Protecting owner from the risks of collective asset management

There are both benefits and drawbacks to joining a vessel pool in today’s marketplace and Navmar’s assurance is that we keep our clients fully informed on both positions and help make them a suitable decision depending on their requirements. Undoubtedly, join a pool can have several advantages in terms of minimizing idle time and maximizing cost and revenue potential. A wider trading geography means the vessel means is always in employment on behalf of a wider spectrum of possible customers and this energises the cash flow. Not only do big charterers and multinational traders prefer to deal with a larger fleet, they see obvious benefits in signing long term contracts when more vessels are made available for their shipment. Pools also have higher visibility and easier access to the charter market.

Of course, there are disadvantages of joining a pool. An individual owner seldom has comfortable elbow room to manoeuvre and must conform to the pool’s operating objectives and policies. Pooling is meant to safeguard an owner’s interests but conflicts of interest do arise and the dominant players in the pool may cherry pick the better business opportunities and leave the crumbs for the small owners. There is also the risk of owners becoming too dependent on the pool and lose touch with its primary market. As Commercial Managers to the owner, Navmar helps take steps to minimise the costs and consequences of any negligence on the part of the pool administration.