The Danish ship supply company Wrist Ship Supply is busy supplying food and other necessities to all the seafarers stranded on merchant vessels due to coronavirus. Travel restrictions at ports all over the world mean that crews have been spending far longer than usual on their ships.
In this deadlocked situation, it is essential – both for their health and morale – that the crews receive fresh supplies on board. Here, Wrist Ship Supply is playing a key role. There are obstacles along the way here and there, but there hasn’t been anything yet which they haven’t been able to solve.
Ships and offshore installations
“Our top priority right now is to ensure the well-being of our employees, and then to deliver supplies, largely food, to crews stuck on ships and offshore installations,” says CEO Jens Holger Nielsen to ShippingWatch. “We see it as our duty to keep them well supplied so they can continue to do the work that benefits us all.”
We see it as our duty to keep them well supplied so they can continue to do the work that benefits us all"
“We can, but it’s taking a lot of time and effort. However – so far so good. We’ve run into a few obstacles here and there, but there hasn’t been anything yet which we haven’t been able to solve,” he says. Jens Holger Nielsen says that Wrist Ship Supply has experienced a slight increase in food orders the past 3-4 weeks. “It’s our impression that on some vessels people are buying slightly more than they otherwise would. Many shipping companies are also doing a bit more for their crews. They are ordering more luxury items to show that they are thinking about them,” he says.
Some product groups
Wrist Ship Supply is based in Nørresundby, Aalborg, but has offices in, for example, Singapore, Rotterdam and Dubai, which are all key ports for the shipping industry. In total, the company has 26 offices worldwide.
There is no physical contact with the ship crews when the supplies are delivered. So far, the logistics are running smoothly, and there is no problem sourcing the goods which the shipping companies want, says Jens Holger Nielsen. “We have a ‘heat map’ that shows our ability to deliver goods around the world, and by far the majority of the map is still green,” he says. However, Wrist Ship Supply has started to fill its warehouses in areas where there is a risk of shortages for some product groups.
Cruise and offshore industries
The high level of activity means that Wrist Ship Supply’s revenue has not yet been impacted
“It mainly applies to fruit and veg and certain types of high protein foods which are sometimes harder to get hold of in certain locations,” says the CEO, who is also seeing price increases for several products at the moment.
The high level of activity means that Wrist Ship Supply’s revenue has not yet been impacted as a result of coronavirus. However, the company expects this to change as economies around the world shut down, reducing the demand for shipping. “We have not yet seen a big impact on our largest segment, which is all types of cargo ships. However, it will inevitably happen if a recession is on the cards, which, if I’m honest, is what I’m now expecting,” says Jens Holger Nielsen, while mentioning that smaller segments such as the cruise and offshore industries are already affected.
Business psychologist available
Jens Holger Nielsen replaced Robert Kledal as CEO of Wrist Ship Supply last year. He previously worked for Maersk and the Icelandic company Samskip.
Wrist Ship Supply is considering making a business psychologist available to those employees who need it
The high level of activity has been making heavy demands on the company’s employees all over the world, with many of them still having to work from home. To help them, Wrist Ship Supply is considering making a business psychologist available to those employees who need it.
Defer tax payments
“There’s no denying the fact that there are quite a few employees who are starting to find it stressful working from home. However, it varies greatly from employee to employee. The unpredictability of the situation doesn’t help either. People are nervous. But I’m impressed with their resilience,” says Jens Holger Nielsen to ShippingWatch.
Wrist Ship Supply, which is owned by the private equity fund Altor, has so far taken advantage of being able to defer tax payments in Denmark, but has otherwise not needed to avail itself of the Danish government’s aid packages.