WSS Reports Steady SARD Increase

Wilhelmsen Ships Services (WSS) General Manager for Japan Yoshihiro Iizuka said that he expects more customers to sign up for its Ships Agency Re-Defined (SARD) solution throughout 2013 and beyond as the company prepares for Bariship 2013. Mr. Iizuka commented, “From 2011 to 2012, the number of calls handled by our team in Japan grew by 10 percent and our SARD offer made up much of that development.”

He added, “Japanese vessel operators and owners are positive about SARD because it guarantees efficient operation and fast turnaround. We ensure that our service experts make visits to customers on a timely basis to run evaluations on their time spent at each port. This enables us to improve our port operations in order to optimize the way we service our customers. In some cases, we have been able to save customers up to three hours per port call.”

WSS is investing in resources and expertise across North Asia to meet the increasing demands of this growing maritime hub. Specifically, it now covers 180 ports in Japan with four main service centres and offices located in Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Moji.

Launched in 2010, SARD allows customers to deal with all their ships agency requirements from one central point, with improved communications between the agency and the operator, resulting in efficiency savings, predictable pricing and a single bank account for all payments, facilitating easy access to online job and tracking information.