From tanker deck to data-driven loss control: How Artur Chaykovskyy is reframing risk in liquid bulk shipping

In an era of thin margins, volatile energy markets and relentless scrutiny over emissions, tanker operators and their customers are discovering that “acceptable” cargo losses are no longer just a cost of doing business. Every fraction of a percent that goes missing between load port and discharge is now a board-level question - and increasingly, a competitive differentiator.

Few people sit closer to that pressure point than Artur Chaykovskyy, a former tanker chief officer turned cargo superintendent, independent inspector and co-founder of U.S.-based Sea Star Global Marine. With more than 15 years on liquid bulk vessels and terminals behind him, he has built a niche at the intersection of shipboard practice, terminal operations and loss-control analytics - a space the industry is only just beginning to treat as strategic.

“When you’re standing on the bridge at 3 a.m. and watching a high-value cargo load, you’re not thinking in basis points,” he says. “You’re thinking: every valve, every gauge, every reading must be right. That mindset is exactly what I’m trying to bring into shore-based decision-making.”

The new economics of “acceptable” loss

In liquid bulk shipping, the concept of “normal” or “operational” loss has long been built into contracts. Temperature changes, tank calibrations, line fill and measurement uncertainty all translate into differences between nominated, loaded and discharged quantities. Historically, as long as losses stayed within an agreed tolerance band, attention moved on.

But several converging forces are changing that equation:

• greater volatility in crude and refined product prices;
• tighter sanctions and compliance regimes, particularly in the tanker space;
• ESG-driven demands for transparency in hydrocarbon supply chains;
• and the digitalization of port and terminal operations, which makes unexplained discrepancies more visible than ever.

Against this backdrop, cargo owners and charterers are starting to treat loss control as “found margin” - and as a way to reduce disputes along increasingly complex trade routes. That shift has created a quiet but important demand for specialists who can translate the physics and practice of tanker operations into commercially robust controls.

This is where professionals like Chaykovskyy step in.

From Black Sea academy to bluewater tankers

Born and trained in a traditional maritime environment, Chaykovskyy’s career began at the Kherson State Maritime Academy, a Black Sea institution known for producing deck officers for international fleets. There he immersed himself in navigation, bridge resource management and tanker operations before joining deep-sea vessels trading globally.

Over the next decade and a half he sailed on a variety of crude, product, chemical and bitumen tankers, eventually serving as chief officer. The work put him in the middle of the real-world complexities that rarely show up in theory: congested anchorages in the Middle East, weather windows in the North Atlantic, tight terminal schedules in Europe and the U.S. Gulf, and demanding cargo programs involving multiple grades and parcels.

“On paper, a load or discharge sequence is just a plan,” he recalls. “On board, it’s a choreography of people, steel and fluid. You learn quickly how small deviations can become big commercial issues.”

It was during those years that he developed a particular interest in the interface between cargo operations, measurement and commercial outcomes. Disputes over volumes, temperature corrections and tank-by-tank allocations were not abstractions but episodes with direct consequences for owners, charterers and traders.

Stepping ashore: the rise of the cargo superintendent

After relocating to the United States, Chaykovskyy moved into shore-based roles as a cargo superintendent and independent inspector, representing the interests of cargo owners and trade houses during critical operations.

His day-to-day work now includes:

• overseeing load and discharge operations at U.S. and international terminals;
• supervising ship-to-ship (STS) transfers where two tankers conduct high-stakes cargo moves at sea;
• managing on-board blending programs to meet tight product specifications;
• leading draft, bunker and line displacement surveys;
• and, crucially, investigating and explaining cargo losses along the chain.

The role demands a hybrid skill set. He must speak the language of deck crews and terminal operators while understanding the risk matrices and P&L sensitivities of trading desks.

“You might have a chief officer worried about tank stress, a terminal watching manifold pressure, and a trader concerned about every tenth of a percent,” he says. “Loss control means aligning all three - operational reality, safety and commercial expectations.”

That ability to navigate between frontline operations and commercial strategy has made him a sought-after presence for clients looking to reduce disputes and build repeatable loading and discharge practices.

