Capt Ritesh Chawla

Capt Ritesh Chawla

Head of Marine Safety & Vetting
Rio Tinto

Capt Ritesh Chawla is Head of Marine Safety & Vetting at Rio Tinto, based in Singapore, where he leads global assurance of maritime safety across chartered operations. He is responsible for strengthening vessel selection standards, driving critical risk management, and embedding audit-defensible safety frameworks across the supply chain.

In his current role, he leads Rio Tinto’s Designated Owners & Operators (DOO) program, a strategic initiative to uplift safety and crew welfare across the industry. His work focuses on enhancing governance, consistency, and engagement with key partners to drive safer outcomes at scale.

With a strong seagoing background and leadership experience ashore, he brings a practical, systems-focused perspective on advancing industry-wide maritime safety.