'Fast and cheap not an option in project market'

With the project cargo market currently driven by cost over schedule it makes it very difficult to achieve adequate pricing for quality services, says Raymond Fisch, senior vice president at BBC Chartering responsible for group marketing and corporate communication. “Clients may say they want ‘fast and cheap’, but this is not a real option in a labour-, knowledge- and quality-intensive business such as ours where our job is also to manage significant risk for clients,” he explains. “That is why continued efforts aimed at educating the market about the value behind the experience a professional company delivers are extremely important. There is a reason behind the saying that “if you buy cheap you pay double” – and at the end the clients don’t remember how “cheaply” you did a job, but how well it was done.” According to Fisch, the market for project logistics is under pressure through increased focus on cost management in the project execution phase by all major contractors. “For the next months and even up to the next year we need to stay realistic and continue to ride out the current market and see how we can make the best of each situation; competition remains stiff,” he says. “This said, it would of course be favourable for all ship owners/ operators in the project cargo market if a quicker-thananticipated recovery of the global real economy took place. This would bring about better utilisation of the world’s merchant fleet, which would consequently have a positive impact also on the MPP/HL share of it.” He says project logistics transport demand follows the orders and lead times of manufactured components for major projects. “Asia and Europe’s shop load is currently at about 50-70% capacity while North America’s around 65-90%. Overall, demand for MPP/ HL shipping is steadily growing but at low levels. At the moment market participants fight hard to win project cargo contracts and due to an ongoing over-tonnage situation, there is often higher focus on fleet utilisation than on profitability. This is a dangerous development where we can only hope that economic awareness returns amongst market participants regarding such strategies.” INSERT & CAPTION There is a reason behind the saying that “if you buy cheap you pay double”. – Raymond Fisch CAPTION The BBC Citrine … market under pressure.