By Daan Gijzel
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26 May, 2021
Technical Management A ship can only sail for a short time without maintenance. It will not take long before something breaks down or simply just stops. For example, fuel filters need to be cleaned on a regular base. Without doing this the engine will stop soon... Technical Management is all about deciding which maintenance has to be done when and how. HSEQ management It is nice to decide which maintenance has to be done when and how, but without a proper system in place to capture your decisions it will be more difficult for others to know what you have decided. Policies and procedures are a very useful tool to capture your decision! While you are making policies and procedures for your maintenance it will be a small step to add some safety and quality aspects in them as well. HSEQ management is about these procedures, but not in a static way. Good procedures are constantly reviewed and updated. You need to reflect back on what went well and what can be improved, these lessons learned must lead back to updates to make work more safe, smarter and better. Crewing management Okay, so you have procedures describing exactly what should be done how and when, who should do it and what the tasks and responsibilities are. But now still you need to have the people on board to execute the procedures. Crewing management is all about having the right people on board to do the job. Don’t underestimate this important segment, only the right people will make your procedures work! Procurement You can have the best procedures in place and the right people for the job, but without spares, tools, services or even provisions nothing will happen. The procurement is all about getting the right stuff on board. But not only getting it on board, it should be on board at the right time, it should have the right quality and it should have the right price. At first glance it looks quite straight forward, but imagine shipping is a global activity and continues 24/7 where only 1 thing is for sure, and that is that every operational schedule will change! Financial Management As mentioned already, all the shipmanager does is spending money from the owner. The least he could do is explain why and where the money was spent on. But next to this, a good financial administration can help the shipmanager to better understand the expenditures, identify areas for improvement and drive efficiency. Conclusion Separately the 5 aspects of shipmanagement make a lot of sense, and the combination of all of them create an understandable environment. By making improvements in one of the aspects you need to know and understand the implications for the other aspects. Without this, it is highly likely your foreseen improvement will turn out to be a headache and an inefficiency for the whole picture! Would you like to know more about this, or how we can help your organisation to improve your shipmanagement, please contact us!