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In order to become a Ship Chandler you require a different set of skills in order to provide your clients with the best outcome possible. For instance, a Ship Chandler needs to have a good understanding in different areas such as accounting, computer operations, problem solving, customer service, and organizational skills among other skills.
In order to operate a ship chandler must directly negotiate with vessel captains or ship owners. Throughout this negotiation the ship’s crew will have some demands such as food supplies, commodities, maintenance equipment, cleaning products, gas refills, even garbage removal among other services. The Ship Chandler will then send an offer with a list of all the requirements, which the captain will approve. The payment is always arranged mostly with credit or after the products are delivered, depending on the relation between the two parties involved.
Requirements for becoming a Ship Chandler
As it is a niche market, it can be said that ship chandler is a business in which you need to have relations as in many other sectors. By relations I mean familiarity with both domestic and foreign companies, entities and authorities as well. In order to do so, Ship Chandlers need to be familiarized with both national and international regulations, as well as Port Regulations.
Port Authorities and maritime regulations grant licenses to companies that reach certain standards in order to operate in an appropriate, efficient and safe manner. Ship Chandlers need to be licensed by local institutions; they also need to be accustomed to the regulations and requisites of the International Ship Suppliers Association (ISSA), which regulates the professional and business practices. In order to be a member and to operate, ISSA has also established a code of ethics to ensure proper conduct.
How to reach a Ship Chandler
In the past it was possible to go to the port and reach out to whomever you found at the docs and started offering your services or so. However as time passed and Port Authorities began to secure and regulate the port, it became a more formal environment. With formality came regulations, licenses and permits in order to become a more lucrative and organized sector. A city’s port is one of the many pillars of a country’s economy; therefore the most rigid standards are applied in order to assure safety, efficiency, transparency and a good experience to the incoming foreign vessels.
When Ship Chandlers started to formalize the contact was done by telephone or dock visit with the authorization to enter and operate in the Port already granted. Then until some years ago and even today Email is the way Vessels and Ship Chandlers communicate in order to reach an agreement.
Because of the type of business, it was believed that marketing was not needed. Nevertheless, many Ship Chandler companies are starting to develop their digital content and social media presence in order to adapt to the new tendencies in the world. Some companies have identified that the service business is evolving and that customers expect fast responses and a customized personal experience.
The ability to communicate is key in most service businesses but specially in this one because of the time zone and language barriers some one co an encounter because of the natural international element of the business. That is why Ship Chandlers are making the swift in becoming a more technological and digital company. Internet presence and logistic technologies are becoming more where the industry is heading.
Probucam has lasted in time because it has been able to understand and adapt to the ever-changing demands of the maritime Ship Chandelling business. For us it is a privilege to be considered as a serious ethical and honest company and to represent our city’s international trade market and to have been doing it for over 40 years.
It is also an honor to be ISSA and Ship Serv members, which are the highest and most prestigious institutions in the maritime industry. It shows the effort and commitment our team at Probucam works on a daily basis for satisfying even the most remote requirement a Ship crew may need. And to do so in a professional, efficient and safe manner is just proof of the capacity and the know-how this company has been managed throughout time.
