“We made absolutely the right decision to come to India for crewing,” says Mr. David Koo, Managing Director of Valles Steamship Co. with a smile writ large on his face. He adds, “we came to India nearly twenty years ago, and to date our entire fleet is manned by Indians.” Mr. Koo and his team in the senior management were recently in India to take part in their yearly officer’s forum. The officers’ forum, a yearly feature, witnessed the participation of 80 seafarers of Valles Steamship including officers and crew. The forum dwelt on topics of leadership, supervision, interpersonal relationships, and teamwork besides others.

At a time shipping magnates are chasing bulk carriers world over, Valles Steamship is treading a studied course. With most of its ships being tankers, Mr. David Koo says that his company “would not want to preclude any sector.” He says his company would prefer to enter dry cargo cautiously even though at this point it appears to be monetarily more rewarding. He justifies his inclination for tanker trade by saying, “even though it is less profitable now, in this type of trade people appreciate quality more than dry cargo,” Mr. Koo is proud that his company’s unique selling proposition is the high quality they have to offer. Making a point he says, “each of our ships is manned by almost twice the number of crew complement recommended for the efficient running.”

Valles runs long-term charters of 5 to 10 years with oil majors. Some of its clients include Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Total and ENL. Mr. Koo said that his company would welcome an opportunity to serve Indian companies such as HP and BP and was optimistic about a bright future ahead.

Valles owns a fleet of 12 ships of which 10 are tankers and the rest are bulk carriers. The fleet has witnessed a revamp with an addition of 6 ships and phasing out of 5 ships. The average age of the fleet is 3 years. Mr. Koo informed that two more ships would soon be joining the fleet. Valles Steamship entered the tanker trade in the sixties with the product carriers, and by the eighties they entered the Aframax sector.

Valles Steamship has a strong maritime tradition being in existence for over a hundred years. A closely held family company, Mr. Koo believes in the old world essence that stands for relationship and deep commitment to one’s profession. Striking a note of optimism, Mr. Koo says, “a lot of interesting things are about to happen in this industry considering the scale of ship yards being developed in China, Brazil, Vietnam, and even India.”

Mr. David C. C. Koo, Managing Director of Valles Steamships Ltd. flanked by his deputies, Capt. Oscar Pinto, Director – Marine & Safety and Capt. Vikrant Bhatia, Deputy General Manager, spoke to Mr. S. Sadanand from The Marine World about their experiences in the shipping industry and the strides Valles Ship Management was making. Also present was Capt. Gordon Reilly, Group. General Manager, and Mr. Pravin Gupte, both of Nortrans who are crew managers for Valles Ships.



TMW: What is the officer’s forum all about?

A. The sea going personnel is our true asset. And it follows that we must attune them with the current happenings and equip them with ways and means not only to carry out their jobs effectively, but also help them cope with the various unexpected challenges that come up each day. These forums are a means of two-way communication and a meeting ground for the mutual exchange of ideas. You will agree with me that these days the shipping career has become very demanding and it is essential to update one’s knowledge. We bring in national and international experts to speak on various topics and to share their knowledge with our sailors during these forums. Further, these forums also fulfill our social philosophy of encouraging sound relations, both on board as well as off-board.

Q How do you find the officers faring after these interactions?

A. We are delighted to witness the sheer potential of our men. We are happy to see them open up and offer their feedback on different things. I am sure the learning is carried forth to the ships and our company has benefited by them. We also make videos of these programs for the benefit of personnel on every ship and each office who missed the opportunity to attend them.

TMW: What do you have to say about the shortage of officers?

A. We’ve been talking about shortage of officers for a long time, now. I feel this shortage will remain if we do not do anything about it. One must understand that you do not get officers as soon as the pre-sea course for officers is complete. It is a long process, which may take up to 6 or 7 years. So one must be patient, and must be prepared to take the pains to act now. At Valles Steamship we regularly induct cadets both on the deck and engine side fresh out of navigational school and set about to groom them for a long career with us. We are proud to say that a lot of our senior officers and engineers were cadets we recruited a long time ago.


TMW: How do you describe the challenges of recruiting Indian officers?

A. So far we have been quite lucky. We’ve been committed in India for close to 20 years and we have very high retention rates. While we are happy that our position is not as critical as other companies, we do not want to be complacent.


TMW: How do you describe your experience with Indian officers?

A. Very good. I think they are very qualified and knowledgeable. Our record of nearly two decades amply explains our experience with Indian officers.


TMW: What would be your USP to attract smarter Indian officers to your company?


A. Any officer would love to work on our ships for the high quality we maintain all around. All our ships have 27 o 28 personnel on board, whereas the minimum manning required is 14 persons. We consider training an investment rather than a cost, and we provide ongoing training throughout a sailor’s career. And the exposure our officers get is immense as all our dealings are with oil majors. We must say that the wholesome experience an officer gets on board our ships is truly our Unique Selling Proposition, and we feel it cannot be replicated on other ships.
TMW: How do you cater to your training needs?

A. We identify value added courses that meet our needs in terms of their practical worth to the effectiveness and careers of our sailors. We match our requirements with what is offered by different reputed training institutions, and we eventually choose the best after assessing the institutes’ capabilities by means of enrolling an officer or engineer for a particular course.

In addition to outside institutions, we also carry out value added programs through our own Superintendent based in Mumbai.
As far as fresh cadets are concerned, we carry out the entire gamut of tests including the psychological tests etc. as well as the interview by means of a panel and the successful candidates are referred to reputed maritime academies.


TMW: What would be your message to Indian seafarers?

A. Keep your eyes focused on providing on quality. Experience is important on the route to long-term goals, and so be patient, and loyal to your company on the long term. Promotions and success will come your way in due course of time.

TMW: How do you describe your relationship with Nortrans Maritime Services?

A. Very good. We have been in a successful partnership for close to two decades.