AGUNSA and the challenge of adapting and innovating in the Shipping Agency

Waldo Caroca, manager of that area of the company, stressed the importance of this activity.

In the logistics chain of the Maritime Industry, the work of the agency is key because it assumes both the representation and coordination of a series of activities that permit the normal operation of the vessel at a port.

The Agency is invested in the legal representation of a Ship owner or a Charterer before the local authorities and the competent bodies, which in the case of Chile are: the Maritime Authority, Customs, Health Authority, Immigration Police, just to name a few.  In addition, the agency must manage and coordinate the vessel’s activity, as well as her cargo, with the terminals, whether they are concessioned, private or public.

AGUNSA, a company that is dedicated to a wide range of activities in the maritime and port authority, is precisely “a company that was born to deliver agency services to vessels more than 50 years ago,” stated Waldo Caroca, manager of this area in AGUNSA Chile, to MundoMaritimo.

“Over the course of the years, AGUNSA has diversified its services in the area of shipping agency, to cruise lines (passengers), general cargo, project cargo, solid and liquid cargo, fishing vessels, containers, maritime terminals, etc., in which both the technological innovation and the growth in coverage, signifies that the company becomes more competitive, with increased productivity, consistency and reliability,” says the executive.

Waldo Caroca, also highlights that “the company develops this work along the length of Chile with its own offices, with a team of competent and committed professionals under its brand, which has been replicated effectively, with the same quality as seen in Chile, in Peru, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador and Colombia, where it has achieved a leadership position in the markets where they operate, covering operational requirements and safeguarding the interests of those that are being represented.”

Innovation and Adaptation

It is well known that lately the global maritime industry is not going through its best moments.  For this reason, the executive proposes that “in these times one must be creative, innovative and go hand in hand with the customers” and in the agency area, this implies “knowing the needs of the customer.”

This sector, described by Mr. Caroca, has a lot of administrative and planning development which involves many milestones and variables, which adds up to the customer not accepting any mistakes.  “Therefore the innovation is in the knowledge that we have of the client, the reality of the location where we are operating to systematically form a tool that will allow us to adequately plan  the activities that a vessel or client will carry out, achieving a product that has quality, and in which the customer will also value.”

“Here there is no improvisation of any kind,” says Waldo Caroca, while also adding: “here, there are in house tools, with their own engineering, also other external software, but primarily with what we have been able to develop with many years of experience, for the benefit of each and every one of our customers.”

“At AGUNSA, we are with the customer, where we know their realities and their processes, and we focus on what they are pursuing.”  In this regards, he indicates: “the client hands over their wallet for you to administer, and you have to – in terms of process planning, resource coordination, management and the choice of suppliers that will serve that vessel, very efficient and effective, so that the costs that will be generated, and that you have indicated to the customer, will be that, and not ten times more.”

“The consistency in this business is basic, and AGUNSA is, having never lost a contract with a customer, never having one rescinded for having done things wrong,” he said.

The executive underlines that ship agents “are a part of the logistics chain, and very important, because we are coordinating with each of the actors: transportation, authorities, tugs, launch boats and terminals, so that the adventures implied in the shipping business is made to the satisfaction of the customer, in all kinds of things, including safety and respect for the environment.”

In the background, “ship agents are the radars where the customer is calling, and where we are the formal channel of timely information, which is truthful and as transparent as possible.”

Industry Perspectives

With forty years of experience in the sector, from different fronts and knowing the cyclical dynamics of the industry and also considering the current context, Waldo Caroca can state with certainty that “in AGUNSA we knew that the alliances of the container lines was a fact that would come on strong.”

The key to this dynamic scenario, he points out, is the adaptation and readjustment to “what the container lines are doing.”  He also lists that “bulk transport lines, general and project cargo will also probably have to rearrange their service offerings to give their fleets greater efficiency.”

In this regard, says the executive, AGUNSA faces the current scenario “actively participating in the different niche businesses in of agency services.”  While also adding that “we are not going to pigeonhole ourselves into a attending a single line of vessels.  Our guideline is to participate in each of the business lines that the shipping industry offers, while participating with the best weapons, with the primary focus being on the quality of service for the customer.”