A US-based ship management company leaned on the reputation of the Philippines as the most sought-after maritime nation and teamed up with a local shipping firm to provide opportunities to budding Filipino maritime professionals, as competition became tougher in the global seafaring arena.
Before the pandemic hit the country, deployment of Filipino seafarers was dwindling because of several factors, including the tough competition with emerging maritime nations China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Seafair US, a global ship management firm that operates in the US, Greece, Ukraine and Germany, selected the Philippines and sealed partnership with local manning partner Laurel Carriers PH to democratize maritime crewing and provide opportunities for seafarers in a simple and fair way.
Founded in Greece, Seafair US is a technology savvy company that offers innovative, full digital recruitment of officers and crew by ushering a reliable platform to link foreign shipowners with seafarers from major sources worldwide, including the Philippines, which is considered one of the biggest providers of seafarers to the global fleet.
It offers SaaS or software as a service where shipowners can take advantage of using the company’s crewing software to provide a reliable platform to link them with seafarers from major sources worldwide.
Seafair US has offices in New York, Athens and Berlin and is licensed to operate as a manning agency in Ukraine. Its license to make business in other countries is also underway.
Given the new partnership with Laurel Carriers, a duly-licensed agency by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the latter will represent Seafair’s business operations in the Philippines.
Seafair US, with a focus on technology, vowed to create a seamless tool for shipowners, ship operators and ship managers for contactless job hunting and provide foreign principals a wide array of choices to select their crew that perfectly fit their vessels’ requirements.
Founder Agapitos Diakogiannis realized some inefficiencies in the hiring process as seafarers have trouble finding jobs even though their seamanship skills are in high demand in the industry that continues to grow in spite of the pandemic.
Diakogiannis said that through the platform, recruitment is always based only on seafarers’ merits, thus fairness is assured in the recruitment process.
Recruitment through partner Laurel Carriers, including interviews, is done virtually at the comfort of their homes, hence, it offers seafarers utmost convenience. There is also less need to report to the office during the entire process.
This provides convenience both to seafarers and their employers and ensures fairness in the selection of seafarers by their respective principals and vice versa.
Laurel Carriers has been in operation for over two decades and acquired three more vessels in 2021, bringing its fleet to 48 vessels of various types.
