Ship management for a changing market

Wallem has been tailoring ship management services to owner needs for 120 years, but recent history has required a full mobilisation of its skills to support customers challenged by labour shortages, digitalisation and decarbonisation.

Wallem Managing Director, Ship Management, Ioannis Stefanou, says that “trust and partnership” between ship owner and manager remains the foundation for overcoming any challenge that society, technology or the regulators can devise.    

“Owners give their vessels to a third-party manager so they can focus on their core competence of managing their vessels commercially, while the manager specialises in operating ships efficiently and safely,” says Stefanou. “When we partner with an owner, we don’t just manage their vessels; we also offer consultancy advice and added value services to take care of their very expensive assets.”

Crewing is probably the most important element of ship management and, here Wallem has a strong tradition for best practice and a deep pool of experienced and skilled seafarers, says Stefanou.

“We have been in the business for a long time and have a very strong relationship with local shipping communities in the countries in which we operate. Our retention rate is high, at over 90%, and we have generations of seafarers sailing with Wallem vessels.”

Stefanou points to the high number of senior managers and directors at Wallem that started their careers 35 years ago at sea before coming ashore. Wallem has masters on ships that have been with the company for 40 years.

But new skills are required as digitalisation spreads through shipping, and Wallem has an in-house saying that “the ships of the future will not be managed by the managers of the past”.

“The young generation of seafarers are tech savvy and computer skills come naturally to them,” says, Stefanou. Wallem also participates in the Adopt a Ship scheme, targeting elementary school children in seafaring nations to make the profession more visible.

At the same time, Wallem is part of an industry which faces labour shortages at the structural level. “We are looking into diversifying in terms of gender,” he comments. “There can be a huge benefit if we can get more women from our traditional seafaring nations.”

Other societal changes have also called for a timely response from Wallem, with shipping’s need to adapt to goals on decarbonisation perhaps the most pressing.

“We are training our seafarers and our shore-based team for dual fuel vessels and adding value with the knowledge we have gained from exposure to varied technologies used by our principles. We also offer a service to navigate the regulatory framework including things like opening maritime operator holding accounts.”

Taking care of the bureaucratic burden may not be a core ship management service but is an example of thinking outside of the box and going beyond compliance. It is about “being agile,” Stefanou says.

Wallem is not the largest ship manager on the block, but it is a leader in specific fields – such as car carrier management.

“A sour longevity demonstrates, we are big enough to be competitive, but small enough to be able to offer a tailor-made focus and service,” says Stefanou. “That’s very important.”