MARITIME COMMUNITY

So far we have done a basic introduction to the Ship Repair Companies, Ships Agency Companies so no comes the turn to the Ship Supplier or Ships Chandler as they are also called.

What does a ship chandler do? A ship chandler or ship supplier is a company that specializes in accommodating the request for stores and spares to the ships. This is a very broad term and it covers a lot of different product categories. It can be anything from Tomatoes to Engine Pistons and Nuts and Bolts.

 A ship Chandler usually works directly with the Ship Manager or Ship Owner. A large part of Ship Supplier work is simply sourcing of products used onboard the ships. Today the world is the shopping ground for ship suppliers. Anything can be sent express to just about anywhere in 3-5 days. This speed of service has been a blessing and also made it possible for the ship owner to have his ship replenished with stores at just about any location in the world.

 The speed of the ships has also made in necessary to increase the speed of deliveries. In order to accomplish this most owners or managers are preparing any requirements well in advance of ship arrival. Ship arrives, get the stores delivered and shortly after are underway again. A ship supplier locates a product that has been requested by the ship staff. This product is delivered to the vessel at first opportunity. The charges related to this service are then invoiced to the owner or manager.

In dealing with a multitude of owners from all over the world it can be a task at times to keep track of the owner or managers credit rating. Many of the ship chandlers are gambling large amounts of money on their customers and some of them loose it at times.  There are a few people specializing in collection of overdue billing but it is usually the ship chandler them self that has to do the collections.