Features: Features: - Tanker Operator

INDUSTRY - SHIPMANAGEMENT
Unicom faces up to the
many challenges ahead
Significant cost
inflation is impacting
almost all areas of
operations, from
bunkers to shore-side
administration. In the meantime,
the world's fleet continues to
expand, putting additional
pressure on already stretched
management resources. Added to
this, the shear volume of
newbuildings has meant that
spare parts are both expensive
and increasingly difficult to
source. Against this gloomy
background, shipmanagement
fees remain static.
However, perhaps the greatest
challenge currently facing
shipmanagers is the continuing
shortage of personnel. Attracting
and retaining seafarers with the
right skills and motivation is the
critical issue facing ship
managers.
Shipmanagers are now confronted with
some of the toughest trading conditions
in recent memory.
Despite these formidable
challenges, Sergey Popravko,
managing director of Cyprusbased
Unicom, remains optimistic
about the future for the
shipmanagement sector.
He has developed a range of
initiatives to ensure Unicom
continues to add value as a
shipmanager through the current
turbulent times. Popravko said;
"Owners are becoming much more
aware of critical importance of
effective shipmanagement. With
mounting pressure from skill
shortages, escalating costs and
increased administrative demands,
only those owners with efficient
and safe shipmanagement are
going to survive."
Faced with growing pressures
on operating costs, many
managers and owners are
concerned to reduce the carbon
footprint of their operations.
Unicom, for example, recently
initiated a comprehensive review
of energy consumption across its
managed fleet and at its Limassol
headquarters.
The review, while ongoing, has
already identified significant
savings - in some cases as much
as $1 mill per ship per year.
Improving efficiency
Combined with other plans, for
example to raise the effectiveness
of planned maintenance across the
fleet, Unicom expects to be able to
Key facts
deliver a substantial reduction in
operating costs and the carbon
footprint of its activities.
Russian speakers
For any shipmanager, having the
right people is a key determinant
of success. Unicom approaches
this by segmenting the
employment market - it only hires
Russian speaking crews for its
vessels. This continues to deliver
both operational and safety
benefits. As the size and
complexity of Unicom's managed
fleet increases, the company is
stepping up its recruitment efforts
in Russia and the CIS. This
expansion necessitates looking
beyond the traditional maritime
clusters of St Petersburg,
Novorossiysk, Vladivostok and
Odessa, where Unicom already
has crewing offices.
The large potential labour pool
Sergey Popravko, Unicom’s managing director.
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Established 1991 and currently based in
Limassol, Cyprus.
Provides technical management for 70
vessels.
Fully compliant with ISO 9001/ISO
14001/ISM code and voluntarily
implemented the ‘US Maritime
Compliance Program’.
Provides technical management
services for a wide range of vessels,
including ice class tankers,
conventional tankers, liquefied
petroleum and natural gas (LPG/LNG)
carriers, as well as high-tech vessels
designed to serve the shipping needs of
specific industrial projects.
Besides Sovcomflot's fleet, Unicom also
manages ships for other leading
owners, including Stena Bulk, NYK, and
Teekay.
TANKEROperator March 2008