Ashok Sabnis, managing director of Goodwood, said at the company’s annual officers’ conference in Mumbai last week that Goodwood is gearing up to take on technical management of more tankers.
“By the middle of 2016 our managed fleet will rise to around 50 vessels with many of these being larger tankers in the VLCC category. Presently we have under our care VLCCs, suezmaxes, aframaxes and chemical carriers as well as some container vessels,” Sabnis said.
“With the induction of newbuilding VLCCs and MR tankers and containerships over the next 16 months, we will be operating more than 10m dwt – this will make us one of the biggest operators of VLCCs in the ship management industry,” he added.
Sabnis noted that Goodwood’s continued growth came despite the ongoing challenges faced by the global shipping industry.
“Although it is early to say with confidence, the industry is showing the first signs of economic recovery after five years of reduced demand and oversupply of tonnage,” he said.
“These periods have put pressure on owners and operators who have also been faced with implementing a number of legislative and operational changes such as low sulphur fuel, carbon efficiency, ECDIS and the MLC convention,” he mentioned.
The industry will see a continuing and expanding role for global standard independent managers able to operate vessels safely and cost effectively for owners, he believed.
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