Meiji Shipping Expands with Four New Tankers

Mumbai-based ship management company MMS Maritime India has announced  it is to begin a major recruitment drive for Indian seafarers, after its parent company, the Japanese ship owner Meiji Shipping Group unveiled an expansion of its tanker fleet.

MMSI  provides crew to Meiji’s oil and gas tanker division which numbers 19 ships. MMSI CEO Dr Sanjay Bhavnani  said he expected four new tankers to be delivered to Meiji by the beginning of 2016. The 28,000 DWT medium range (MR) vessels are presently under construction at a Japanese shipyard.

“MMSI currently employs around 300 crew and we are looking to recruit a further 80-90 seafarers from India to help man these four new ships,” he said. “The positions we are seeking to fill will be across the full spectrum of roles from officers and masters to chief engineers. A number of senior positions will be filled from our existing workforce to ensure the ships have the right levels of experience and expertise."

Bhavnani, an experienced former ships chief engineer, said the new ships would support Meiji’s drive to charter more of its vessels to the oil majors as well as smaller oil companies.

“The expansion of the oil tanker fleet has been very carefully planned by Meiji,” he said. “This is very much a long term investment designed to position ourselves as the most competitive operator in the world. We are optimistic the global shipping sector is beginning to recover and expect that to continue gradually over the next few years. The critical factor for MMSI is to provide the best possible training, support and working conditions to attract and retain the highest calibre of crew. By having experienced well trained crew on board we know we can offer oil companies absolute confidence in our ability to manage their tankers at a highly competitive cost.”

Bhavnani said MMSI can offer seafarers career progression and tailored individual support and training.