During his two-year tenure at the helm of leadership at the company, ISS CEO Frank Olsen has dedicated his efforts to sharpen the focus of Inchcape Shipping Services on the conventional values and business of a shipping agency. For starters, ISS CEO Frank Olsen divested the freight forwarding division of Inchcape Shipping Services in the Middle East.
During a statement in the Seatrade Maritime News, he mentioned that the branch was extremely capital intensive. As a result, the arm made half of the company debt and left it conveniently positioned with low leverage amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Order of Business
After the divesting move, next came a revived interest in bolstering the firm terms as the chief differentiator. Inchcape Shipping Services has an international network of more than 240 workstations in 68 states. The company has partner agencies worldwide, covering roughly 2,500 ports, close to 85% of the total obtainable ports calls globally. ISS CEO Frank Olsen highlights that the firm stands out among the three significant ship agency groups.
Inchcape Shipping Services is unique in that it has an unwavering focus. GAC was considerably immersed in logistics with Wilhelmsen, a former employer, became a highly varied group. ISS CEO Frank Olsen stated that the firm had diversified into other operations, although they involved the ship and port.
The Workings of the Shipping Agency Market
The main reason for the fragmentation of the shipping agency market, with roughly 80% market share, stretches out to less significant players’ hands is distrust. ISS CEO Frank Olsen is convinced that is why the firm released a transparency program in the previous year. The initiative would assist in forging meaningful relationships with the client base. Relationships built on fundamental trust are required for operators and agents to work together efficiently. For instance, on matters like arrivals at the port that are Just-In-Time can be an invaluable help to the current decarbonization problem.
As a shipping agent, Inchcape Shipping Services works hard to prove its value, transparency, and reliability to clients. The center of this approach is integrity, a much-needed factor for any shipping agent to succeed. ISS CEO Frank Olsen believes that this virtue is the most crucial in the operations of this company. He went on to state that integrity is heavily rooted in the business culture.
Inchcape Shipping Services emphasizes on the need for tech in services like its recently restored World of Ports. It is a digital database with available information on the ship and ports accessible through a subscription.
Adjusting Amid COVID-19 Crisis
During the coronavirus prevalence, the shipping agent has been freely offering on its site crucial data about ports throughout the globe. Here, flights and crew changes were possible, constantly upgraded by three employees working full-time in three separate time zones. The staff would collate and gather all the input from its specific international network. The website has acquired over 160,000 particular hits while representing an incredible resource that obtained many acclaims.
The firm has worked with ship managers, operators, and others in several global groups attempting to get an international solution to crew change. In the meantime, more than five days in the previous weeks, it successfully handled a complicated disembarking operation of 3,650 seafarers in India from four vessels that belonged to a large cruise group.
The Takeaway
There needs to be 100% collaboration among the various parties to resolve the crew change’s challenges. Consideration of any or all competitive factors must be left aside to achieve this objective. Some signs point out the reckoning of this event with ISS CEO Frank Olsen. At the end of it all, the human element remains paramount as it trumps everything. If you want shipping containers in Sydney, check out OSG Containers.
