TradeWinds Maritime Outsourcing Forum 2008
Posted on January 1st 2008 | By admin
What role does outsourcing play in shipping today and going forward?
The industry faces major challenges on several fronts including a record number of new vessels joining the fleet between now and the end of the decade that must be financed and manned. Huge numbers of crew have to be recruited, trained and retained. All against the backdrop of rising numbers of accidents linked to navigational errors. Add to this the growing demand for newbuilding supervision, especially in China, as well as often spiraling cost pressures associated with bunkers and insurance and suddenly maritime outsourcing takes on a new relevance.
Outsourcing can and does play a key role in all of these areas, offering potential cost savings for owners by tapping into a pool of expertise. With the growth of the world fleet, shipmanagers are poised to become an ever-more attractive solution for companies that lack the necessary in-house expertise and manpower. Many owners are also diversifying from their traditional sectors into new ship-types requiring project-specific skills.
But outsourcing is not a ‘one solution fits all’ answer as there are recent examples of owners taking more control of their destiny, including moving all or some of their management functions back ‘in house’. And with shipmanagers complaining that the flat-fee system provides little incentive for them to increase quality and the opportunity to earn a decent return on investment, is the traditional management business model set to be jettisoned in favour of a ‘value added’ approach incorporating a menu of ancillary services? But, who benefits?
In this more demanding and competitive maritime environment, how important is the local infrastructure, tax regime, maritime cluster and proximity to cargo interests offered by your chosen country? Do large clusters encourage and facilitate greater outsourcing or insourcing?
For owners facing serious cost pressures, crew challenges, integrating newbuildings into existing fleets and an uncertain world trade outlook, is now the time to re-examine all aspects of maritime outsourcing? What can we outsource, what must we bring in house? And, particularly relevant– how can we benchmark our outsourcing partner’s performance?
Find out for yourself by joining the maritime outsourcing industry on November 18th.
TradeWinds Web TV reported extensively on the 2007 event in Copenhagen and below are links to video interviews with some of the speakers and delegates.
Where: Singapore, Southeast Asia
When: November 18, 2008
