10 Tips for Choosing the Right Ship Chandlers

Ship Chandlers, or ship suppliers, are an important part of the maritime resupply chain and are literal goods retailers that provide a very specific service to ships who need to purchase equipment and supplies. It is a convenient way for a ship’s crew to restock and resupply, without having to make numerous transactions, or search for multiple suppliers. These resupply items can be anything from food and luxury goods, to safety equipment and mechanical maintenance supplies.

Choosing the Right Ship Chandler

Although there are many Ship Chandlers doing business in South Africa, you need to consider a few important things before appointing one as your preferred supplier. This is why we’ve included a few pointers in this blog post, which should help you choose the right ships chandler service for your needs.

• A ship chandler always needs to conform to the highest of quality standards and you need to be confident that they can provide the best service to your ships.
• They should always have access to reefer facilities, provide ample dry storage and employ enough vehicles to ensure that your orders get to you on time and in perfect order.
• Value for money should always be a given!
• Specific dietary requirements must be accommodated and a good ship chandler will be sensitive to all of your crews social and religious requirements.
• The delivering of quotes quickly and when required plays an important part of this business, so ensure your ship chandler can do just this.
• Uncalled for expenses should never happen!
• A ship chandlers sales team needs to be capable of providing multi language ordering services.
• A good relationship built on trust needs to be part of the service, as a productive relationship with numerous crew and captains must be established.
• It should cater to all of the food and beverage requirements of the crew and passengers onboard a ship no matter the size of the order.
• Engineering and Electrical Supplies need to be available at all times and provided at the most competitive prices.

Above all of these very important points above, there is one thing that will always set a ship chandlers service out from its competitors, and it is something that we at Link Maritime Supply Services pride ourselves on – the ability to respond quickly to all forwarding and clearing enquiries! This is because we know that all orders need to be delivered on time, every time and we’re always here to help you get what you want when you need it.

Want to Know More?

Then why not watch this short but informative video called Pulse of the Port: Keeping Ships Supplied. It was put together by the Port of Long Beach in California, and provides a fantastic insight into not only what a Ship Chandler does, but also goes on to describe the many processes inside a modern port that allow ships to resupply quickly and efficiently:

This entry was posted under Ship Chandling

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