Odfjell nr 3 - 2006.indd

Focus on operations
Port Captain and Operation Managers meeting 2006
By Sigmund Larsen
On June 27-28th,
Odfjell Seachem arranged
a Port Captain and
Operation Managers
meeting in Bergen.
The conference was to
serve several purposes:
• To have an open discussion and
exchange views on how we may
enhance our performance in our
increasing time-chartered fleet
• Introduction and elaboration of the
Odfjell Seachem Ship Inspection
scheme
• Introduction of operational
procedures and processes
• Discussions on operational excellence
and port performance.
Of course, such meetings are also important
arenas for teambuilding and to
establish closer relationships between
the offices abroad and the headquarters
at Minde.
Day one started by drawing the big lines.
Odfjell Seachem President Jan Hammer
presented visions, strategies and priorities,
and he explained the rationale
behind some recent changes at Odfjell.
Vice President Torgeir Hjorth discussed
Odfjell Seachem issues seen from a chartering
point of view. Some of the topics
he addressed were safety and quality,
operational standards, market and customer
status and not least the cost of
non-compliance.
The rest of the first day was spent on
workshops, where the meeting delegates
discussed the experiences with
our T/C vessels. Some of the aspects that
came up during the lively discussions
were ship/shore communication and language
issues, vetting requirements and
handling, vessel equipment and maintenance,
and crew qualifications and experience.
A number of action points were
suggested, some of which already have
been implemented. Others items need
more time and not least investments to
rectify, but we aim at finding solutions
through creativity and collaboration
between Odfjell Seachem, owners and
managers.
The theme of the meeting’s second day
was operational excellence and proper
procedures. The participants received
Captain Arne Ingebrigtsen presents his port performance findings from
Rotterdam
Dan Odfjell’s operational digest describing
the attitudes we want embedded
in the Operations department, and
the goals for the recent reorganisation
of Odfjell Seachem was presented
and discussed. The new port captain in
Rotterdam, Captain Arne Ingebrigtsen,
presented his views on port performance
and reporting, based on his findings from
his stay with Odfjell Rotterdam. His presentation
raised many thoughts on how
we can improve port turnaround. Svend
Foyn-Bruun presented the Operation
Support Group, and their capabilities.
The conference was concluded by Port
Captains Mel Pinks (Durban), George
Pontikos (Houston) and Willy Thorsen
Some of the meeting delegates
(Dubai), who presented their day-today
tasks and challenges. The various
ports have different problems and
thus, generic solutions are not always
appropriate. Some challenges need to be
addressed and coordinated at a senior
level, while others can simply be solved
through better communication between
the port captains and the Operations
departments in Bergen or Singapore.
Such meetings are important in our
efforts to enhance our operational
performance, and to further strengthen
the team spirit. General consensus after
the meeting was that it had been both
fruitful and really enjoyable.
20 ODFJELL Quarterly September 2006