Jebsen PTC

SETTING THE COURSE ON SHIP MANAGEMENT

Jebsen PTC offers a first-class ship management service from its base in the Philippines. With a hardworking crew behind it, the company ensures their mental and physical wellbeing is the number one priority. Vice President of Ship Management & Director of Business Development Captain Allwyn Lobo explained more, in an exclusive interview with Inside Marine. Report by Imogen Ward.

Over the years, Jebsen PTC has developed a reputation for excellence, pairing high-quality management services with competent and hardworking crew.

“We have maintained a large focus on competency,” said Vice President of Ship Management & Director of Business Development Captain Allwyn Lobo. “During the last few years, we have added more experienced members to our team, increasing our size and the quality of ship owners we serve. Having a larger focus on what newcomers can bring to our management services has enabled us to increase the quality and efficiency of our operations.”

Jebsen PTC is a strategic partnership of two companies: Philippine Transmarine Carriers (PTC) founded in 1979 by Ambassador Carlos Salinas, and Jebsen Company, which was formed as part of the

Jebsen Group that provides a full range of supportive services for ship management.

As time progressed, the company developed a reputation for excellence. Over the past two years, Jebsen PTC has implemented key changes to further improve its operations.

“Initially, we cast a wide net in terms of the clients we took on,” Captain Lobo continued. “In the last two years, however, we have become more strategic in the ship owners we work with.”

“As a result, we are managing the same number of ships with the same number of employees, but our revenue has changed entirely – we have successfully doubled our revenue – just by working with ship owners who are willing to go the extra mile for quality.”

Following this success, Jebsen PTC, recently added four reefer vessels to its fleet. Initially built in Europe 32 years ago,

the four vessels are now being managed by Jebsen PTC, as they embark on their journeys carrying bananas from the Philippines to Japan.

“These are rare Italian reefer vessels,” Captain Lobo explained. “Having the opportunity to work with these vessels has been a special experience.”

On Sustainability

Inspired by the industry’s transition to net zero, the PTC Group recently added a solarpowered catamaran to its roster. Positioned in Manila Bay, this vessel operates as a recycling vessel and features a science lab on board, where education programmes are run to promote a positive impact and encourage change in the industry.

“The Circular Explorer is a 100 percent solar-powered recycling catamaran, designed to recover marine plastic waste

from Manila Bay,” said Captain Lobo. “The vessel features conveyor systems which automatically collect plastic waste for recycling.

“Using specialised sensors installed on the vessel, we collect data and map water quality and microplastic pollution. We then use and share this data to explore scientific solutions and encourage better recycling and waste management practices. This data will allow scientists to present qualitative and quantitative findings t o policymakers and help them create policies to keep Manila Bay clean and healthy.”

The vessel relies on sensors to track water quality and marine debris; this information is then sent to labs onshore to better understand the effects that plastics have on the ocean.

The Circular Explorer is an important component in the PTC Group’s sustainability efforts and has inspired the company to continue building for tomorrow.

“What drives this initiative is our corporate social responsibility and our purpose,” Captain Lobo continued. “We are now discussing the possibility of replicating this project and producing other boats similar to the Circular Explorer.”

To accelerate its impact, the Circular Explorer is building awareness through educational activities to empower next generation changemakers in the local communities, and by pushing the boundaries of marine science to explore new solutions with leading marine institutes.

Technical support on-land

As an extension of its management services, Jebsen PTC, also offers highquality resort management.

“The Philippines has over 7,000 islands, with resorts that are not connected to the grid, mains water or sewage,” said Captain Lobo. “We work hard to overcome these hurdles. Currently, to produce power, we

are working with diesel, but we are in the process of moving over to solar thanks to the recent 4MW solar installation that we also now manage. We successfully produce enough power to cover 10GW of annual consumption. By August 2024, more than 50 per cent will come from renewable sources.”The company also treats around 500m3 of sewage each day, whilst also desalinating around 700m3 of water, to provide the resorts with clean water that is safe to drink.

“To actually produce 700m3 of water, we have to process three times that amount in seawater,” Captain Lobo continued. “That’s a lot of water, so, wherever possible, we like to reuse any by products. The sewage treatment process leaves us with water and compost, which we donate to agriculture, because it cannot be disposed of at sea.”

Captain Lobo likened the islands to unmoving ships, with tasks often overlapping, and the permanent positioning of 20 ex-seafarers managing the day-to-day technical elements of running the island resorts.

Improving crew welfare

At Jebsen PTC, crew well-being and safety is, and always will be, the number one priority. In line with this, the company recently invested in Starlink, installing it onboard all its vessels.

“About two years ago, we were having problems with crew communication, and then Elon Musk developed Starlink Maritime,” Captain Lobo commented. “We jumped on the opportunity, partnering with some great companies to make sure it could be installed on all our vessels. Now they all have Starlink as their primary means of communication. We also have VSAT installed as backup, to make sure our crew never misses out on communicating with families; and the vessel has access to resources online that can improve safety.

“In the early days of satellite communication you couldn’t connect effectively out

at sea: then technology began developing and a slow rate of 2Mbps was introduced. Today, our crews can enjoy 250Mbps, which is sometimes even faster than the speeds we get at home.”

The company now also offers online training modules through our learning management system. This provides a convenient alternative to in-person training and removes the need for crew members to travel unnecessarily.

Another recent investment that Jebsen PTC believes will lead to important changes focuses on data collection. The company has collected a large amount of data from on board its ships that it intends to analyse using Jet Reports and Power BI.

“Using this software, we will be able to analyse our data for better management,” Captain Lobo explained. “This will enable us to find the root causes of incidents and near misses, so that we can focus on

Vice President of Ship Management & Director of Business Development

Captain Allwyn Lob

high-risk training GAPS in order to better avoid them in the future.”

When discussing his time in the industry, Captain Lobo felt inspired by the role that Jebsen PTC plays: “Ship management is like the trunk of a tree – there are so many branches (business units) that feed from that support system. If I lose a ship, then all the other branches lose business. But more importantly, we contribute to the livelihood of so many Filipino

global maritime professionals and their families.

“I understand the responsibility that sits on our shoulders, and it greatly motivates me every single day.” n