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Safe Hands

Unicom has never lost sight of the true essentials of successful ship management – safety and quality

Originally set up in 1991 to handle Sovcomflot’s dry cargo fleet, Unicom now manages 42 dry cargo vessels and 31 tankers for it. Unicom is also supervising the new building, prior to taking into management, of a further 11 tankers varying in size from 47,000 dwt product carriers to Suezmax crude carriers. Unicom has full management of seven arctic class tankers and provides crewing for a further 12 tankers and OBOs.

Loyal and professional
Unicom’s success is based on a loyal and professional workforce. There has been continuity both ashore and afloat with retention of staff at more than 90% ashore and more than 80% afloat. The majority of the key managers have been with Unicom for more than seven years and all technical and operational staff have seagoing experience at Class 1 level. For some time now it has been Unicom’s policy to recruit office personnel from its fleet staff of more than 3500 seafarers.

Its office in Limassol employs 160 staff and the new premises at Maximos Plaza will allow this number to almost double to accommodate the planned expansion. Unicom has crewing offices in Riga, St Petersburg, Vladivostok and Novorossiysk. Its crewing department in Limassol is in constant touch with the maritime academies to ensure that training courses for seafarers are kept up to the highest standards. Unicom sponsors 60 students a year at the three academies and provides berths for the same number of cadets on its vessels. Conscious of the need for training in an industry that is going through a quality crisis and is perceived by non-seafarers as an industry that only pollutes or causes damage, office personnel regularly undergo courses relating to the ISM and ISO standards. Unicom itself recently became ISO 9001 accredited and is scheduled to become ISO 14001 accredited in the first half of 2003.

Safety and quality
Unicom’s ethos can be summed up by the phrase where safety and quality are a way of life. Managing Director Captain Valery Shapovalov was previously Unicom’s safety and quality manager. Prior to coming ashore to join Unicom, Captain Shapovalov was master in the Sovcomflot fleet. Consequently, there is commitment to the company’s ideals from the very top and all vessels are managed to the same high standard. When the ISM code was introduced for tankers and passenger vessels, Unicom also applied it to its dry cargo vessels, so as not to operate a two-tier system of management.

Unicom believes that any accident can be prevented and/or controlled through the safety and quality management system in combination with active involvement from everyone in the company, both onboard and ashore. It’s the people on board that make a safe ship and Russian seafarers have always been highly regarded because shipping itself has always been a prestige career in Russia, affording an unrestricted opportunity for foreign travel and, more recently, the earning of hard currency. When Unicom was formed, its status as a flagship for the ex-Soviet fleet meant that it attracted the pick of that elite, many of whom are still with the company today.

On shore
Equally, shore staff are highly valued. Many of them have been with the company since its founding and, because of the expansion, they can see a future career path. Comfortable working conditions are important. The new office at Maximos Plaza has been laid out so that a feeling of spaciousness is generated. The five floors currently occupied have allowed it to keep people working on one type of vessel (dry cargo or tanker) in close proximity to each other.

This has already produced benefits, and cross-communication between disciplines (technical, safety, marine and operations) is evident. This is important in an industry where making significant decisions quickly is essential. The use of formalised risk management in the office and onboard has enhanced this decision-making process, and because of the proximity of staff from the various disciplines, this process can be carried out without significant loss of time.

Unicom has a bright future. Its commitment to best operating practices will attract the shipowner demanding the highest quality and the greatest range of expertise from their manager.

Website: www.unicom-cy.com

www.unicom-cy.com