guillou, Green Marine Europe Verifier

The credibility of Green Marine Europe’s certification process is based on the external verification of the candidates' results, following their self-assessment.

As the candidates external verification phase is in full swing, discover the Green Marine Europe accredited verifier. Today, Benoît Guillou.

What is your current career and profession?

I come from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Maritime (ENSM – French Maritime Academy). Former Merchant Navy Officer and Chief Engineer Unlimited, I mainly worked in the Machinery Department during my 10 years of navigation on crude oil, dredge and passenger vessels. I participated in the construction monitoring of 4 ships and sometimes assisted the technical services and ISM (International Safety Management) of my shipping companies.

The technical aspect of these missions, as well as their human and often multicultural contexts, have contributed to my professional development.

I completed my academic and technical background with a Master 2 in maritime transport law as well as a professional diver’s training (1B).

I have been a marine expert since 2013, with the Cabinet d'expertises maritimes Clément et Associés. I intervene mainly in the context of maritime and transport disasters as well as for prevention missions before loading.

What does it mean to be a verifier for Green Marine Europe?

Being an accredited verifier means having the opportunity to actively participate in the promotion of best practices in environmental protection in the maritime sector.

My past as a seafarer allows me to share a common maritime lexical field and ways of doing things related to the operation of commercial vessels. This facilitates exchanges around the evaluation of the results of each candidate at some point.

These exchanges also allow shipowners to see their growth prospects for the years to come. It is this opportunity to be able to act at the source that particularly motivates me.

What is the most iconic GME indicator for you, which best symbolizes its continuous improvement approach? And why?

I think that all the Green Marine Europe indicators are important and emblematic overall, because they guide shipowners, in order to go further than the regulatory texts in their environmental approach. That seems to me to be the most emblematic point.

That said, I have a particular sensitivity to underwater noise, as a diver operating in areas where ships operate. This is probably a more difficult subject for the uninitiated to grasp. Green Marine Europe has the merit of taking on this subject, not yet framed.