WHY SHIPSFOCUS?

The capital intensive maritime shipping industry drives businesses and people as globalisation and trade propel maritime transactions and number of ships to soar. Independent systems build up. Processes grow with expansions. Two major outcomes result:

1. Customers bear the brunt of cost in lack of aggregation, inefficiency and wastage from incohesive systems; while ship-owners and operators contend with high cost of dealing in over-capacity and ever-increasing GHG emissions.

2. front line people grapple with, and some quit, balancing between repetitively unproductive but ‘necessary’ activities and value-adding domain-centric pursuits; and business owners hire more people and add more processes in response.

Things are kept going as the stakes are high. Industry self-help attempts often mean more stovepipe systems. Our vision for Aggregated Shipping is to change that.

WHY SHIPSFOCUS?

The capital intensive maritime shipping industry drives businesses and people as globalisation and trade propel maritime transactions and number of ships to soar. Independent systems build up. Processes grow with expansions. Two major outcomes result:

1. Customers bear the brunt of cost in lack of aggregation, inefficiency and wastage from incohesive systems; while ship-owners and operators contend with high cost of dealing in over-capacity and ever-increasing GHG emissions.

2. front line people grapple with, and some quit, balancing repetitively unproductive but ‘necessary’ activities and value-adding domain-centric pursuits; and business owners hire more people and add more processes in response.

Things are kept going as the stakes are high. Industry self-help attempts often mean more stovepipe systems. Our vision for Aggregated Shipping is to change that.

HOW
DO WE DO IT?

We will achieve our goals based on:

3 CORE PILLARS

OF INTELLIGENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SERVICE

AND

4 CORE VALUES:

  • Achieve a step at a time with clear goal in mind
  • Build open and honest relationships
  • Conduct each activity conscientiously
  • Deliver service and value through simplicity

WHAT
WE OFFER?

INTELLIGENCE

Our customers win with better market intelligence. ShipsFocus solutions offer real-time capture, flow & access of data including curated analytics & benchmarks enabling timely decision-making for every opportunity, all the time.

TECHNOLOGY

We offer technologies of highest standards in cohesiveness, security and contingency, with user-friendly and low cost applications from tracking to chartering systems so our customers can grow their business with lean overheads.

SERVICE

Some practices take time and opportunity to respond to changes. Typical tech world approaches often create stress and resistance. We offer a service-centric attitude, helping our customers transit onto the digitalisation bandwagon.

HOW WE DELIVER?

We will achieve our goals by helping shipping companies digitalise through a minimally invasive step-up approach with low-cost high-value offerings based on our company 3 core pillars and 4 core values:

3 CORE PILLARS

OF INTELLIGENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICE

WHAT WE OFFER?

INTELLIGENCE

Our customers win with better market intelligence. ShipsFocus solutions offer real-time capture, flow & access of data including curated analytics & benchmarks enabling timely decision-making for every opportunity, all the time.

TECHNOLOGY

We offer technologies of highest standards in cohesiveness, security and contingency, with user-friendly and low cost applications from tracking to chartering systems so our customers can grow their business with lean overheads.

SERVICE

Some practices take time and opportunity to respond to changes. Typical tech world approaches often create stress and resistance. We offer a service-centric attitude, helping our customers transit onto the digitalisation bandwagon.

4 CORE VALUES

  • Achieve a step at a time with clear goal in mind
  • Build open and honest relationships
  • Conduct each activity conscientiously
  • Deliver service and value through simplicity

THE TEAM

The ShipsFocus team come from Chemical Shipping, Port Services as well as the IT industries. This gives us a unique combination of Domain and I.T. expertise that sets us apart from others. So not only do we know Shipping well, but we also leverage on Technology and commitment in research to create values for our customers.

Our Expertise

The ShipsFocus Team comprises of:

  • Renowned Shipbrokers
  • Experienced Ship-Operators
  • Knowledgeable Ship-Agents
  • Computer Scientists
  • Data Scientists

It’s fun but hard work enabling maritime digitalisation.

Chye Poh ChuaFounder of ShipsFocus

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

  • ALS app is so easy that I can make a booking just by pressing a few buttons. Also, the records function is very useful. Your Ops is extremely responsive. Thank you!

    E&C Marine Pte Ltd
    Customer Service Officer
  • Special care is key! Thanks to ALS, our working process has become a lot simpler.

    Kingstate Maritime Agency Pte Ltd
    Operations Department
  • I’m very satisfied with ALS: the app, operation and service. The app is very friendly and reliable, every time I make a booking, your ops response is very fast.

    Glorysea Shipping Pte Ltd
    Operation Manager
  • ALS’ transparency and convenience truly make a big difference. I can easily track and see all history of my bookings.

    Collyer Shipping Pte Ltd
    Operations Department
  • Shipsfocus team all have agency background and domain shipping knowledge. That’s why ALS is able to cater to our needs.

    Kingstate Maritime Agency Pte Ltd
    Operations Department
  • ALS is very useful and the response time is prompt. We prefer apps to calling and texting. Now we can access and track records anytime and anywhere.

    Shipping Agency
    Operations Department

INTERVIEW WITH COO, JAMES KIM

What is really unique about Chemical Shipping (vis-à-vis other segments of shipping)?

