Customer Satisfaction News

Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk signed an agreement for a new long-term operational collaboration called Gemini Cooperation, aiming to start in February 2025.Simultaneous with the announcement, Hapag-Lloyd informed its partners in THE Alliance that it would end its participation in January 2025. In a press call with journalists, Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO, Hapag-Lloyd stressed this is “not a decision against THE Alliance, this is a decision for Gemini Corporation.”“This is about bringing schedule reliability to the next level…

bound4blue and Oceanking announced a partnership to jointly expand access to the eSAIL technology in Greece and Cyprus. bound4blue provides wind-assisted propulsion technology, and its eSAIL is designed to help reduce fuel consumption and emissions.eSAIL is a suction sail, which combines the positive features of both wingsails (ease of operation, low power consumption, excellent capacity to sail upwind) and flettner rotors (high lift, small size).“We are excited to work with Oceanking in this important shipping business region.

Commercial engine distributor Laborde Products announced it has appointed Michael Murzi, Jr. as its new marine sales manager. Murzi brings with him over 10 years of experience in the marine industry and over 30 years of experience in sales, customer service and business development.Murzi has held various senior sales roles throughout his career and has a proven track record of developing successful sales strategies, managing key accounts, and aggressively driving revenue growth.

Effective January 1, 2023, Michael Paterson joins as new Managing Director for Svitzer UK, replacing Kasper Karlsen who has acted as interim MD since June. Paterson joins Svitzer from a role as Operations Director at Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), with a history in maritime gained from 26 years in the Royal Navy. Managing Director of Svitzer Europe, Lise Demant, said, “Michael will be a huge asset for Svitzer Europe. He is a proven business leader with a real passion for people as well as the maritime industry.

ADNOC Logistics & Services, the shipping and maritime logistics arm of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), has ordered two newbuild 175,000 cubic meter LNG carriers that will join its fleet in 2025. "The new LNG vessels will be crucial enablers of ADNOC’s 2030 growth strategy, supporting its existing LNG business as well as its ambitions to grow its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity. They will be built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in China," ADNOC L&S said.Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi…

Could you imagine designing your own car or truck or airplane, and then trying to build it? Unless you’re Elon Musk, you most likely couldn’t.Today’s consumers don’t want to solve their own problems, they want turnkey solutions, and they want them now. In what industry—other than maritime—do you see customers designing their own products, putting them out for bid, and then dealing with time and cost overruns? Yet, in the maritime world most acquisitions are long, drawn-out processes…

Baxter Marine Group announced it has acquired Wheelhouse Technologies, VesselVanguard and SeaKits Brand.The combined companies support more than 3,000 commercial, military, charter and recreational watercraft worldwide. Intuitive user tools, mobile applications, work orders, inventory and advanced telematics give owners and operators complete command of their vessel’s operations.Rick Heine, Baxter Marine Group Chairman, said, “Our goal is to provide the marine industry with the most advanced and intuitive systems to improve vessel reliability, safety, and reduce operational costs significantly.”Donald Hyde, founder of Vessel Vanguard…

Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark has been selected to receive the President’s “E” Award for Exports, the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports.“Metal Shark’s achievements have undoubtedly contributed to national export expansion efforts that support the U.S. economy and create American jobs. The ‘E’ Awards Committee was very impressed with Metal Shark’s phenomenal growth in export sales over the past four years,” said U.S.

In the past few years, the commercial use of facial recognition technology has advanced at an explosive rate, expanding into numerous industries and trades. For instance, facial biometrics is increasingly relied on by airlines and airports across the globe; a similar trend is starting to take hold in the maritime industry, particularly the cruise sector.While this expansion is occurring, states and cities across the country—as well as the federal government—are attempting to enact strict laws regulating the use of facial recognition technology by commercial entities.

As the shipping industry undergoes major transformation, with operations becomingly increasingly automated, maritime companies need to consider more than just efficiency and safety when it comes to operations. The current global situation has resulted in a growing demand for crew communication, for both work and social purposes, alongside the ongoing need for optimization. All of this causes higher levels of traffic on maritime networks, forcing shipping operators to place an…

Vessel bridge solutions provider JRC/Alphatron Marine said it has appointed Jeroen Kortsmit as Group General Manager Key Accounts as of July 1, 2020.Kortsmit will be responsible for the worldwide expansion and management of the company's customer relationship in the fields of customer satisfaction, maintenance agreements, digital services like e-learning as well as remote maintenance and support. He will develop a global strategy and coordinate and improve the customer contacts worldwide in order to safeguard the relationship with the JRC/Alphatron Marine Group customer base…

Maritime software, services and data analysis provider NAPA announced the appointment of Mikko Kuosa as Chief Executive Officer. Kuosa assumes the position from Ilmo Kuutti, who served as CEO of NAPA Group for three years. Kuutti continues as an Advisor and a member of the NAPA Board of Directors.Mikko Kuosa, who joined NAPA in 1999, holds a master’s degree in Naval Architecture from Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. Since joining, Kuosa has taken on various leadership positions at NAPA.

