Superyacht Safety, CHIRP & Crew Reporting with Paul Shepherd | On The Bridge

How can the superyacht industry improve safety before something goes wrong?

In this episode of On The Bridge, Alicia Store, Chief Operating Officer at dsnm Ltd, speaks with Paul Shepherd, Chair of CHIRP’s superyacht programme, about confidential safety reporting, crew trust, shared learning, and the culture needed to help yacht crew speak up.

Paul explains what CHIRP is, why a superyacht-specific programme was created, and how crew can share safety concerns, near misses, incidents, and lessons learned without fear of being identified.

This is not a conversation about whistleblowing. It is a conversation about learning.

Paul makes clear that CHIRP is designed to take the same safety conversations that often happen in crew bars, WhatsApp groups, or private chats, and bring them into a confidential structure where the wider industry can learn from them. The aim is not to blame yachts, captains, crew, or management companies. The aim is to prevent the same mistakes from being repeated elsewhere.

Alicia and Paul also discuss some of the most common superyacht safety themes reported through CHIRP, including tender operations, anchoring and mooring, and working aloft. They explore why unsafe practices can become normal onboard simply because nothing has gone wrong yet, a process known as the normalisation of deviation.

From kill cords and life jackets in tenders to slippery surfaces, exposed work areas, stop work authority, and the importance of fresh eyes onboard, this conversation looks at the everyday decisions that shape safety culture.

Paul also highlights the positive side of the industry: the captains, chief officers, engineers, interior teams, deck crew, and shoreside professionals already trying to build better safety standards across yachting.

At the heart of the discussion is a simple idea:

You do not have enough time to make all the mistakes yourself. Sometimes the safest thing a yacht can do is learn from what has already happened somewhere else.

Topics include:

• What CHIRP is and why the superyacht programme was created
• Confidential safety reporting in yachting
• Why CHIRP is not a whistleblowing programme
• How crew anonymity is protected
• Tender operations, anchoring, mooring, and working aloft
• Normalisation of deviation in yacht operations
• Kill cords, life jackets, and practical tender safety
• Stop work authority and crew confidence
• Why safety culture depends on trust
• How captains and senior crew can use CHIRP reports onboard
• Why shared learning can prevent serious incidents

Learn more about CHIRP Maritime:
https://chirp.co.uk/maritime/

Learn more about dsnm Ltd:
www.dsnmltd.com

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Host: Alicia Store, Chief Operating Officer at dsnm Ltd
Guest: Paul Shepherd, Chair of CHIRP’s superyacht programme

On The Bridge | dsnm Ltd | Yachting International Radio

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