Schoeller-owned Columbia Group is moving into what it calls the “burgeoning” Turkish maritime cluster by opening a new office in Istanbul.
CSM Turkey will be headed by Ozgur Gunes and overseen by Xanthos Kyriakou and Johann Meyer from the Italian and German offices respectively.
The company will offer the group’s full range of technical ship management, financing and crewing services, while also exploring “a range of in-house joint venture opportunities with Turkish owners.”
Columbia chief executive Mark O’Neil opened the new office, telling guests Turkey offered a range of exciting opportunities, ranging from shipbuilding, offshore management and construction, to the cruise sector, super yachts and private jets.
“We want to talk to you about managing your ships, about building vessels, about building barges and offshore units in Turkey,” he said.
“We want to advise you on how to manage, operate and invest in private jets and the super yacht industry. If there is a market for cruise in Turkey, come and talk to us. We will invest in that market, and we will invest in those vessels,” the CEO added.
O'Neil promised the group was in Turkey for the long term.
“It is not what we can get out of Turkey that matters, but how we can invest in the country and grow our businesses together,” he said.
Columbia is already in talks with Turkish maritime universities about offering Columbia scholarships to Turkish cadets.
Optimisation and tanker pools
CSM Turkey will also offer vessel digitalisation and optimisation services through Columbia’s performance optimisation control room.
Training, catering and newbuilding consultancy will be a part of the mix too.
Tanker pool management is available through UPT, as well as mental health and crew wellbeing services through One Care.
In addition, Columbia Finance can provide stakeholders in the Turkish market with the necessary project equity.
The group will also supply Filipino, Indian, East European, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese and Turkish seafarers.
