Ship agency service tackles drydocking

As well as providing dedicated ships agency during repair and maintenance periods, WSS will co-ordinate supply of marine chemicals and safety services, handling of crew and personnel and management of any specialist services that may be beyond the repair yard’s capability. WSS can arrange all agency services necessary for the vessel’s departure, including administering the departure of the site team and crew, with all services provided through a single point of contact.

Paul Rogers, WSS commercial director for North East Asia, says the service has been developed to create added value in the dry docking process by enabling owners to take advantage of trusted business relationships during dry-dock planning and execution. This, he says, improves transparency and efficiency for the owner, and gives customers the security of working with an agent they already know and trust.

He says; “Dry-docking is a critical component of a vessel’s lifecycle, but is one that is also expensive, complex, highly technical and prone to unforeseen complications. Planning for dry-docking can take months and the process itself needs close day to day management. It therefore seems surprising that a shipowner will still hand over care of the vessel during dry-docking to an agent they may not have worked with before.

“Ultimately, we are creating the conditions for a step-change, one that makes dry-docking agency services more efficient and protects our owners; eliminating conflict of interest and enabling them to work with a partner they already know and trust.”