Interorient

SHIPPING PARTNER ADDING VALUE FOR THE LONG-HAUL

Shipping partner ADDI NG VA LUE for the long-haul

Interorient Shipmanagement Managing Director Maurice Baker

Interorient

Shipmanagement is a name that has stood proud, long, and strong in the ship management sector since the Papadopoulos family founded the business in 1979. With the second generation at the helm, the company continues to flourish.

While the pandemic and the RussiaUkraine conflict have proved challenging, the business remains an ever-willing partner to owners, operators, suppliers, and, very much, its own crew.

“Seafarers are front and centre, the lifeblood of our business; during the pan demic they were pulling the world through and keeping supply chains moving,” asserted Managing Director Maurice Baker. “With airfreight grounded and land trans portation interrupted, sea-based trade con tinued. That was thanks to our seafarers.”

Commitment to crew

This unwavering commitment to crew wel fare has proved immeasurable to Interorient. Retention rates have ranged from 99% prepandemic to 95% in 2022.

“We are loyal to them, and they are loyal to us. We are partners through the good and bad of an ever-changing industry,” he reflected.

Partnerships have also helped build strong foundations for Interorient over the decades as it has diversified out as an owner and operator of tankers, bulk carriers and container vessels, and into ship management.

INTERORIENT SHIPMANAGEMENT I PROFILE

Interorient Shipmanagement maintains strong relationships with oil majors, commodity traders, and other significant charterers. Most of the company’s owned ships trade through pools it has co-founded like the Norient Product Pool which is today one of the biggest Handy and MR product tanker operators globally, with more than 100 vessels in its portfolio.

Interorient Shipmanagement currently oversees 70 vessels worldwide, which includes vessels owned by the group, and the rest on behalf of European, American, Chinese, and African concerns. Within this fleet, Interorient maintains several specialised asphalt and bitumen carriers.

Headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus, Interorient Shipmanagement also has offices in Hamburg and Singapore and crewing offices in Riga, Odessa, Egypt, and Manila. Mr Baker confirmed: “Business growth is picking up for us in 2022 as the market begins to flourish. We have taken on some ships recently and more are due later this year.”

Digital advances

During the last few years, Interorient has continued to digitalize its systems, simplify work processes, enhance client interface, and overhaul its crew training and welfare platforms.

“The pandemic and the difficulties it brought have made us all much stronger and more resilient. It took us out of our comfort zone and made us work differently in an ever-changing environment,” com mented Mr Baker.

“As professional seafarers, it is ingrained in us to look beyond borders and passports and come together as a team to ensure we can accomplish the essential task of deliv ering commodities worldwide.”

He elaborated: “Covid could not have emphasised more the need for us to look after our crew. Sadly, seafarers went through much hardship: they could not leave their vessels and four-month contracts onboard extended to 16 and 18 months. They went through a lot, and some have decided not to return to sea as a result.

“At Interorient, our crew are essential and appreciated. So, we revamped everything from their food and wages to pensions, wel fare, and medical services.”

One such move has been a strategic part nership with a new catering and training

firm to provide more comprehensive galley management services for fully managed ves sels and some crew managed vessels. It is highly tailored to the cultures, nations, and healthy nutritional needs of those onboard.

“Our new partnership is currently dis rupting the galley space with their inno vative approach, which goes beyond the usual ship chandler’s contract of sup plying food to a vessel and then leaving vessels to deal with the management themselves,” said Mr Baker.

Interorient has also revamped its training program, enabling crews to undertake ses sions remotely, delivered by a dedicated training team.

“We have also made great strides in the area of mental wellbeing for crew,” added Mr Baker. “Earlier this year we introduced the Mental Fitness Gym, a permanent pro gram at Interorient Shipmanagement which provides useful tool kits for crew to build their resilience and train their mental mus cles and make them better prepared for life’s challenges – this program is also delivered digitally to crew.

“All these measures fully reflect that crew members are more important than ever,” he said. “And it helps to ensure continuity onboard our fleets. The happier the crew, the more loyal they are, better motivated, and less likely they will leave.”

The company has also digitized its sys tems with software programs to extract data and provide clients with up-to-date information. Following the implementa tion

of an integrated Ship-Shore Management System, the company has adopted a Clients’ Portal; a comprehensive data platform that is shared with their clients.

“The client, the ship, and the office are all now on one platform, ensuring trans parency from start to finish,” detailed Mr Baker. “They can see their ship live and what is happening onboard; this data can be seen anywhere in the world with the touch of a mobile app.”

In addition, ProFleet, an Interorient subsidiary is a premium procurement ser vice platform that has attracted several clients since its establishment, offering competitive purchasing power enjoyed by all its members.

Further, replacing the old-fashioned paper-style Oil Record Books with a digital platform meant accurate entries of oil move ments onboard, easy shore access to the fleet records, and above all, ease of use for the vessel’s crew. A positive development that was well received by all.

“We have an excellent in-house team of developers, and they are evolving these systems all the time, adding the environ mental data in compliance with the upcoming IMO requirements and many more extra features.”

The importance of partnerships

The company is also gearing up its Interorient Shipping Fund, a Cyprus-incor porated investment vehicle set up in 2021

INTERORIENT SHIPMANAGEMENT I PROFILE

to provide attractive returns for investors in quality vessels. The Interorient Shipping Fund, which is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, has already invested in three MR product tankers and a handy bulk car rier; the latter will be transferred to the Fund over the coming months.

Mr Baker commented: “Once investment is in place, we go out looking to invest in quality vessels. We then manage those ves sels both technically and commercially. The investors get a satisfactory return on their capital. We have experienced significant demand for this Fund, and we are presently looking for many more vessels to meet the demand. Business growth is in the pipeline for us.”

Mr Baker emphasized: “Interorient Shipmanagement is not huge, nor does it intend to be. Being a boutique ship manage ment company, we are focused on special partnerships. We work together and sup port each other through good and bad. “We maintain transparency, excellent communications, and goodwill throughout. It is a matter of bringing added value to the partnership, which helps build trust over the long term.”

He concluded: “Interorient Shipmanagement is always interested in finding the right chemistry and new syner gies in partnerships. That is why more small-scale ship owners are now coming onboard, and our future looks bright. We also encourage both owners and managers

to contact our ProFleet desk to find out what this procurement platform can offer them, in terms of both quality and pricing of products.” n