The Greek market is notoriously tough for third-party shipmanagers to crack. But Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) has been making significant inroads lately, benefiting from a surge of Greek owners entering the LNG carrier sector.

BSM (Hellas), the group's Greek offshoot, has already secured a number of key contracts and has others in the pipeline, managing director Theophanis Theophanous says.

The outfit has won a deal for the full management of a quartet of LNG carriers ordered by a “first-class” Greek company. The ships will start being delivered from the end of 2020.

It has concluded contracts with a second Greek company for the crew management of LNG vessels, which will also start to be delivered next year.

It is in final negotiations to sign a contract for the full management of at least four vessels ordered by Evangelos Marinakis' Capital Gas.

Crew management

In addition, an existing crew management deal with Alpha Gas is being expanded to cover crew management of LNG carriers that were recently ordered by the Angelicoussis-Kanellakis- owned outfit.

The vessels are to be managed out of BSM’s Athens office, where the client's technical superintendent will monitor the ships alongside a BSM peer.

Crewing will be the biggest problem... masters and engineers [who are] experienced in LNG will be needed and you can’t train those overnight

Theophanis Theophanous

The BSM Group has agreements in place that should boost its LNG fleet to about 70 vessels within the next six years, up from the 41 LNG carriers presently entrusted to it, 17 of which are under full management and 24 crew management.

“We believe it’s the future,” Theophanous says.

It is a shifting scene. Some companies, such as Maran Gas or more recently Flex LNG, take back part or all of the management functions when they think they are ready to go it alone.

Interest in LNG is also spreading to smaller Greek companies, Theophanous says. Such outfits are more likely to grant full management to a third-party provider and keep it there — especially in the LNG segment, where technical requirements are demanding and barriers to entry high.

“When companies lack experience, they must go to a professional third-party who has this to offer,” Theophanous says.

Bracing for the deluge

BSM is well placed to capture new business. The company has been providing crew management services to LNG ships since the early 1990s. Newbuilding supervision followed in 2001.

Four years later, Schulte Group outfit Dorchester Maritime eased the way for John Angelicoussis' Maran Gas to enter the business. Today, Maran is the world’s biggest independent LNG shipping company and manages its own ships.

More business followed in 2013, when Martinos family company Thenamaris moved into LNG. Alpha Gas began cooperating with BSM two years later.

Newcomers, such as Marinakis, will boost the number of LNG ships entrusted to BSM to more than 10 units. That will account for about one fifth of all vessels it has under management out of Athens.

With about 100 new LNG ships expected to hit the water within the next three years, finding and training personnel to run them will pose challenges, Theophanous warns.

“Crewing will be the biggest problem... masters and engineers [who are] experienced in LNG will be needed and you can’t train those overnight,” he says.

BSM has begun preparing. Given its long history with LNG carriers, it already has experienced fleet managers, and technical and marine superintendents to run such ships.

However, to cope with extra demand it is putting double crews on its gas carriers to turn existing gas personnel into LNG officers. Its own vessels, such as the 7,724-cbm LNG bunkering vessel Kairos (built 2018), are well suited for the purpose.

Gaining experience

“That’s the best option to gain LNG experience,” Theophanous says. A born Cypriot, Theophanous started his career as a seafarer. He took his first onboard role on the private yacht of shipping legend Stavros Niarchos before obtaining the rank of master.

Crews that have worked on LPG carriers can adjust quicker to LNG carriers — one month of training is mandatory, which includes loading and discharging at least one gas cargo in that period. Crews that have worked on tankers need at least three months of training.

BSM tops this up with courses at some of the six training centres it has across the world, held by instructors approved by the Society of International Gas Tanker & Terminal Operators, or Sigtto.

Demand for crewing, however, is expected to be so great that BSM will likely hire outside personnel to help cover some of it.

Staff with at least three years of LNG experience are required. In order to get accustomed to BSM’s systems and culture, it is crucial that outside personnel are hired six to nine months before the vessel they will work on is delivered, Theophanous says.