Dalian: China’s demand for shipmanagement services is still nascent, but one international managers are keen to cash in on. Hong Kong’s fast growing Fleet Management selected the northeastern city of Dalian to tap this growth market. In Gu Jianwen, managing director of Gold Fleet Shipping, the Hong Kong firm has one of the People’s Republic’s most savvy shipmanagement brains. Roughly 10% of Fleet’s managed fleet comes from China, one of the most significant in the shipmanagement sector.
“China has a huge potential market for shipmanagement business, but it is still at the beginning stages,” Gu tells Maritime CEO.
Most Chinese owners prefer to manage their vessels by themselves, especially the larger companies. Smaller companies, and those who have just entered the sector taking advantage of low newbuild prices, are more open to third party shipmanagement, Gu reckons.
With many Chinese owners struggling to communicate in English, managers can fill the gap when hiring overseas crews and operating international routes, says Gu.
Still, it is not just Chinese owners that should be looking at managers, argues Gu. With the downturn set to last “another two to three years”, Gu says fleet cost controls are very important to owners, something managers can deliver through economies of scale.
Another big slice of business for Gu comes from newbuild supervision for the raft of international owners ordering in China. [20/05/13]
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