Mr. Sanjay Bhavnani is the Director and COO of MMS Maritime (India) Pvt Ltd (MMSI), Mumbai, an affiliate company of the  of the Meiji Shipping Group, Japan. Starting its operation in Mumbai since 2001, MMSI has emerged as the most desired employer for the Indian sea professionals. Mr. Bhavnani’s whole-hearted contribution and his team-mates’ active participation, today has reserved MMSI’s position amongst the best of shipping companies with brand market values. Mr. Bhavnani is upbeat with today’s company position and it’s a pleasure for him to work with MMSI. His dedication and unremitting devotion towards work, makes his career path inspiring for the budding seafarers.

Jobships.com is glad to have Mr. Bhavnani as the “Home Page Guest”. Below are the excerpts from the talk:

Jobships.com : You are operating as a crewing center and a recruitment branch of MMS, Tokyo from India. From how many countries you are recruiting?

Mr. Bhavnani : MMSI is a group affiliate of Meiji Shipping. We are mainly looking after the manning activities as well as we are also operating as technical support center for MMS Tokyo. MMS is recruiting staff from India and Philippines only. Indian seafarers are recruited for all senior positions on our tanker fleet and quite a few junior officer positions as well.  Filipinos fill up all the balance on board positions.

Jobships.com : Do you have any expansion plan right now?

Mr. Bhavnani: We believe in a steady growth and a long-time relationship with our seafarer clients. We already have our own regional office in Delhi and have also started a regional representative office in Chandigarh

We have plans to expand our venture to other cities also in the future. At present, we are concentrating on the integration of the various regional offices with our Mumbai office along with handling the various other specialized functions of Training as well as Technical support functions. 

Jobships.com : What is the size of your fleet and what types of ships you have?

Mr. Bhavnani: MMS Tokyo manages a fleet of more than 50 ships. This consists of Oil Tankers, Bulk Carriers, Wood Chip Carriers and Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTC). It is only on the Oil Tanker Fleet that we have the Indian manning. Our present tanker fleet stands at 14 and another 4 vessels are to be added in as many months from now. In the near future we will also be having a LPG within our fleet which will also be increased to at least two, if not more. Other expansion would naturally follow keeping in line with the core business of the company.

Our tanker fleet comprises of VLCC’s, Aframax’s, and MR Product tankers. Infact, the Meiji Shipping is the first Japanese company to acquire a 100% double hull tanker fleet.

Our vessels have been time chartered to the international leading companies including Oil Majors. A substantial portion of our tonnage is chartered to Exxon Mobil. We always believe in adopting latest shipbuilding technologies and as a ship-owning company, MMS has some further plans to make the size of its fleet much bigger.

Jobships.com : Do you think there is a manpower crisis in the industry? According to you how India can tackle the situation?

Mr. Bhavnani: Yes, there is a crisis. From my point of view, lots of opportunities are there for the taking, in Shipping as they are there in any other sector, if not more. But people are seldom informed regarding the prospects in the shipping sector as compared to other sectors such as IT, Aviation etc. Seafarers are far better and greater hard workers than any other sector employees as they have to continuously fine-tune with the ever changing environment, schedules as well as cope up effectively with other external demands. This sense of pride generated after having successfully accomplished the required objectives in view of constrained resources and limited specialized and external assistance is what needs to be transmitted amongst all potential individuals who may choose this as their most desired career. This needs to be recognized as well as highlighted in no uncertain terms.

Promotion and generating awareness amongst other Industries,  schools, colleges and the Society at large can incite the required interest in the minds of all concerned which will facilitate this career being identified as one of the most preferred one.

Our organization believes in long-term and steady relationships with our employees. More-over, we have good amenities on board, facilities for secured career progression and, our latest HR policies and technologies assure seafarers a safe and happy sea-life culminating into a natural shore career depending upon individual interest and requirement as well as professional aspirations. We also facilitate our seafarers through regular interaction with their families, which helps the seafarers in bonding with and developing a sense of belonging with our company.

Jobships.com : As you told, shipping is the less promoted sector than the others, what is your view on creating “shipping awareness”?

Mr. Bhavnani : I told earlier also that shipping sector has lots of opportunities and it’s the most challenging sector we could ever encounter in our lives.  It has far better opportunities than any other one which could be brought to a level of common awareness.

Mechanisms such as seminars, meeting among common people to inform about shipping and shipping awareness among students should create to pull people towards it. Steps should be taken to offer recognition to highly accomplished seafarers and project them as role models for the others to emulate.

It doesn’t matter in which currency you are paying to your employees. Fixing up the wages in any currency will have its downside and we are seeing the same presently for the dollar. However the same seems to be getting reversed in recent times to quite some extent.

Jobships.com : The brand value of MMSI is amongst the best companies. As the best, what contribution you are giving towards the industry to improve the quality of seafarers?

Mr. Bhavnani : Sea professionals are now looking for a steady career at sea. So, it’s our duty to affirm them with our commitment for a steady career growth.

As per our company concern, we offer employee friendly policies to our seafarers. We take care of their requirements and expectations. Our company also provides seafarers good amenities on board as well as regular interaction with their family members. In return, they also show their loyalty and well-satisfaction. Most importantly the work environment on board tends to bring out the best within them and thereby enhances their expertise to a large extent. That is probably one of the biggest gains for an individual whereby he ends up competing with himself and emerges as a winner.

Jobships.com : Knowledge and skill of Indian seafarers are always incomparable with other countries. But recently China, Vietnam like countries is also producing skilled seafarers. Is it a matter that India should deeply be concerned about?

Mr. Bhavnani: No, I don’t think so. Indian sea professionals are counted amongst the best. They are always competent seafarers and are capable of exhibiting highest standards of professional competency.

China, Vietnam recently coming forward in producing quality seafarers. It may be good news for the continuously expanding global shipping industry. But there is no reason to believe that it will affect the future demand for the Indian seafarers.

Jobships.com: When did you join the Merchant Navy and which factors do motivated you to Merchant Navy?

Mr. Bhavnani : I joined Merchant Navy in the year 1984 I always thought of this as my career goal. So, I joined the Merchant Navy. No other motivation was behind this decision. I can’t think of a career apart from Merchant Navy.

Jobships.com : Are you satisfied with your present position? What are you personnel goals?

Mr. Bhavnani : Yes, totally satisfied. It has been a very pleasant experience to have worked for MMSI. I am very happy with the company position today. It has been all only because of kind co-operation of the industry people and our talented team mates both in India as well as in Tokyo.

Jobships.com : How is jobships.com helping you for manning your ships? Is jobships.com helpful for seafarers as well as shipping companies?

Mr. Bhavnani : Jobships.com is doing a wonderful job. It’s the only portal that is on-line. At present the internet is one of the best communication tools. Jobships.com has adopted the internet very skillfully and stands apart from other job-sites.

Yeah, it’s a timely and helpful portal for the seafarers as well as for the shipping companies. We are getting seafarers through jobships.com.

Jobships.com : Your career is definitely inspiring for the budding seafarers of our country. What message would you like to convey to them through ‘jobships.com'?

Mr. Bhavnani : I would like to say to all sea professionals that we are proud of them for their decision to choose this career and for their continual loyalty to this profession. Also, I welcome all those, who are planning to join this profession to be a part of our fraternity.

Jobships.com : Thank you.