L & M Seamasters

RELIABLE UNDERWATER FAST, EFFICIENT AND

SERVICES

L&M Seamasters is a well-established company in Limassol, Cyprus. It was founded in 1984, with the intention of providing the shipping industry with high-quality and efficient underwater services. These days, the company offers a range of services but its underwater operations remain the flagship service. General Manager Kimon Mavrou explained more to Hannah Barnett.

There is a lot on offer at L&M S eamasters , but underwater services are where the company started, and where it continues to make its mark.

“My father founded L&M Seamasters in 1984,” said General Manager Kimon Mavrou, “because he saw a gap in the market. We were the first professional underwater cleaning and diving company in Cyprus. My father had been working in Greece, which is a great force in maritime business. So, he came to Cyprus with the knowledge he gained in Greece and started L&M Seamasters. We have been developing our underwater work ever since.”

These days, the company enjoys almost 75-80% of the Cypriot market share and runs on average 10-15 underwater operations on vessels each month, offering subsurface welding and repairs, hull cleaning, propeller polishing, rudder clearance measurements and in-water surveys in lieu of a dry docking (UWILD).

“ We collaborate with Bureau Veritas, DNV, RINA, LLOYDS, ABS and other certification societies,” said Mr Mavrou. “We take care of a ship's hull, that is a large part of our business. And of course, some salvage and retrieval. There might be a component that we need to remove from the seafloor , like an old pipeline. We are very busy with underwater operations these days.”

Alongside underwater services, L&M Seamasters also operates offshore services, towing and salvage, crew transfers and delivery of provisions to vessels.

Kimon Mavrou General Manager

Investments in efficiency

With so much success in the field, it is no surprise that the company is dedicated to making its underwater services as efficient as they possibly can be. For instance, as Mr Mavrou revealed, a recent investment in a new brush cart for underwater cleaning could shave upto 20% off the time it takes to clean a ship’s hull.

“For a ship of around 200 metres, we usually need five to six hours to complete the hull cleaning, including propeller and rudder,” he explained. “We estimate that with this investment we are only going to need around four to five hours; and in shipping, timing is everything.”

As investments pay off, the speed at which the company produces results sometimes must be seen to be believed. “Clients can be amazed at the time we take to do jobs and the quality of them as well,” Mr Mavrou said. “I had a client that

was almost a bit suspicious: he thought we couldn’t have thoroughly cleaned the vessel so quickly. But as soon as we showed him the before and after pictures he said: ‘Thank you very much. You have saved the ship valuable hours.”

The new brush cart is set to be aided by further investments into company efficiency. These include a new and more economical hydraulic machine, providing more power with less fuel and therefore delivering better results.

T he company is also investing into an improved telecommunications system for its underwater surveys. “This will provide better video quality, the sound will be clearer, the image will be crisper, and the colours will be brighter. It will improve the experience for both surveyors and clients,” said Mr Mavrou.

As well as investing into equipment, L&M Seamasters is hoping to expand its fleet –with one proviso: finding the right sort of tug.

“That is one of our future investment plans, to source multi-purpose tugs,” Mr Mavrou explained. “By which I mean, tugs that can be used for large underwate r operations as well as tug services. We are in the market for expansion. Of course, nowadays the market is a bit shaky. So, we won’t rush it. We will find the right vessel, for the right price.”

Business relationships

L&M Seamasters does well to set itself apart, especially in its selling points of speed and efficiency. “We are the fastest

company in the sector of underwater cleaning and polishing,” Mr Mavrou said. “Our personnel are very experienced, very well trained and very professional. We are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We work fast, we work hard, we work honestly, and the results speak for themselves.”

That said, Mr Mavrou was also keen to emphasise that the company enjoys an excellent relationship with its competitors, embracing collaboration above competition.

“We always try to help each other,” he said. “It is satisfying to share knowledge between those that are in the same area of business. And especially in a small place like Cyprus. It’s better to share knowledge, instead of fighting for jobs and getting in arguments. We don't have

issues with any competitors, we actually cooperate on many jobs, especially if a particularly specialised one comes up.”

In the same vein, Mr Mavrou explained that though L&M Seamasters has a robust relationship with its supply chain, it is managed with a personal touch: “We try to form an individual relationship, alongside a professional one. We like to know the person we are working with. To do this, you must have constant communication and understand what you need from one another.

“If the product that you’re offering is good, clients are going to come back. And if you’re honest and direct with communic ation and understand their needs, and they understand what you require from them, then you can have a very healthy

relationship. We believe in building personal relationships with our suppliers, as we would with our friends.”

Vision for the future

With communication, diligence and honest relationships at the forefront of all its work, L&M Seamasters is very much open for business.

“We are keen to work with any ship-owning or ship-management company,” said Mr Mavrou. “Our doors are always open to come and see how we operate, how we work, our results and our success rate. We want to demonstrate how little time we need to complete an operation.”

It is clear the company is on an upward trajectory: and it looks set to continue in that direction, expanding underwater services further and investing into a larger tug fleet. Just as important, though, is to succeed without losing sight of the core values that got L&M Seamasters where it is today.

“We want to improve our technology in order to keep growing as a company,” concluded Mr Mavrou. “If there is a chance of us getting our brand abroad to other ports, then we would be happy. But if we do get bigger, it is vital that we keep hold of our company culture. That means our belief in staying honest and staying humble: and our principle of always doing work properly, and not trying to get through the easy way. We never cut corners.”