President
Captain Sivaraman Krishnamurthi was born in 1965 in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India. He went to school in Madras and Visakhapatnam and after his higher secondary education commenced his career at sea in 1982 as a deck cadet with Dredging Corporation of India.
He moved to mainstream Merchant Navy in Essar Shipping in 1986 and gained his Master Class 1 Certificate of Competency in 1993 after studying at Sydney Technical College. He served in ascending capacities, to Master, with Univan, Bergessen Worldwide, Bernard Schulte and Tanker Pacific. In 2007, after seven years of command on ocean-going oil tankers, he came ashore to ship management positions and is currently Vice President, Operations – Technical in Sanmar Shipping Ltd Chennai.
Krish, as he likes to be known, has also utilised his time on vacation from sea service to teach at Maritime Academies at Chennai from 1995 to 2001. He has been a member of The Nautical Institute since 1996, played a key role in setting up the India (South) Branch in 2001, and authored several Captain’s Columns in the Institute's monthly magazine Seaways.
Krish was elected to the governing Council of The Nautical Institute in 2004, became a Vice President in 2006, and was elected as a Fellow in 2008. He will focus on optimising the application of emerging technology, especially Information Technology, in providing business advantage and sensible management control. He is passionate about improving safety at sea through professional standards and will be promoting mentoring as a means of raising competence at sea and ashore during his two years as President.
Vice President
Chief Executive
In May 2003, Philip Wake became the Chief Executive of The Nautical Institute, having served in the Secretariat since November 1999. Prior to that, he was Chairman of the voluntary London Branch 1998/99 and was elected a Fellow in 1996.
Previously, he served at sea from Cadet to Chief Officer with Ellerman City Liners before coming ashore to a container consortium (including establishing a new commercial department). He became a Senior Consultant in shipping economics at LMIS, and latterly was a Director of Clarkson Research Studies.
He holds an MSc in Shipping, Trade, and Finance from the City University Business School, London and a Master’s Certificate of Competency (Foreign Going). He also served in the Royal Naval Reserve specialising in Mine Counter Measures and Naval Control of Shipping.
Director of Projects
David Patraiko is the Director of Projects for The Nautical Institute, and coordinates its Technical and Professional Development Committees. He is responsible for developing and managing major Institute projects and he represents the professional interests of members in general shipping, training and technical forums.
Much of this work is aimed at assisting members of the Institute with continuous professional development. He has led research and produced many papers and articles on training, electronic navigation, and the associated ‘Human Element’ effects created by technology. He is currently involved with the international debate on e-Navigation and is Chairman of the IALA e-navigation working group for Strategy and Operations, and Chairman of the Industry ECDIS Training Group.
After a brief period as an independent consultant and surveyor, in 1997 David accepted the position as Project Manager for The Nautical Institute, and became Director of Projects in 2003. A graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (US), he sailed on a variety of international vessels in his fifteen years in the Merchant Navy (1981 – 1997). He holds an Unlimited Master Mariners licence, and was awarded an MBA degree from Henley Management College (UK).
Training & Quality Manager