Marlow Navigation

“Rivermaas spots the possibilities in the turbulent shipping sector and manages to seize the opportunities. Its operations are efficient too”

GOOD PARTNERSHIPS DETERMINE THE QUALITY

The opinion of Rivermaas is that the strength of the network makes the difference in the rapidly changing shipping sector. Marlow Navigation is one such network partner. Together, we make sure we have good crews on our ships. And perhaps even more importantly, we also work together to take good care of the crew.

Marlow Navigation also specialises in crew management. The organisation can deliver new crews anywhere in the world within 12 hours. And when ships are being purchased in the shorter term, Marlow Navigation can put together a complete crew and man the vessel within a short time too.

“We make investments of 15 million dollars for training and education every year, with an average of 14,000 crew members working on approximately 1200 ships, from small coasters to large container ships. We consider ourselves as the partner for shipping companies,” says Frans Roelse, managing director of Marlow Navigation Netherlands.

From an office in Rotterdam with a view of the Erasmus bridge, Marlow Navigation is quite literally in the heart of the Dutch shipping sector. Rivermaas is a relatively new and small actor in this sector, Roelse confirms. But according to him, this also offers a lot of opportunities because of the way that Rivermaas operates.

“Rivermaas spots the possibilities in the turbulent shipping sector and manages to seize those opportunities. After that, we ensure that the right man is on the right ship. Rivermaas in turn makes sure that the right things are done there. Its operations are efficient.”

According to Roelse, Rivermaas also stands out among shipping companies for its commitment and expertise.

“The people at Rivermaas are very well informed. They know exactly what’s going on and they have a lot of experience. We’ve noticed that crew members are motivated to work for Rivermaas. And that’s very important.”

Crew members who work on shipping company vessels mostly work for Marlow Navigation, which is responsible for paying the wages, P&O officials and the overall crew quality.

Roelse says, “We monitor everything that’s happening on board closely. From incidents to complaints, we’re continuously using our quality tools to improve our services and to reduce the risk of incidents to a minimum. Our statistics show that Rivermaas is doing well.”

The world of maritime shipping is very extensive and it is difficult to maintain an overview. Marlow Navigation therefore uses all kinds of digital tools to keep that world as small as possible. In addition, a specific person is always the contact dealing with Rivermaas. Roelse thinks this is very important, because there is always something going on in shipping and that demands short lines of communication.

“A ship becomes a second home for crew members. You can put someone on a nice ship, but if there’s no contact with the shipping company or if the contacts are bad, no one will be able to deliver proper work. Together with Rivermaas, we make sure that the crew are satisfied and deliver proper work. The quality of shipping also depends on those kinds of partnerships.”