You need systems people can work with - Synergy

Maritime systems can only work if people can work with them, said Synergy’s Nikolaj von Wartburg. Software needs to reduce work, not create it. And if you don’t trust your people, you can’t trust your system

Synergy Ship Management wants to enable its crew and office staff to use their common sense, knowledge and education in their work, said Nikolaj von Wartburg, head of Europe with Synergy Ship Management, speaking at People Tech Maritime event in Hamburg in May.

“If you don't have the right people to do a task, there's no point in a system,” he said. “The system can only work if the people are right.”

If you don’t trust your people, you cannot trust the data in the system that they work with, he said.

Often, maritime software creates more work, rather than making existing work easier. “Our seafarers [have] all kinds of work that has to be filled out. Before arrival in port, before inspection, filling in forms for the office who want to know where you are with inventory.”

“It gives crew less time to focus on what really matters.”

With cybersecurity issues, once you are aware of them, it is too late. There is no early warning of an impending problem, such as if you see something starting to rust on the deck, he said.

Mr von Wartburg likes that the conference was called People Tech Maritime not Tech People Maritime. “That is the exact order,” he said.

He has a background in management roles at Hapag Lloyd, TORM And AP Moller, and working onboard Maersk vessels as an engineer, and as a submarine lieutenant in the Danish Navy.

Synergy was founded in 2007, and now has 700 ships under management, with 27 offices.

In-house AI

Synergy has an in-house software team developing AI support tools, to help staff work with the company’s data.

It is designed as a co-pilot, which “works alongside you and doesn't take over, gives you support on what decision you need to take.”

It speeds up decision making, helping people get in touch with the relevant experts quickly, and improves transparency, he said. “You can make sure you have the right dashboards in front of you to take decisions.”

It is still being tested as of May 2026, and not yet available to everyone in the company. The intention is to make it available to the whole company, and also onboard ships, he said.

With Synergy managing so many vessels, having advanced systems for providing the right data is very helpful.

Over the long term, the company hopes to use it to improve workstreams, such as the tasks which superintendents need to do on a day to day basis. It could be used to give seafarers a better overview of all outstanding tasks, and prioritise the tasks which would have the biggest impact.

It could also support communications between owners and managers, updating shipowners in the way that they want to be updated.

Some shipowners don’t want to be regularly updated about their vessels, but others “need to know exactly what we spend on what parts,” he said.

Some owners want information sent to them manually, in which case they can receive noon report data. Others are happy with automatically logged data, he said.