It was clear early on that we needed to make a change. In other words, we had to find a solution in uncharted waters for the business. We had no experience in chartering. Even so, we made some bold and difficult choices to enter the space.
Chartering our own vessels
In early July, we decided to charter two MPV vessels and refit them to carry 1600 TEU each. The first, The Maritime Voyager, would sail in August. Then her sister vessel, The Maritime Sinchai, would follow in October.
Needless to say, the learning curve was steep and fast, and the risk was even greater. Someday we'll gather up the notes from Dave Boothe, David Wong, Anson Lee, Ricky Chow and myself. It will no doubt make for an interesting read! Personally, I've never been on a wilder, faster roller coaster in my life. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Well, someday I may believe that.
The Voyager sets sail
Thankfully, The Voyager set sail as planned on August 26th from the Port of Taicang, near Suzhou in China. She arrived fully loaded at the port of Savannah on Sept 29th, then berthed on October 7th. Thanks to outstanding work by the stevedore SSA Marine and the Port of Savannah, she was unloaded within a day.
A day later, Mr. Gary Morelli, VP at SSA in Savannah, sent us an encouraging note. In it, he praised our sister ship agency team in Shanghai, The Fastic Group. It read: “I would like to extend our appreciation for the excellent job of stowage and securing on The Maritime Voyager. The discharge operation exceeded our expectation, with the actions of the load port in Taicang making our job much easier compared to similar vessels we have handled recently.” Both OW Logistics and The Fastic Group took great pride in those words. The proof was in: the operation had worked.
Next up was The Maritime Sinchai. She sailed fully loaded on November 1st, with a planned ETA in Jacksonville of December 5th. The Voyager had taught us so many lessons. As a result, there were fewer surprises this time... thank goodness!
How necessity became the mother of invention
Looking back at this summer, we faced a clear need to change. Our customers needed extra space and equipment. To get it, we had to try something we had never done before. The answer was a whole new venture for the business. I think I speak for the whole team when I say it's been exhilarating, educational, frustrating, chaotic and maddening, all at the same time. Still, we've learned a lot, and that alone made it worth the effort. We also cleared some backlogs, which turned a risky situation into a gift.
Thank you
If I had to sum up the adventure in one word, it would be ‘thankful’. First of all, thank you to our team in Asia for their dedication. Thanks, too, to their families for letting them work around the clock this summer. We're also truly thankful to SSA Marine and Norton Lilly, and to our sister company The Fastic Group. In addition, thank you to the container leasing group Seaco Global and to Tote Maritime. The same goes for the Ports of Savannah, Jacksonville and Taicang, and for Mike Greco and the team at NFI Global.
A very special shout out also goes to my dear friend and partner, Mr. Darren Wright, Founder and CEO of Allseas Global Logistics. He was always on hand to guide us whenever we needed it.
Most importantly, we thank our customers for their support and for trusting us to deliver. After all, they provided the ‘necessity’ that led to our ‘invention’. In the end, this five-month-plus challenge became a grand partnership between all of these businesses and the people behind them.
Bless you all.
