India is gradually growing to become one of the biggest import and export hubs of the world, creating newer opportunities for the shipping industry of the nation. There is a gradual emergence of new ship owners with professionally maintained fleet that are catering to the growing demand of this country. However, there are a few challenges involved in this industry related to broking, trading, chartering and Recycling. Though Shipbuilding, Ship Repairing and Ship Recycling are all part of Make in India initiative, the industry has not received its due attention. India has a few private Shipbuilding yards which have a strong track record and the required expertise to design and develop world class ships; they are fending for themselves with a genuine lack of representation among the international shipping community.
Although we have been the top Recycling destination for several years and have the most number of Green Recycling yards, the recyclers do not enough benefits for up gradation. This is where Green Shipbrokers want to make a mark in the market. Apart from Ship Recycling they also concentrate on Sale & Purchase of ships and Ship Advisory services. They have expertise to service clients on a range of subjects like evaluating the feasibility of investing in ships, guiding local owners complete their purchase and ensure the ship is compliant to local norms or sometimes providing foreign owners with IHM Inventory & Ground Monitoring reports of their ships being cut in local yards in Alang.
Green Shipbrokers is a relatively young and ambitious brokerage house which started in 2013
in Mumbai, with a focus on Ship Recycling and has today grown to offer a multitude of services. “We started out with a special focus on Ship Recycling as it was familiar territory and our location gives us bespoke access to the ship scrapping centres across the sub –continent. We continually engage with a number of Cash Buyers & Ship Recyclers for this purpose. Ship Owners, Ship Managers and Investors looking for a direct, transparent can be assured of the best of services from our end.
At times we work with clients who prefer to keep their transactions discrete and we take absolute care of it without diluting any of the commercial aspects of the transactions. In addition to Recycling, we also engage in Sale Purchase of ships, Chartering of Ships and Advisory Services. For these we use in-house counsel as well as leverage the wealth of our established network of industry experts to provide tailored solutions to our client’s needs”, mentions Rahul Kotak, CEO, Green Shipbrokers.
Growth Story
The CEO of the company was not from a marine background, nor did he have any prior experience in this industry. Rahul completed his MBA and happened to get in touch with one of the top recyclers of the country who had active Ship Recycling yards across three locations in India. This company wanted him to get in touch with Ship Owners, Shipbrokers and Ship Managers both native and ofInternational repute to ensure steady supply of tonnages for their yard. He liked the nature of work and got going on it from day one. After the initial few months of training and engaging with prospective Sellers, he was able to secure so many ships that the yards were running at full capacity and they had to slow down the purchasing activity.
It was at this stage Rahul started shapingthe idea of establishing himself as a Shipbroker and putting to use his skillset to help other recycling yards procure ships as well. In 2013, he started Green Shipbrokers from a tiny rental office in the by lanes of Darukhana, Mumbai. Along with the experience gathered from working for the yard and educational courses of ICS, he was able to better knowledge of the entire sale process and the value chain involved.
“Initially, I started off with the Indian Ship owners and Ship Managers who were burdened due to lack of a professional approach in transacting with the Recycling yards in Mumbai & Alang. Gradually, as an appreciation of my work, some of these Owners referred me to their friends & clients across other countries and I started working with Ship owners based in UAE, Qatar and Hong Kong apart from Indian ownersfor scrapping their ships in India”, says the CEO.
Future Strategies
Ship Recycling was the core of Green Shipbrokers’ business till 2017. After that, slowly the company ventured into Ship Sale and Purchase. Here, again it was Ship Owners who had worked with him for scrapping their ships who would ask him to procure further trading ships for them.
So far, these have the two primary verticals that the company has been working on.“Right now we are also considering getting into chartering of ships and I am hoping to work with companies with sound credentials and having long term projects basis which they are looking for chartered ships”, concludes Rahul.
We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Read more...
