Shipping Network - The official magazine of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers

Institute Member George de Paula Ribeiro gives his thoughts on the path for growth for the ICS in Brazil and its environs

A steady course? ICS needs to up the ante in Brazil.

Today, just one institution, the Trainmar Institute, offers specific commercial shipping-related education in Brazil. This was not always the case, however. At the start of the decade, the ICS became involved in a local initiative involving carriers, agents, shippers and the University of Sao Paulo to start the Sao Paulo Shipping School. The first two years went well with over 200 students having passed the school’s courses, covering everything from chartering to customs brokerage. Unfortunately, the number of students then started to drop and some participants turned to in-house courses coordinated by their own company.

One of the keys to keeping students interested is a relevant syllabus. It is here that the ICS could strike a niche. Is there the potential for a course in Refrigerated Transport? The last decade has seen a significant increase in refrigerated container movements which have changed the face of perishable transport with the use of latest-generation refrigerated containers and the increase in plug capacity of the full containerships. As a result of this, major players in the reefer container trades can secure 50% of their revenue over a proportional volume of 25% of total tonnage moved.

If a reefer course could be instated, the following structure for a syllabus should be considered:

History of perishable cargo transport – Vessels, trades and commodities.
Transport modes – full reefer vessels, self-sustained reefer containers, controlled and modified atmosphere, isothermal containers, refrigerated tanktainers, refrigerated juice-carriers, reefer roadtrailers, airfreight.
Commodities and Trades – fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, poultry, pharmaceuticals, juices, foodstuffs and others. Main global trade routes.
Refrigeration technology – Basic refrigeration, equipment manufacturers, basic maintenance, gensets, controlled atmosphere, super freezers, ventilated containers.
Cargo care – stowage, container stuffing, packing, air circulation and exchange, cold chain, inland distribution, cargo physiology and shelf-life.
Full reefer voyage estimating – usc/cuft time charter, voyage charters, backhaul cargo (extra days).
Claims handling – data logger analysis, joint surveys, freight payment and collection.
Future trends – full reefer vs. full container, global trades, environmental consideration.

Perhaps then, the ICS will once again improve its reach in Brazil and beyond.

The main hurdles:

Reduced number of local national carriers and, with some exceptions, reduced investment in employee training. Current training programmes offered to staff by global carriers tend to be in-house courses focused on specific topics (such as dangerous cargoes, container repairs and perishable cargoes), while “topend” training, such as the TutorShip, tends to be restricted to head-office staff or expatriates.
Relatively small shipbrokerage community which, in many cases, fears increased competition from new brokers and the potential loss of customers who might establish an inhouse chartering desk.
Lack of recognition of the benefits of ICS membership by the local educational institutions.
Reduced attention to the region by the ICS.
Due to regional salary structures the TutorShip course is proportionally more expensive than it is in Europe or other locations, consequently financial support from employers becomes even more important.

Take action!

Make contact via carriers’ head offices and encourage them to take a view promoting their local offices and agents to take the TutorShip course.
Focus also on the strong regional oil and gas industry.
Encourage local educational authorities to recognise the importance of the ICS membership
Participation in local shipping fairs such as the Intermodal South America (April 24 to 26, 2007) What do other members in this sector think? We would welcome your thoughts.

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