James: 1) other bulk cargoes like oil, ore, or even container liners move in one direction, chemical cargo has more myriad ways of flows to/fro multiple ports and berths. 2) chemical cargo is not generic: there are hundreds of different types of cargoes and grades by multiple producers, users and traders involved. that leads us to: 3) the hardware: chemical ships have multiple segregations. voyage options and decisions for which cargoes to combine to where and how are much more varied, furthermore 4) while there may be some standardisations, many ships are built for specific needs. with this multiplicity of factors, optimal loadable quantity and performance of a ship can be a BIG VARIANCE. ironically, this also makes for an attraction and a low entry barrier into chemical ship operating as each operator believes in his one-upmanship within that big variance.

How is that uniqueness important in what you and ShipsFocus are doing?

James: maritime shipping faces various issues, like in 1) HR: people with great skills and experience are aging and leaving the industry, while new ones are not catching up fast enough; 2) PR: constraints to improving its image as an industry that has a wide spectrum of jobs ranging from off-shore to land-based; 3) TALENTS: shipping lull in the last decade did not help in attracting talents; 4) 24/7 nature it’s hard to sell ‘work-life balance’; 5) SYSTEMS: experience, know-how and network within a knowledgeable person are not captured systematically over time.

Our role is to fill gaps, bridging 3 major gaps: (1) between the ‘Old’ and ‘New’, (2) more and better use of data (3) optimising the ‘variance’ and efficiency. there are not many people in this unique space, and on such pursuits. to make it work, we have to cater to this uniqueness, using our unique knowhow, experience and network.

Which part of your background is most helpful to what you are doing now?

James: I believe it’s my background as a ship-owner and operator. I was with Hanjin first in VLCC and then Aframax, then to Chemical Tankers. that gave me tremendous opportunities adjusting from one to another. there were so many varieties and details in high frequency I had to know and adjust to. i became sensitive to the uniqueness in Chemical shipping. coincidentally, Hanjin was undertaking a PROCESS INNOVATIONS initiative, and I was required to provide inputs for a chartering and operations system, including on how it should work. unfortunately, users had to work for the system when it was developed, not exactly a system i dreamed of.

What is the biggest challenge in marrying tech and shipping, and what is your specific strength in this respect?

James: mainly it’s people’s fixed mind-set that’s the biggest obstacle. people say they are busy, while tech can help, they are reluctant to adopt such change. it’s a chicken and egg issue. our strength is the ability to cater to the specific and minute details that make chemical shipping unique, and the network we’ve gained trust from previous roles we played as shipbrokers. we get better chances than the tech people to hear the pain points and thus introduce the right solutions.

INTERVIEW WITH COO, JAMES KIM

What is really unique about Chemical Shipping (vis-à-vis other segments of shipping)?

James: 1) other bulk cargoes like oil, ore, or even container liners move in one direction, chemical cargo has more myriad ways of flows to/fro multiple ports and berths. 2) chemical cargo is not generic: there are hundreds of different types of cargoes and grades by multiple producers, users and traders involved. that leads us to: 3) the hardware: chemical ships have multiple segregations. voyage options and decisions for which cargoes to combine to where and how are much more varied, furthermore 4) while there may be some standardisations, many ships are built for specific needs. with this multiplicity of factors, optimal loadable quantity and performance of a ship can be a BIG VARIANCE. ironically, this also makes for an attraction and a low entry barrier into chemical ship operating as each operator believes in his one-upmanship within that big variance.

How is that uniqueness important in what you and ShipsFocus are doing?

James: maritime shipping faces various issues, like in 1) HR: people with great skills and experience are aging and leaving the industry, while new ones are not catching up fast enough; 2) PR: constraints to improving its image as an industry that has a wide spectrum of jobs ranging from off-shore to land-based; 3) TALENTS: shipping lull in the last decade did not help in attracting talents; 4) 24/7 nature it’s hard to sell ‘work-life balance’; 5) SYSTEMS: experience, know-how and network within a knowledgeable person are not captured systematically over time.

Our role is to fill gaps, bridging 3 major gaps: (1) between the ‘Old’ and ‘New’, (2) more and better use of data (3) optimising the ‘variance’ and efficiency. there are not many people in this unique space, and on such pursuits. to make it work, we have to cater to this uniqueness, using our unique knowhow, experience and network.

Which part of your background is most helpful to what you are doing now?

James: I believe it’s my background as a ship-owner and operator. I was with Hanjin first in VLCC and then Aframax, then to Chemical Tankers. that gave me tremendous opportunities adjusting from one to another. there were so many varieties and details in high frequency I had to know and adjust to. i became sensitive to the uniqueness in Chemical shipping. coincidentally, Hanjin was undertaking a PROCESS INNOVATIONS initiative, and I was required to provide inputs for a chartering and operations system, including on how it should work. unfortunately, users had to work for the system when it was developed, not exactly a system i dreamed of.

What is the biggest challenge in marrying tech and shipping, and what is your specific strength in this respect?

James: mainly it’s people’s fixed mind-set that’s the biggest obstacle. people say they are busy, while tech can help, they are reluctant to adopt such change. it’s a chicken and egg issue. our strength is the ability to cater to the specific and minute details that make chemical shipping unique, and the network we’ve gained trust from previous roles we played as shipbrokers. we get better chances than the tech people to hear the pain points and thus introduce the right solutions.