Crew Management for ships entails a wide range of tasks performed by crew management businesses and associated manning agencies. Numerous crew management companies, have over the years, stepped up to take over charge for manning of vessels under a crew management contract. The use of Indian seafarers to crew ships is expected to grow substantially as supply rises to meet demand which is driven by numerous reasons. IMS is a name recognized for providing a whole gamut of maritime related activities. The core focus of the group is towards crew management, dredging, project management and marine consultancy.
The firm, IMS Ship management, Pvt. Ltd was founded in 1976 by Capt. S.C. Sood and who is the recipient of the Varuna Award from the Government of India, the highest honour in shipping bestowed only to those who have had a generational impact on the industry. He is also a founder-member and later served as Chairman of Foreign Ship-owners Representatives and Ship Managers Association (FOSMA). He has also served as the Chairman of Mumbai Port Welfare Committee of the National Shipping Welfare Board under the aegis of International Committee on Seafarers’ Welfare (ICSW).
Capt. S.C. Sood led IMS’s business growth for over 35 years, providing services such as manning, port operations, dredging, and other infrastructure development activities, and was ably supported by Pavan Sood (Managing Director) who has now been guiding the company’s direction for the last 15 years.
Meeting Expectations In Reality
IMS has provided quality crew to over 650 merchant vessels and also continues to serve the needs of cruise ships and offshore Oil & Gas installations. It ensures high operational standards, as well as compliance with national and international statutory regulations, norms, and guidelines pertaining to Fleet Personnel Management. “The clients expect a quality crew within the agreed budgeted costs. Also, these crew members must have mandatory certification, timely relief and embarkation and the highest standards of training.
We make sure that our service policy remains HR focused, as presenting a nurturing face to your crew (whilst ashore or at sea) is very important.
We have built a reputation just by positive ‘word to mouth’ feedback. A successful 45+ years in the business could be viewed as a certificate of past performances that have been well executed and also a promise to our clients that we will keep our standards at the highest levels whilst ‘People Powering Your Business”, avers Pavan Sood.
“We have identified three key aspects which allow us to be the pioneers of this field, ‘work with the best to Recruit the best, The Seafarer is our Superhero– let him know this, and partner with quality owners”, he adds.
IMS has always aimed for the most qualified and motivated office staff who work towards the joint success in assembling of the best seafarer teams. Every member of the crew is a part of the community that ensures that more than 90 percent of the world's traded products arrive on time. IMS believes in choosing clients as much as they choose them. The seafarer works for the ship owners, and the team are ultimately responsible for choosing him for a certain work environment and experience.
Discovering The Future Possibilities
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has had a significant impact on seafarer supply, as both nations account for almost 15 percent of the world's mariners. China, which was once the world's greatest source of crew, is now seeing its young people choose to work ashore as the country's economy improves. Also, the increased worldwide fleet size is expected to necessitate an additional 90,000 staff by 2026. Given the aforementioned reasons, India is in a strong position to become the world's leading seafaring nation. The opportunity for IMS is clear, they need to grow on their near five-decade reputation as a leading crew management organization by partnering with vessel owners who share their philosophy.
The uphill struggle for India to address this opportunity will be its capacity to quickly train enough of its manpower to close the rising gap between demand and supply”, highlights Capt. S.C. Sood.
“We see ourselves providing services to all sectors in the main fleet like Crude, Product, Chemical, Bulk, including the Offshore segment for FSRU, FPSO, OSV’s, Rigs, and more. The Cruise industry is also expected to grow at an unprecedented pace. We have experience in all the above segments of the sea-based industry. In order to meet this potential, we have already augmented our team strength and brought in a multidimensional squad of experienced practitioners. Marketing has also been ramped up along with hitherto under tapped sources of crew”. affirms Pavan Sood.
Achievements By IMS Group
"Over the course of more than five decades, IMS has grown to encompass a diverse range of shipping-related activities like management of the ship and its crew, dredging, management of Port Craft, Haulage of Inland Containers, Shipping & Transportation Daily Newspaper, and Supply of Marine Refrigerant Gas to name a few. Every 12th Indian Seafarer has been deployed on board a vessel by IMS, which is a source of tremendous pride for us", says Pavan Sood. In conjunction with SHV Energy, Holland (a worldwide Fortune 500 firm), IMS was also responsible for the establishment of India's first private sector LPG Receiving Terminal in Porbander, Gujarat, India, as well as a number of other notable marine-related projects. The company takes satisfaction in being the industry leader in terms of expertise, commitment, entrepreneurship, and honesty.
Conquering The Oceans
“Today, V.Ships (part of V.Group) is the largest Ship Management company in the world with over 1000 vessels under management. However, when they started out in 1984, they needed to find the best possible crewing solution to fast track their growth plans. IMS was their partner of choice. From a humble beginning of only one vessel crewed by Indian seafarers, IMS helped V.Ships grow exponentially and eventually manned almost 100 ships with Indians for it in less than 10 years. V.Ships was building out a business model which the world had seen for the first time at scale and the only way this could be done was at breakneck speed, keeping the quality of the crew as a paramount requirement. IMS delivered this 24x7x365 for a decade”, signs-off Capt. Sood.
