Shipping company structure

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Tomislav Skracic, MAUndergraduate English Course
forMARITIME MANAGERS6th Semester

• Essential reading
• T. Skracic, Waypoint English Textbook for
  Maritime Students, Pomorski fakultet, Split 2010,
  Units 29-33
• T. Trappe G. Tullis, Intelligent Business,
  Longman 2005

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STRUCTURE OF A SHIPPING COMPANY

• UNIT 32

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Glossary

• trade, liner company, tramp, delegate
  responsibility, board of directors, managing
  director (CEO), senior / junior management,
  departments, liaison, HR, PR, IT, RD,
  performance against budget, business plan, fleet
  manager, scheduling, market demand / forecast,
  fleet capacity resources, peak periods, sailing
  programme, ports of call, overhauls / surveys,
  security policy, non-core business,
  diversification, profit margins, operating costs,
  state subsidies, merger, acquisition (take over),
  stake / share in, joint venture, offshore crews,
  outsourcing of management

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• The structure of a shipping company is determined
  primarily by the nature of the trade in which it
  operates and by the scale of its activities
• The structure of a tramp operator will generally
  be different from that of a much larger liner
  company
• Irrespective of the size of the company, its
  structure should be designed to permit swift
  decision-making

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Organisation chart
Unit 32
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• Headed by the chairman or president, the Board of
  Directors is responsible for policy decisions and
  strategy
• The Board often include partners such as law and
  business consultants
• If the company is fully or partly state-owned,
  politicians are appointed to the Board

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• The Board usually appoints a Managing Director or
  Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who has overall
  responsibility for implementing the corporate
  policy and strategy, and for the running of the
  business
• The secretary is in charge of legal matters and
  administration in general
• Senior managers head the various departments or
  functions within the company

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Finance department

• This department controls the money flow and is
  responsible for annual accounts, audits, credit
  control...
• They are also responsible for producing financial
  data necessary to make decisions concerning the
  budget, business plan and other documents

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Personnel department (Human Resources)

• This department is in charge of recruiting shore
  and marine staff
• It advertises the jobs or positions, selects the
  most suitable candidates, and organises
  interviews

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Marketing department

• Marketing in shipping as in any other business
  involves market research, product and service
  analysis, traffic and market development,
  promotions, and the like
• One of the most important tasks of this
  department is liaison with port, travel and
  overseas agents
• If PR department has not been set up within the
  company, marketing department is in charge of
  public and customer relations

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Operations department (Fleet management)

• Crucial department for a shipping company
• The main concern is to maximise the economic
  employment of the ship
• Another specific activity of this department is
  scheduling deciding where to send the ships and
  when
• Coordination is essential, not only among the
  other departments but also with the ship, the
  shipbroker and the agents

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• If the Insurance department has not been
  established within the company, the Operations
  department and the Fleet manager will deal with
  all insurance formalities and settlement of legal
  claims
• The function of the fleet manager will be
  discussed in more detail later.

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Technical department

• It is the department which keeps the ships
  seaworthy
• It is in charge of ship overhauls and is engaged
  in technical repairs, maintenance research and
  naval architecture

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Information and Technology department

• Activities of this department include
• IT budgets
• IT contracts
• IT research
• IT planning
• IT development.

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DPA CSO department

• This department is in charge of the
  implementation of the International Ship and Port
  Facility Security Code (ISPS)
• The Code was initiated as part of the US
  government's response to the September 11th
  terrorist attacks
• It came into force in 2004 as an amendment to the
  SOLAS Convention

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• DPA
• (Designated Person)

• CSO
• (Chief Security Officer)

• The responsibility of the DPA is to assure the
  quality and safety of the operation process
• He implements, coordinates, monitors, and
  evaluates the Quality Management System

• The duty of the CSO is to develop a culture of
  security
• He leads staff members who are responsible for
  promoting and enforcing security policies within
  an enterprise or division

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