Port services network S5 Agency World has been acquired by impact investor First Dutch in a deal that the agency hopes will help it to grow.
First Dutch is an investment vehicle owned and led by former oil trader Peter Goedvolk, who founded Argos Energies during the 1980s.
As an impact investor the firm focuses on building and developing businesses "that make the world a smarter and more responsible place", according to its website.
The S5 network has a presence at about 1,700 ports globally, including 360 owned offices, handling around 85,000 port calls annually — making it one of the world's most extensive port agency networks.
It was established in 2004 and was split into different regional branches that were owned by separate interests. First Dutch has been quietly buying up each branch of the network and is now S5's sole shareholder.
First Dutch's investment portfolio comprises firms that offer end-to-end services across value chains, making the port agency a critical link between other firms within the group, according to S5's chief executive.
Marinus ter Laak told TradeWinds: "What we bring to the table is a very significant client base. We have so many clients all over the world, so that makes it easy for the other companies to see if we can do some cross- and up-selling and help strengthen each other.
"The other thing is, of course, that we have many offices around the world, so, logistically, we don't have to open an office for each and every company."
S5's global headquarters are in London and it has key offices in Rotterdam and Singapore.
Big data
As well as possible synergies, it was the agency's data platform that attracted First Dutch, particularly the way S5 is able to use data to inform greener decision-making.
Jason Berman, chief commercial officer at S5, told TradeWinds that the company has built up a "state-of-the-art" data platform that collects financial and operations data related to port calls.
"We use all this data to drive efficiencies in the time [spent] in port," he explained.
"That's really why First Dutch has made the further investment, because this platform allows us to drive that further forward."
S5 uses data to figure out things such as how to facilitate efficient crew changes and plan just-in-time arrival of vessels to reduce the need for hotel stays or time spent idling.
"Historically, it was about 'how do we save costs in a port?' But you can only do so much of saving costs in port. The main thing that we've been focusing on over the last several years is 'how do you save time in port?'" Berman said.
"By focusing on how we get the vessel in and out quicker, that obviously allows the client to get on to their next voyage, but it also is about sustainability, because as long as that vessel is sitting in a port, it's burning its fuel and putting out emissions."
S5 has created a very "open" platform with its own application programming interfaces, to which clients can connect their own vessel management systems to integrate data.
"I think that's an important element. Because if you cannot create those connections, you're missing out on huge amounts of data," ter Laak said.
"Up to now we have been focusing on the obvious, through data analytics. The step that we are making now is to go beyond the obvious. We're moving from data analytics into data science, looking for things we don't know we're looking for."
S5 hopes that with First Dutch's help it will be able to accelerate its investment in these systems and advance its data offering.
The agency has big ambitions and aims to be the world's leading port services company.
"We are opening up more and more to work with partners, with other companies and make sure that we do some co-creation and that we are really building an ecosystem," ter Laak said.
"We don't have the intention to do everything ourselves. Where we do have expertise, where we have intelligence, where we have systems, where we have good people, we will team up with those companies."
S5 Agency World is not First Dutch's only investment within the maritime world. Other companies in its portfolio include:
• Burando Maritime Services, a service provider to the shipping, offshore and oil and gas industries
• Clean Energie Nederland, a land-based wind energy company
• Count Energy Trading, a facilitator of energy and renewable products
• Fleet Cleaner, a provider of robot technology for hull cleaning
• The Rotterdam Port Fund, which invests in fast-growing companies involved in the transition to the ‘port of the future’
• Van Aalst Marine, a producer and operator of motion-compensated offshore access systems
