Brian Adrian Wessel is the new Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority, where the experienced top official looks forward to working with safety as a central part of Danish shipping. Artificial intelligence can provide further progress, he believes.
Starting in 2025, the Danish Maritime Authority has a new director in the shape of 50-year-old Brian Adrian Wessel. A lawyer by trait he comes with many years of experience primarily from the governmental administration, most recently as director of commercial law in the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs – of which the Danish Maritime Authority is also a part.
The agency's overall goal is to 'create safety at sea and growth in the maritime industries in Denmark', and with the underlying mission, it will ‘Ensure strong framework for a competitive maritime cluster and promote safety and health on clean seas,' as it is.
But how will the new captain on the bridge tackle the tasks ahead, how will he approach the work with safety at sea, and what kind of skills is he relying on? The Danish Shipowners’ Accident Insurance Association has spoken to Brian Adrian Wessel about this.
His career so far might be a bit short in the maritime department, but through five and a half years as director of the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, he has had shipping as one of his areas of responsibility, which has also been an important steppingstone on the road to the DMA head office in Korsør.
»As a lawyer, I have been involved in formulating rules under the auspices of the IMO, among other things, I have a lot of management experience, and I have worked a lot with the international perspective, also during a period in Brussels. The three tracks, I think, lead me nicely to the position here,« Brian Adrian Wessel says.
He emphasizes especially the international aspect of an otherwise regulation-filled position in a field he describes as both incredibly exciting and extremely important for Danish business, which Danish Shipping's latest report in the area confirms.
However, one thing is the political and legal experience, another thing is the underlying, operational level with both national and international supervisory tasks, which Brian Adrian Wessel will give himself a few months to familiarize himself with.
»Basically, Denmark has a great position as a maritime nation, and it is my task to if not strengthen, then at least maintain it. And on that front, we are competing against some of the other large flag states to be the best authority for shipping, so it is an important parameter, because we want to be just that,« he says.
Focus on prevention and supervision
A month into the job, Brian Adrian Wessel has only positive things to say about 'a well-functioning agency and a strong organization with many highly skilled employees', as he says. And that will come in handy, given the tasks that are waiting.
»Denmark will have the EU presidency in the second half of 2025, and enormously important things for the green transition will have to be adopted in the IMO – both some fuel regulation and hopefully also some form of taxation. On top og that safety is a huge issue,« he emphasizes.
Currently, he highlights the threat from the Russian shadow fleet – i.e. vessels, often older, that transport, for example, oil to and from Russia, but under other flags – as a major topic on the Danish Maritime Authority's agenda.
»We must be responsible for the safety of the seafarers on the Danish-flagged ships with all that entails. It is a fixed and very important task. Therefore, the efforts UFDS makes is also enormously important, and we stand for many of the same things in this field,« Brian Adrian Wessel says.
In line with the statistics, he has – with pleasure – noted that the safety of seafarers on Danish ships is generally improving. Overall, the Danish Maritime Authority is working on two fronts to support this development.
»We focus partly on prevention, where we seek to provide input early in the maritime education and prepare people from the get-go, and then we have the dialogue with the shipowners and the organizations on top of that. The other leg is our role as a supervisory authority, which means that we have to be clear and unambiguous in an area such as safety, which is an essential part of having quality shipping in Denmark,« he says.
When the agency is on an inspection visit, it is a high priority to pass on good advice and knowledge, so that the preventive work can be further strengthened, Brian Adrian Wessel continues.
Great potential in AI and data
The shipping industry and the technologies surrounding it are developing rapidly, calling on the Danish Maritime Authority to pay close attention. This also applies to safety-related considerations in connection with, for example, new fuels such as methanol, LNG and ammonia, entailing some other risks than conventional diesel.
»We see some new challenges which we have to stay ahead of together with the shipping companies and the sector's other players. Again, it's about dialogue, so that we can take the industry's input into account in both the preventive work, in our supervision and in the entire rule-making,« Brian Adrian Wessel explains.
Specifically, the agency has an initiative called Future Lab, where new technologies such as the more climate-friendly fuels but also drones and other developments are being handled in order to gain first-hand knowledge of the available opportunities.
»I see it as a kind of cycle where we help each other across the industry to be ready as early as possible with prevention, supervision and regulation. Where I think we have some potential to do more is through the data we have on what's happening, why and how. If we get this knowledge activated through artificial intelligence, we may be able to predict to some extent where and when something will happen, and thus prevent better,« Brian Adrian Wessel says.
Going forward, he sees both political and regulatory challenges on the horizon. In the area of supervision, it should be a natural priority for the Danish Maritime Authority – according to the new Director General – to focus on quality rather than quantity, and to make it more risk-based.
»The political desire is more for fewer funds, and that is completely fair. And I think we can deliver on that by conducting modern and more risk-based supervision, allowing us to prevent more accidents, and also become even better at learning from the things that do happen, for example through smarter use of data,« he says.
»We must be responsible for the safety of the seafarers on the Danish-flagged ships with all that entails. It is a fixed and very important task.«
Brian Adrian Wessel, Director General, Danish Maritime Authority