I’ve had the good fortune to work with marine operators around the world, and one thing has become painfully apparent to me; most marine companies don’t appreciate the profound affect technology can have on their organizations. Information technology can save lives, increase profitability, improve customer satisfaction, and even keep you in business.Some may think this is crazy talk from a Kool-Aid drunk techy, or that I need a vacation, but I assure you, it’s modern reality.

The West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) is quickly earning a reputation as the gateway to Eastern Nigeria and a strong alternative to ports in Lagos.Investment in the Phase 2 upgrade, due to commence within the next 18 months, will help meet volumes, which have grown consistently over the past three years.“The Phase 2 upgrade includes the acquisition of three additional Mobile Harbour Cranes (MHCs) bringing the total in operation to five; 20 Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes (RTGs); three Reach Stackers; 13 terminal trucks and trailers and an empty container handler," said WACT’s Commercial Manager, Noah Sheriff.“The upgrade will also include the installation of reefer racks with a 600-plug capacity…

The world’s first adaptive ferry transit conducted during normal service took place last week on a vessel fully loaded with passengers and vehicles, demonstrated fully automatic control from dock to dock, Kongsberg Maritime  announced. The landmark crossing, a key step forward in the integration of autonomous technology into everyday shipping operations, was made possible by collaboration between shipping company Bastø Fosen, KONGSBERG and the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA).The…

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group is to maximize the ship efficiency for Very Large Container Ships (VLCSs) with its latest technology to simplify the power system.HHI and Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) announced that Norwegian-German classification society DNV-GL recently awarded an Approval in Principle (AIP) for the South Korean shipbuilder’s multi-grid design of the power system for 15,000-TEU container ships.The key feature of this latest design is the…

Loy Stewart, Jr. is President, Detyens Shipyards. He is a 1991 graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point where he earned a degree in Marine Engineering. After several months sailing on the Sealift Atlantic, Loy began working at Detyens as a Ship Superintendent and coordinated work on numerous commercial and navy contracts. In 1996, when the Detyens Shipyards were divided into separate profit centers, Loy Jr. was promoted to Profit Center Manager of the Wando facility.

United States Marine, Inc. (USMI) and Brunswick Commercial and Government Products (BCGP) are pleased to announce they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to explore potential business opportunities.USMI and BCGP have a history of providing our warfighters with mission proven vessels to help ensure our troops come home safely. “We have always admired Brunswick craft. This is an opportunity for both of us to work together to explore our core strengths and synergies to determine how we can provide unique craft to the military market with our combined expertise.

Merseyside UK shipyard and engineering services company Cammell Laird has appointed a new quality assurance manager to forge closer relationships with suppliers and bring best practice from other industries to his new role.Gordon Maxwell is the new QA manager heading up a team of 19 striving to deliver the company vision of getting it right first time.He said he is looking to take a more proactive approach to quality assurance as he draws on his experience of working for the likes of television parts manufacturer Philips Components and central heating manufacturer Baxi.

Scania USA Announces Expansion of Marine Territory for Distributor, Cascade Engine Center, LLC.As of September 1st, Cascade Engine Center, LLC has been assigned additional marine territory in the West Coast of the United States to include Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.Cascade Engine Center currently represents Scania’s latest marine platform: 13- and 16-liter engines for auxiliary and propulsion applications; and currently distributes themin Alaska, Gulf Coast, Hawaii, Idaho…

APM Terminals Poti, the largest port in Georgia, has commenced the implementation of uninterrupted 24/7 operations to maximize berth utilization, increase efficiency and speed up vessel handling.The implementation of a flexible workforce management solution will take place in two phases. Phase one will apply to single berth occupancy. The workforce currently allocated to the free berth will be assigned to the operational berth to cover break times and support a smooth and uninterrupted workflow.The second phase, which will apply when both berths are occupied, is expected to be fully implemented in Q4 2019. In this case, an external, flexible workforce will be applied to speed up the vessel handling process.This flexible concept also means that…

South Korea's Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) toped highest on-time performance among 15 global carriers in June.According to the ‘Global Liner Performance Report – July 2019’, issued by SeaIntelligence, HMM ranked the most reliable carrier in June 2019 with a score of 91.8 percent - improved 8.2 percent points compared to last month.HMM’s performance was also 8.3 percent points higher than global average of 83.5 percent.

The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani ) has issued a license to the local subsidiary of Maersk in order to operate in all ports across Saudi Arabia.According to the state news agency SPA, the step comes along with the authority’s strategy to improve the efficiency and quality of performance and services offered in Saudi ports.The new Maersk shipping license is the fourth of its kind to be issued to foreign investors in the Kingdom. Maersk joins other major lines of Barwil, Hapag-Lloyd and the Mediterranean Shipping Company, already operating.Saad Abdul Aziz Al-Khalb, President of the Saudi Ports Authority, (Mawani) commented that “We have issued a license to Maersk (Saudi Arabia) to operate in all 9 Saudi ports.