Columbia Shipmanagement’s expansion continues as it opens a new Greek office
Columbia Shipmanagement is delighted to announce the official opening of its new office in Greece, in line with the company’s exciting expansion plans.
Situated in Southern Athens near Piraeus, one of Europe’s busiest ports, and close to the capital city, Columbia Shipmanagement Greece will provide ship management and maritime services to new and existing clients. Headed up by Gregory Spourdalakis, General Manager, it will also be able to promptly attend and provide services to all CSM managed vessels as well as other clients & partners requiring support in the area.
The new office officially opened on March 24th and will offer cost-effective and fully optimised support services expertly tailored to individual client’s needs, resulting in the delivery of top quality modular maritime solutions.
An additional benefit to the new office location is its proximity to other Greek commercial ports and access to the service provision of the local services of the CSM network, including the expertise of the Cyprus region and its management capabilities.
Welcoming the opening of the new office, Mark O’Neil, CSM President and CEO, said it was a natural development for CSM to position itself near to what is one of the world’s most important shipowning centres.
“Greece is a major maritime country and the importance of its shipowners and ports cannot be understated. We look forward to working with our existing and new clients to ensure they receive the necessary support they may need to drive forward their businesses and fleets,” he said.
Συμφωνία συνεργασίας μεταξύ International Maritime Industries και Columbia Shipmanagement
Η International Maritime Industries (IMI), η μεγαλύτερη ναυπηγική εταιρεία στην περιοχή της Μέσης Ανατολής και της Βόρειας Αφρικής (MENA), υπέγραψε Μνημόνιο Κατανόησης (MoU) με την Columbia Shipmanagement (CSM) για να διερευνήσει ευκαιρίες σε διάφορους τομείς του ναυτιλιακού τομέα.
Ως μέρος της συμφωνίας, η CSM θα χρησιμοποιήσει τις εγκαταστάσεις της IMI στο Διεθνές Συγκρότημα King Salman, που βρίσκεται στο Ras Al Khair στην ανατολική ακτή της Σαουδικής Αραβίας.
Επιπλέον, η IMI θα συνεργαστεί στενά με την CSM, κορυφαίο παγκοσμίως πάροχο διαχείρισης πλοίων και θαλάσσιων υπηρεσιών, για να υποστηρίξει το όραμά της να γίνει μια κορυφαία, πλήρως ολοκληρωμένη παγκόσμια επιχείρηση με ναυτιλιακές υπηρεσίες.
Η εταιρική σχέση θα επικεντρωθεί σε υπηρεσίες εποπτείας νέων πλοίων, έννοιες βιωσιμότητας, βελτιστοποίηση απόδοσης και διοίκησης του εργατικού δυναμικού της ΙΜΙ.
Θα δοθούν επίσης πόροι στις ρυθμίσεις προμηθειών και εφοδιαστικής αλυσίδας, καθώς και στις διαδικασίες εύρεσης και πρόσληψης του ανθρώπινου δυναμικού.
Columbia Shipmanagement Strengthens Stronghold In German And Northern European Market
Columbia Shipmanagement (CSM) is strengthening its position in the German and Northern European market by appointing Johann Meyer as Geschaeftsfuhrer and Joint Managing Director of CSM Deutschland in Hamburg.
Mr Meyer will work alongside Carsten Sommerhage, CSM Deutschland Managing Director and Group COO, and have joint responsibility for all matters pertaining to this important office and area responsibility.
CSM Deutschland plays an important role in the company’s expansion plans in Northern Europe and Turkey, as well as for the Group’s cruise, offshore and energy, superyacht and maritime service businesses. Alongside building up its managed fleet within Germany, Northern Europe and Turkey, the office is pivotal in managing these strategic partnerships and taking their development to the next level.
Johann Meyer has over 20 years’ experience in the shipping industry holding a variety of operational level positions before joining CSM Deutschland in August 2020 as Director of Operations. Prior to that, he worked in different Managing Partner/Managing Director positions within shipping companies, single ship entities, chartering companies and public funds.
Welcoming the news, Mr Meyer said: “I’m delighted to be joining Carsten and spearheading the company’s expansion across these markets. We will continue to focus our efforts on people; our staff, our crew, our clients, our service partners.”
Johann Meyer Joint Managing Director of CSM Deutschland
Carsten Sommerhage, added: “Johann will be a tremendous asset to the team as he joins Joachim Brack, Director of Group Services & Strategic Partnerships, Norman Schmiedl as Group Crewing Director, Pablo Mussi, Technical Director, and myself in strengthening our position in the marketplace.”
Mark O’Neil, CEO, Columbia Shipmanagement said: “CSM Deutschland is a compelling proposition and with this management team and our staff in CSMD, we are well placed to take advantage of the challenges and opportunities we face moving into 2021.”
CSM Wins Crewconnect Global’s Welfare And Corporate Social Responsibility Award
Industry leading initiatives designed by Columbia Shipmanagement to look after the mental and physical wellbeing of its seafarers, have been recognised as best in class by CrewConnect Global which presented the company with its Welfare and Corporate Social Responsibility Award today.
