David and our other senior segment managers covering the Atlantic and Pacific are responsible for the overall performance of our fleet in their respective vessel sizes and geographical spheres. An important part of their routine is to schedule our substitutable ships for optimal combination with cargos to best suit our customers’ freight delivery requirements while also achieving maximum utilisation of our ships. Getting that right is a constant challenge, as our customers’ needs can change, often with little notice, and ships’ schedules are frequently affected by difficult weather conditions and port delays beyond our control.

With cargo commitments and a fleet as large as ours, we need to be constantly on the ball to substitute and reroute ships where weather or port delays threaten the punctuality of our service or where our customers’ needs have changed at short notice. By fine-tuning our scheduling and by optimally combining our ships and cargo systems, we maintain our punctuality and achieve high utilisation of our fleet.

Great service at the commercial level is nothing without effective and reliable technical management and crewing. Munish and his colleagues in Pacific Basin’s class-leading fleet management team draw on years of experience at sea and on shore to deliver a comprehensive, high-quality and efficient fleet management service and the best possible 24/7 support to our crews who run our ships to the highest industry standards. Focusing on safety and the routine technical management of our owned ships, we work with our teams at sea and our suppliers and service providers ashore to deliver and maintain reliable hardware so that our vessels are in every respect ready to trade wherever our commercial colleagues need them – ultimately to reliably satisfy the diverse freight needs of our customers around the world.

Our core focus is on the health and safety of our crew and ships, keeping the propeller turning and proactive ship maintenance. We also constantly innovate solutions to technical challenges our ship operators face in carrying specialised cargoes, sometimes requiring short-term modifications on board. If necessary, I’ll hand carry a critical item from factory to the ship to ensure she is ready to load and sail without delay. I find great fulfilment in collaborating with colleagues to think up practical solutions that ensure our customers get the world-class, dependable service they expect of Pacific Basin.

Pacific Basin operates its own crewing and training centres in Dalian, Manila and Hong Kong where Gary and our other manning colleagues coordinate with our chosen MLC-compliant manning agents in the rigorous selection, planning and deployment of well qualified, competent, healthy and reliable seafarers. Mainly from China and the Philippines, with some officers also from Russia, Ukraine (FSU) and Hong Kong, we employ and train our 3,000+ crew to standards equal to or exceeding those required by the International Maritime Organization’s International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (or STCW) and Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) promoting safety and decent working conditions for seafarers. Gary and the Hong Kong team works closely with ITF-affiliated Hong Kong unions to ensure appropriate wage structures and employment terms and conditions that are ITF approved and comply with Flag State, international and our seafarers’ own national regulations, to ensure our ships can trade around the world free of any ITF labour issues.

We pay much attention to recruiting and training motivated and reliable seafarers and to enhancing their wellbeing under our employment. We believe the right investment in our employees at sea (and ashore) does much to increase safety, knowledge, productivity and contribution, and promote a deeper sense of belonging in our organisation. Ultimately that leads to safer and smoother operations on board our ships and underpins the reliable service we seek to offer our Pacific Basin customers.