COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT FOR SHIPMASTERS

The Masters of the ships carry the huge responsibility. While in the distant past their vessels were relatively small-sized and could only carry some limited amounts of cargo, nowadays the Masters are in command of the passenger vessels, VLCCs, large container ships, Panamax-size bulk carriers controlling huge capital assists with the cargoes worth dozens of millions.

Such responsibility assumes great importance as the today's community demands much higher standards and, consequently, the P&I Clubs make the larger provision for the liability insurance. The Masters have a crucial role in managing the risks associated with the marine transportation. In order to be effective as commercial managers, the Masters shall have a thorough knowledge of the trading terminology and detailed appreciation of all provisions that are expressed and also implied in the shipping contracts; in addition, they shall be confident during the communications with the contracting parties in order for the best results to be achiever for their companies.

For sure, today the job of the Master is much more complicated that it used to be say a decade back. While the modern communication equipment allows much quicker information exchange, this enables the shipping companies to control their subcontractors in new ways. This often results in the Master having to handle quite a complex relationships and making decisions relating to the conflicts of interest to support the owners...