ZEABORN transforms its administration with Harbor Lab's digital solutions

On 16 March, Harbor Lab announced that ZEABORN Ship Management will incorporate Harbor Lab’s e-disbursement software and agents’ directory into its systems for greater efficiencies and increased transparency across its port cost management processes.

With operations in Hamburg, Cyprus, Singapore, and Manila, ZEABORN is partnering with Harbor Lab to unify its processes, generate a higher degree of transparency and become more cost and time efficient, especially when it comes to the handling of repetitive administrative tasks that can be supported by modern technology.

With this co-operation, ZEABORN can compare quotes for husbandry services across ports globally, appoint agents, share and digitally approve documents, and most importantly, access clean and accurate data.

Moving The Needle Toward More Transparency And Efficient Processes

Matthias Bücker, Senior Vice President Commercial Management at ZEABORN, explains why the partnership is important: “ZEABORN is a signatory to the UN Global Compact and member of the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network. As such we have vouched for transparent processes and money flows. Harbor Lab provides us with a platform to achieve exactly those goals while also streamlining internal processes to become more admin efficient as well as cost efficient in our spendings together with increasing the quality of the husbandry services provided to our clients’ fleets.”

Antonis Malaxianakis, CEO and Founder of Harbor Lab, says: “We are delighted to be partnering with ZEABORN as we support its next steps to create a transparent and efficient framework in which it can administer and operate its ships. At Harbor Lab we provide our customers with information they can trust. Our services are driven by verified data and all users of the system are screened in line with our Compliance Policy. Our solution will no doubt lead to reduced operating costs and more transparent and efficient port call management for ZEABORN and we are proud they have already seen a significant return on investment.”

ZEABORN sought a solution that would not only consolidate and streamline its port-related disbursements administration, but also provide insights on market rates and fees that are difficult to get hold of through a third party.

The software streamlines the disbursement account analysis process and enhances the internal communication between ZEABORN’s four offices, reducing paperwork, saving time, and increasing transparency - all outcomes that are in line with ZEABORN’s ongoing commitment to its customers.

About Harbor Lab

Harbor Lab is an Athens, Greece-based maritime software company offering the first e-disbursements accounts analysis software that automatically calculates and evaluates port expenses against real-time port tariffs, optimizing the Port Cost Management process. Founded in March

2020 by Antonis Malaxianakis, its purpose is to build trust in the maritime ecosystem. It currently has 700 vessels, whose disbursement accounting is run through the platform and more than 5,000 agents and vendors registered. Since the company’s inception, it has rolled out a number of cloud-based products that provide ship operators, managers and charterers with greater transparency and in-house control and monitoring of their vessels’ costs. Harbor Lab has 60 employees.

About Zeaborn Ship Management

ZEABORN Ship Management is a pure third-party ship manager offering a comprehensive and state-of-the-art product portfolio with particular focus on performance, efficiency, digitization, and advanced customer care.

With its headquarters in Hamburg, Germany, a strong hub in Singapore and further offices throughout Asia and Europe, ZEABORN employs about 4,300 people ashore and at sea. This workforce looks after a diversified fleet focusing on containerships, bulk carriers, tankers, and multipurpose vessels of all sizes.

All employees at ZEABORN Ship Management ashore and at sea are committed to providing safe, environmentally friendly, and reliable ship management operations to the company’s clients.

ZEABORN Ship Management has joined the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary initiative aimed at promoting sustainable and socially responsible development.

Thordon opens new market for its Thorplas-Blue bearings with Wilson vessel retrofit

In what marks a relatively new application for Thordon Bearings’ pioneering polymer material, Wilson Ship Management AS (Wilson), a Norway-based ship manager, has replaced the greased bronze bearings on the hatch cover wheels of some of its dry cargo vessels with self-lubricating ThorPlas-Blue bearings.

Wilson, which operates Europe’s largest short sea fleet of about 130 general cargo vessels, has now converted eight vessels following the success of the first retrofit three years ago.

Tommy Holmgren, Sales Director, Duwel Group – Thordon Bearings’ authorized distributor in Norway – explained, “Wilson was not aware at first that the Wilson Wisla, which was purchased in 2019, was already operating with Thordon bearings in this application, but when they discovered it was Thordon, they ordered more for other Wilson vessels. To date, we have retrofitted ThorPlas-Blue bearings to the hatch cover wheels on a further seven vessels.”

Retrofits to Wilson Weser took place in 2020 and further installations to Wilson Borg, Wilson Leith, Wilson Tees, Wilson Alster, Wilson Goole, and Wilson Monsoon all took place in 2022 during scheduled drydockings.

“The ship manager is closely monitoring performance but so far, the feedback is very positive. We anticipate increased interest for ThorPlas-Blue in this application,” confirmed Holmgren.

ThorPlas-Blue is commonplace in ships’ deck machinery, such as fairleads, winches, and lifeboat davit bearings, but as the material can withstand much higher pressures, hatch cover bearings are deemed an important and beneficial application.

Typically, a hatch cover’s wheel spindles, cleat spindles, hinge pins, hydraulic cylinder protective sheaths, cleat wedges, drive chain sprockets, toothed rack, and cylinder spherical bearings need to be properly greased at least once a month. This time consuming and messy operation is carried out to ensure hatch covers open and close smoothly and to prevent damage to cargo during loading and unloading. ThorPlas-Blue removes the greasing requirement.

With ocean sustainability and responsible shipping now very much on the regulatory agenda, Thordon Bearings’ environmentally focused products are being specified as part of a tranche of solutions and measures to reduce the environmental impact of operations. This successful application will open significant opportunities for Thordon and its ThorPlas-Blue line of self-lubricating bearings.

ThorPlas-Blue was developed as a maintenance-free solution to replace bronze bearings and to remove the need for grease in ship deck equipment. The elastomeric polymer material is designed to withstand pressures up to 45MPa (6,527 psi), though installation experience suggests the material can withstand much higher loads.

Anthony Hamilton, Thordon Bearings’ Technical Director, said: “By replacing traditional greased bronze bearings with ThorPlasBlue, ship operators and managers benefit both environmentally and commercially. There is a zero-grease requirement and wear rates improve dramatically. The self-lubricating properties of the Thordon material mitigates against the risk of hatch cover failure due to bearing seizure, so you do see reduced repair and maintenance costs.”