SPI Marine has opened an office in the Swiss town of Nyon that will focus on the projects, chartering and sale and purchase sectors.
The chemical tanker shipbroking, agency and data services firm has recruited Jonathan Le Feuvre, who was until recently the chief commercial officer of Swiss shipping company ABC Maritime, to set up and head the operation.
The move marks his return to shipbroking after an absence of 10 years.
Le Feuvre told TradeWinds that an office in Switzerland plugs a central Europe hole in SPI’s network, which includes offices in the US, UK, Oman, Singapore, China and South Korea.
It puts the company in close proximity to Swiss-based traders and oil majors.
“We believe this new presence is the next natural step in the group’s strategy, and we are delighted to welcome Jonathan to the SPI Team,” said SPI chief operating officer Mark Roberts.
Le Feuvre is a one-man band for now, but the plan is to have a couple of brokers handling projects and chartering, with Le Le Feuvre and one more broker focused on S&P.
“The eventual idea is to have a team of six to eight people,” Le Feuvre said.
Nyon, which is located between the business hubs of Geneva and Lausanne, was picked because of its proximity to both business centres.
“It is 20 minutes by train one way, and 17 minutes the other way, so it is no worse than being in London,” Le Feuvre said.
In addition, Le Feuvre noted that Nyon is becoming something of a maritime centre, with three or four major traders within walking distance from his office.
Pivotal change
SPI, which Le Feuvre described as “big in chemicals, vegoils, and biofuels”, has invested heavily system it calls the Vault, a project to bridge the gap between data and voyage decision making.
Using artificial intelligence-powered data processing technology, brokers, shipowners and charterers are able to ask questions via a question and answer (style search engine to gain real-time answers.
This system is what Le Feuvre believes is future of shipbroking, and what attracted him back into broking after almost ten years shipowner ABC.
“SPI is a dynamic, forward-thinking company”, said Le Feuvre, who explained that their paths had crossed professionally while he was at ABC Maritime.
“Globally we are at a pivot point as the world is fundamentally changing. SPI sits at the top of that pivot.”
As the business world becomes greener, he said oil will be used in a different way.
“It will be used more as a chemicals base than as a propulsion fuel for transport,” he said.
“At the same time, AI will become that backbone of all we do. It is thrilling to be joining a company that not only embraces the future of shipping services but drives it with a progressive approach.”
Containers to tankers
SPI Marine first opened its doors in Wilton, Connecticut, in 2011 following a union between Sound Tanker Chartering and Panasia Marine.
The company claims to handle a multimillion-tonne cargo portfolio annually, ranging from simpler grades of biofuels through to highly complex chemical derivatives, and from a 20ft isotank containers through to a sophisticated chemical tankers.
Its website touts its ability to provide customers logistics solutions "across the entire supply chain, from facility to end user".
Le Feuvre spent 14 years as a shipbroker with Associated Shipbrokers and Clarksons before he was headhunted in 2007 to set up Norwegian shipbroker Fearnleys' office in Singapore.
After building up Fearnleys Asia into a large broking shop, Le Feuvre decided to move back to Europe for family reasons, and joined tanker and offshore support vessel owner ABC Maritime is 2011.
“We did some very interesting things at ABC such as moving into niche markets such as the Canadian great lakes and South Korean chemical distribution, but our paths are diverging as the company is transitioning from a shipowner into a third-party shipmanager,” he said, when asked why he decided to leave his last job. “I like putting deals together. It is what gets me up in the morning.”
