Christopher Saunders

Christopher Saunders is Chief Maritime Officer at RightShip and a Board Director of the Dry Bulk Centre for Excellence (DBCE). In his role at RightShip, Christopher leads marine governance, industry standards, vetting methodologies, inspections, and risk frameworks that underpin safety, sustainability, and crew welfare assessments across the global maritime fleet.

Christopher works at the intersection of maritime safety, sustainability, crew welfare, and industry standards, focusing on improving the consistency, transparency, and credibility of vessel‑level information used in chartering and due‑diligence decisions. Under his leadership, RightShip’s standards and risk frameworks are translated into practical, decision‑grade signals within the RightShip platform — supporting charterers with more consistent risk insights while enabling shipowners and managers to demonstrate performance beyond baseline compliance.

Christopher and his team are also responsible for setting the standards and governance that guide how data and artificial intelligence are applied across RightShip’s offerings, ensuring that AI‑enabled insights are explainable, proportionate, and grounded in real‑world maritime operations.

As a Director of the Dry Bulk Centre for Excellence, Christopher contributes to the independent governance and evolution of the Dry Bulk Management Standard (DryBMS), supporting industry‑wide collaboration and continuous improvement across the dry bulk sector.

Prior to his current role, Christopher served as Chief Product Officer at RightShip, where he led the development of the company’s digital platform — including the Safety Score, the launch of GHG Rating 2.0, and increased integration and automation across vetting and inspection workflows.

A qualified Master Mariner (Unlimited) with extensive seagoing experience on LNG carriers, Christopher brings deep operational understanding to standards development.

Christopher regularly engages with shipowners, charterers, regulators, and industry bodies globally, and is particularly interested in how clear standards, trusted data, and appropriate governance can improve safety outcomes, support crew welfare, and align incentives across the maritime value chain.