Building Sea Star Global Marine: a boutique lens on tanker risk

Seeing a gap between traditional inspection services and the growing complexity of tanker trades, Chaykovskyy helped launch Sea Star Global Marine, a boutique firm focused on petroleum loss control, technical marine services and cargo operations support.

Unlike generalized inspection houses, Sea Star positions itself as a specialist partner for high-value and operationally complex movements. The firm’s portfolio covers:

• end-to-end loss control on crude and refined products;
• planning and supervision of STS operations in designated offshore zones;
• pre-voyage and pre-discharge risk reviews;
• testing of pressure-vacuum valves, hatch integrity checks and related safety surveys;
• internal audits aligned with ISM/ISPS/MLC regimes;
• and incident investigations where unexplained differences in cargo quantities or quality have triggered commercial or regulatory concerns.

For AJOT’s readers - many of whom manage fleets, terminals or cargo portfolios - the rise of such specialized firms reflects a broader trend: the shift from transactional inspection to strategic cargo intelligence.

“Ten years ago, people mostly called superintendents when something was already going wrong,” Chaykovskyy notes. “Now more clients want us at the planning table. They’ve seen how much more expensive it is to fight over a result than to design a better process.”

Turning experience into algorithms

One of the more distinctive aspects of Chaykovskyy’s work is his push to embed operational expertise into digital tools. Having grown up in a world of hand-written logs and manual ullage tables, he is now part of teams developing software that systematizes best practices in loss control and reporting.

These tools aim to:

• standardize cargo line-up and tank allocation logic for different cargo types;
• support dynamic monitoring of temperature and density changes across a voyage;
• reconcile shore and ship figures with clear, auditable reasoning;
• generate structured draft and bunker reports to reduce ambiguity at the close of operations.

In practice, that means encoding years of “tribal knowledge” - when to question a gauge, how to interpret a suspect manifold reading, which combinations of errors are most likely - into workflows that younger officers and shoreside staff can use consistently.

“Digitalization can’t replace seamanship,” he says. “But it can ensure that the best seamanship is not limited to the few people who’ve seen every type of complication. The goal is to make good decisions repeatable.”

For ports, terminals and operators pursuing smarter, data-driven logistics, this blend of operational intuition and software design is becoming a critical enabler.

Training the next generation of tanker professionals

Beyond his direct client work, Chaykovskyy devotes significant energy to training and mentoring officers and inspectors. Drawing on his background on both sides of the ship-shore interface, he conducts workshops and one-on-one coaching focused on:

• interpreting cargo measurement data with a loss-control mindset;
• understanding the commercial implications of operational choices;
• managing communication across language and culture gaps during high-pressure operations;
• preparing documentation that stands up under audit and dispute.

For an industry facing demographic challenges and a shortage of experienced tanker officers, that emphasis on knowledge transfer resonates strongly. It also reflects a key reality: in many cases, cargo discrepancies are not the product of malice or fraud, but of gaps in training, misaligned incentives or simple miscommunication.

“If we want fewer disputes and safer operations,” he says, “we have to invest in how people think about cargo - not just in better gauges and sensors.”

Why profiles like this matter for the industry

For AJOT’s readership - executives, operators, freight buyers and logistics planners - the story of Artur Chaykovskyy is more than an individual career narrative. It illustrates a structural shift in how liquid bulk shipping is managed:

• from accepting loss as “noise” to treating it as a controllable variable;
• from reactive claims handling to proactive operational design;
• from isolated inspections to integrated cargo intelligence;
• and from purely analog practice to digital-enabled decision-making.

As energy markets adapt to new trade flows, sanctions, decarbonization roadmaps and shifting demand, the expertise sitting at the junction of ship, shore and data will only grow in importance. Professionals who can bridge those domains - and companies built around their insight - are likely to shape how efficiently, safely and transparently liquid bulk cargo moves in the decade ahead.

Chaykovskyy’s journey from Black Sea cadet to U.S.-based loss-control innovator encapsulates that evolution. For tanker owners, charterers and terminals looking to stay ahead of operational and reputational risk, paying attention to the lessons embedded in careers like his may be as strategic as any new piece of hardware installed on a vessel or at a berth.