What is a Ship Agency?

The shipping business is in similar to the life of a nomadic herdsman, shipping companies and owners put their fleet on the water transporting goods from country to country seafarers spend most of their lives on the water only coming on land to offload or reload their cargo, to replenish their supplies or for repairs.

These ships dock at different ports in different countries for different reasons and the ship owners simply cannot be available at every port their ships dock at to oversee the business of every ship in their fleet, it is impossible to have enough time to do this.

 So how do they build their business while still taking care of the day-to-day operations of their assets? This is where the shipping agency comes in, a ship agency is the designated agency that is responsible for handling all the management of a ship or fleet on behalf of a ship owner or shipping company, the agency through the use of ship agents handle their customer’s interests at every port and harbor worldwide. These agents can also be referred to as port agents or cargo brokers.

Who is a Ship Agent?

A ship agent is someone who carries out the duties of an agent by managing the transactions of a ship at every port the ship docks at on behalf and under the direction of the ship owner. They act as a representative of the owner of the ship undertaking the tasks of a shipping company quickly and efficiently in the absence of the ship owners.

 They ensure that a ship has essential supplies like food and fresh water, they manage crew transfers, custom documentation, and waste declaration, providing local currency, carry out repairs and other such duties.

Agents are responsible for taking care of a ship’s necessary papers when it comes to a port for docking. He must be able to provide information about the regulations and requirements of the port, area where they operate, their expertise and knowledge of the locale helps them make sure their customer’s needs are met effectively.

 Tasks that may be requested of an agent include securing ship supplies, maintenance, repair, husbandry, berthing, protection, custom documentation etc.

The job of a shipping agent allows him to come in contact with shipping companies and owners from all over the world. His actions and the way he carries out his duties helps him gain the trust of the customer as well as the crew of the ship, by gaining their trust, he is able to understand his customers necessities better and satisfy their needs, this creates goodwill for the agent/agency and helps him secure more customers.

The efforts of ship agency/agents often go unnoticed, but their job is very essential to the success of maritime logistics.

Types of Ship Agency

There are different categories of shipping agents depending on the services requested by the shipping company.

• Port Agency

When a ship docks at a foreign port, the shipping company will want to ensure that nothing goes wrong with the ship’s cargo and crew for the duration they are docked, a port agent is hired to take charge of managing the ships operations on behalf of the owner to make sure that everything goes to plan.

The duties of the port agent is to bridge language barriers if there is any; the port agent takes care of all the paperwork that the ship needs to be able to dock ; if the ship requires port services like unloading of cargo, the port agent books them and they make  sure there is a berthing space available and stevedores are ready for the ship at its allocated time.

The port agent is usually one of the first people to board the ship when it berths, they bring mail, local currency, instructions from another port, information about the goods they’ll be carrying and their destination; they collect a list of supplies needed by the crew, such as marine fuel and lubricants, engine room spare parts, and fresh provisions which is supplied as quickly as possible. When the ship leaves, the port agent calculates the costs that have been incurred by the ship during its visit for the ship owner’s account.

• Liner Agency

Liner agency goes than managing the activity of a ship when it docks; a liner agent maintains a link between the manufacturers of goods to be shipped and the shipping lines that will carry the goods. A liner agent helps a shipping line market their logistics services to possible clients who want to ship their goods.

The liner agent prepares the correct paperwork for all the shipment on a liner service; this could amount to hundreds of thousands of paperwork as it is in the case of large container ships. A liner agent undertakes this task which has been made easier by technological advances but still a complex process of identifying the ownership of the goods, recording their precise description and weight, making an accurate detail of their destination, and ensuring that all legal obligations are met; these information must be submitted at the discharge port before the goods reach the ship. The liner agent is also in charge of collection of payment for shipping of the cargo.

What are the functions of a ship agent?

A ship agent is responsible for a ship while it is docked, they perform a lot of functions that can not all be mentioned; the duties of a ship agent can be categorized into three.

• Commercial Duties: a ship agent takes care of shipping logistics by linking intending shippers with shipping lines that provide marine logistics services. This could be oil and gas logistics, cargo logistics etc.

• Operational Duties: This is ship management. The ship agent takes care of all transactions of ship and its crew during its time at a port. This includes handling all procedures required when berthing till it leaves the port. The agent takes care of all paperwork concerning port or customs authority formalities, supervising activities in the port . They also take care of essentials like supplying fuel and provisions.
• Freight management functions: The ship agent is in charge of off-loading a ship’s cargo, hiring people to unload, load, stow and unstow cargo. They clear the ship’s cargo with the custom authorities so the owner can claim their freight. The ship agent is very essential to the logistics of this process.

Specific duties of a shipping agent include

• Ensuring a berth for the incoming ship
• Arranging for the pilot and the tugs if necessary
• Preparing documents for the customs and harbour services
• Providing fresh water / provisions
• Providing medical care for the crew
• Arranging for storage bunkers if these are needed
• Arranging for necessary repairs
• Conveying information to and from the ship owner
• Organizing the supply, transport and the handling of the goods
• Organizing the necessary contacts with the stevedores
• Collecting freights, cargoes
• Contacting shippers and the receivers of the good

Shipping has been an essential mode of transporting goods for man from time, Hendiac Nigeria limited is a global organisation with the resources, reach and expertise to support marine operations on a local and global scale. Hendiac Nigeria Limited’s shipping services extends to all kinds of vessels, from container ships, bulk cargo carriers, Ro-Ro vessels and tankers to cruise liners and superyachts; and all cargo types from grains, cement, steel, minerals to crude, LPG and chemicals.

We also offer other services like husbandry, bunker fuel supplies, ship spares logistics amongst others. We inform you of your ships status before, during and after docking while satisfying your needs

With a shipping agency like Hendiac Nigeria limited, ship owners can rest easy and not have to run from one port to the other across countries trying to solve every problem each and every time their ship docks at a port . Hendiac Nigeria limited offers fleet management services, Providing full agency, husbandry and protective agency services all over the world, our marine services extend to countries like India, Singapore, Malaysia, Greece, Latvia, UAE, Netherlands, Italy, Lebanon, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Philippines and Russia.

When a client’s ship comes into port, it is taken under the wings of one of our agents who using local knowledge and expertise coupled strict operational standards makes sure your ship’s port calls are as efficient as possible.

Our agents supervise all the procedures necessary to make sure things go well at the port. Diligent action by our agents ensures that ships do not spend long periods idling away in ports translating into economic savings for our clients. We ensure the safety and security of your interests and we deliver the highest standards of service while being honest and transparent in our activities.