Abstract
Dorian LPG is a 200-year-old family shipping company that currently represents 10% of the world’s very large gas carrier (VLGC) LPG fleet and holds the second position globally. The company had a long experience in managing tanker vessels, transporting cargo for the world’s largest oil companies. The owner’s decision to enter a different market, that of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, led to a fleet diversification and expansion programme that was materialised in a short time frame. The company raised funds from Norway and US stock exchange markets and ordered – initially – six new, technologically advanced, fuel-efficient and with large capacity vessels. Dorian took advantage of favourable market conditions and expanded its order book to 16 more vessels. The company had more than tripled its fleet within a period of less than 2 years; that is a great achievement for any shipping company. The rapid fleet expansion raised a great challenge of people management, both in terms of number, training and qualifications of the sea-going personnel, as well as of the people ashore. The number of Dorian shore staff only in its main branch office in Greece grew from 17 in 2002 to 47 people in 2017. Its sea staff grew from approximately 100 seafarers in 2002 to around 1000 in 2017. Dorian’s people management programme that focused especially on the recruitment, training and compensation cost about US$ 5 million. An extensive human resources (HR) planning for both sea- and shore-based personnel was designed, taking into consideration the special characteristics of the niche market, the stringent quality standards of the clients, and the availability of the right labour on the right time. While Dorian’s main source of strategic competitive advantage is its large, modern, young eco-class VLGC fleet, the management team acknowledges that the only thing that can make a difference in the long run is the management of people that man the fleet or direct the crew from ashore.
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Notes
- 1.
The use of the pronoun ‘she’ to refer to a ship is a common practice in the shipping industry.
- 2.
cbm: cubic meter (m3), a measurement of volume that an ocean freight shipment can take, equal to space of 1 m wide, 1 m long and 1 m high.
- 3.
ECO-class: ECO design of ship ensures improved fuel efficiency through incorporating hull optimisation, engine features and technical specifications.
- 4.
Sister vessels: ships that are of the same class or of virtually identical design; can be easily chartered under COA.
- 5.
Time charter: type of chartering where a merchant (charterer) hires the ship for a specific period of time, which may vary from days, weeks, months or years.
- 6.
Spot market voyage: type of chartering where the ship is chartered to carry an agreed quantity of cargo from port A to port B (voyage). The spot market is highly volatile, because commodities are traded immediately (‘on the spot’) and ships are employed voyage by voyage.
- 7.
Contract of Affreightment (COA): a contract according to which the shipowner agrees to carry goods for the charterer in the ship, or to give the charterer the use of the whole or part of the ship’s cargo carrying space for the carriage of goods on a specified voyage or voyages or for a specified time. Under this chartering type, the agreement is usually on a consecutive voyage basis, and multiple vessels may be involved.
- 8.
Bareboat chartering: type of chartering agreement wherein administrative and technical assistance is not provided by the shipowner. The charterer is responsible for providing crew, operating expenses, insurance and port expenses.
- 9.
Ship’s hierarchy and ranks: ship’s staff is divided by the deck, engine, steward department and others. The captain (or master) is the ship’s highest responsible person on board, acting on behalf of the shipowner. The main ranks on board are senior officers (i.e. captain, chief officer/mate, chief engineer and second engineer), officers (or junior officers, i.e. third, fourth assistant engineers) and ratings (lower-level crew of mariners without a certificate of competence). Cadet captain and engineer are unlicensed trainees that may also be part of the crew.
- 10.
Safe manning: describes the minimum number of duly certified deck officers and engineers, as well as overall personnel that every vessel must carry on board. The manning scales depend on the type and size of vessel, the trade in which she is engaged and other factors (see IMO 2011).
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Progoulaki, M., Tasoulis, K. (2022). Case 5: Dorian LPG’s Rapid Fleet Growth: A Story of Maritime HR Planning and People Management. In: Malik, A. (eds) Strategic Human Resource Management and Employment Relations. Springer Texts in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90955-0_21
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