Addressing an online virtual awards ceremony, Mark O’Neil, CEO of Columbia Shipmanagement, said: “We’re pleased that our ColumbiaCareCrew benefits package and ColumbiaFit initiative have been recognised by the industry.
“Columbia takes a holistic approach to the wellbeing and health of our seafarers so we’re incredibly grateful to accept this award. Seafarers are the heart of our business, so their wellbeing is paramount to us. We’re delighted that our efforts to wholeheartedly support our crews’ wellbeing has been recognised. Thank you.”
CSM’s ColumbiaCrewCare benefit package offers Columbia’s pool of seafarers’ life insurance and an investment plan for medical costs, disability provision, and pension planning or house/car purchase.
CSM has also initiated ColumbiaFit which allows and encourages employees at sea and on shore to get fit and healthy. There’s been a big investment in upgrading gym equipment onboard vessels too, alongside employees receiving packages and other initiatives which incentivise and promote a healthy lifestyle.
These initiatives sit alongside CSM’s mental health programme which is provided by Mental Health Support Solutions (MHSS) with professional psychologists available on a 24/7 mental health hotline. Mental health can be influenced through diet too, which is why CSM uses catering partner, MCTC, an international catering management and training provider, to ensure healthy nutrition onboard vessels. CSM has taken a full 360 degree view in its approach to putting seafarers at the top of its agenda.
Joint Venture Between Premuda And Columbia Shipmanagement
The Italian ship-owning Group Premuda, controlled by Pillarstone, the industrial and financial platform that supports the relaunch of companies in temporary difficulty, has laid the basis for the constitution of a joint venture with Columbia Shipmanagement (CSM). CSM is an international blue chip organization with over 40 years of experience as world-class ship management and maritime services provider within the shipping industry.
Thanks to the JV announced today, CSM, one of the world leaders in the sector, will enter the Italian market and will take care of the full management of the entire Premuda fleet, currently consisting of 28 ships under the control of the Genoese company and Finav, the Fund for credit management in the shipping sector established by Davy Global Fund Management, with the support of Pillarstone Italy. Premuda will be a shareholder of the new company, which will be called CSM Italy and will be based in Genoa.
Within the framework outlined, once concluded the due trade-unions consultation’s procedures, CSM Italy will provide ship management and it’s maritime services..
Other than Premuda fleet management, CSM Italy will offer, from the beginning, the CSM Group full range of management and maritime services to the entire Italian maritime cluster. The share capital of CSM Italy will be potentially open to other participants – Italian owners and operators – willing to join the spirit of such an initiative.
The implementation of this new partnership with CSM will allow Premuda to obtain an even more efficient and flexible fleet management, which is more and more necessary in the current competitive market, and to continue its business model transformation and its activity expansion, undertaken at the beginning of 2019 with the full support of the shareholder.
For the President and CEO of CSM, Mark O’Neil, the new project of the joint venture confirms his company’s ambitions in the important Italian market: “CSM has always had the greatest respect for the Italian shipping sector. We believe we are the right partner for a company in strong growth, to which we can ensure economies of scale, digital solutions and operational optimization. CSM Italy will stand ready and willing to serve other Italian operators, in all of the maritime sectors, providing them with a tailored service to meet their particular needs and involving them in the development of the Company from the outset. This is an extremely exciting time for Italian shipping and we wish our new Managing Director Xanthos Kyriacou the very best for the future. He is absolutely the right person for the job”For the CEO of Premuda, Marco Fiori: “Two “first in class” organizations, that share the same business approach, have identified a common goal. The opportunity to partner with CSM comes from a very thorough analysis of our operating model and it is a fundamental part of the Premuda development, aimed at optimizing the commercial and strategic management of the fleet, with the support of a technical partner of the highest level. This new operation is a “win win” for the two participants and for Genoa that will host the activity of a new international group.”
Gaudenzio Bonaldo Gregori, CEO of Pillarstone Italy: “Today’s operation represents a further step in Premuda’s development and reaffirms the strong commitment we have towards the Italian shipping sector, where we have become a very important player.”Founded more than a century ago, since 2016 Premuda has been controlled by Pillarstone Italy, the turnaround platform sponsored by the private equity fund KKR. In the last two years, the company has completed a significant renewal of the management team and relaunched the “Premuda brand” in the international market. With this goal, the Company has started an articulated rationalization, increase and diversification of the fleet and a progressive transformation of the business model. By maintaining its headquarters in Genoa, Premuda is today an international company increasingly focused on the global market.
Columbia Shipmanagement is one of the largest privately-owned international shipmanagers with offices in Cyprus, Singapore, Germany, China (Shanghai), and recently opened offices in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) and Greece (Athens). Set up over 41 years ago by its Chairman Heinrich Schoeller, it provides tailored, performance optimised services to its international clients in all of the maritime sectors, as well as catering management, procurement, logistics, waste disposal, green recycling, superyacht management, cruise management, offshore and energy, its Performance Optimisation Control Room.