Pentagon Marine Services a primarily Indian manning and ship management company has now opened their Associate office in Singapore reversing the trend so far wherein foreign manning firms have been coming to India and opening shop
If there was a Top Performers’ Excellence Award dedicated to the fastest growing ship manning company in South Asia it would certainly go to Pentagon Marine Services Private Limited (PMS). The company’s ability to overcome various obstacles is remarkable – notwithstanding the global recessionary hurdles, world wide marine officers’ rampant shortage, increasing regulatory hassles and rapid technological advances which have not deterred the company’s growth on its robust progress path.
Set up in August 2004 in a one room office, this ISO 9001: 2000 accredited organization which began operations with hardly $1 million investment has grown 38 times in a mere five years. Today, it operates from 8 different centers across India and has a network of liaison partners the world over, prominently Rome / Genoa in Italy, Vancouver, Canada, Taipei Taiwan and now opened an associate Company at Singapore.
Also remarkable is the fact that Pentagon Marine is the first company to have not only reversed the existing trend of foreign manning companies coming to set up shop in India; but it being a totally Indian company has flourished overseas being successful in leaving its footprint in various shipping centers all over the world.
What has been the driving force responsible for the growth at such a scorching pace? “It is Pentagon’s ability to understand the needs of its ship owners and charterers and to provide highly skilled officers and crew to fit within the clients’ budget while at the same time bring in value addition to the performance of the assigned task,” explained Founder and Managing Director, Capt Nalin Pandey, who has been its sole driving force. “Our very skilled & dedicated team has helped to navigate the fortunes of the company into diverse areas to offer Ship's Technical Management, Crew Management, Ship Agency & Stevedoring at all Indian Ports, provide one-stop logistic solutions, undertake Chartering, Purchase and Sale of ships, undertake vetting and ship inspection, ship repairs and cargo and ship broking. And all this has been achieved within five years.”
More to promote the welfare and well being of the fellow seafarers Capt Pandey set up one of the nation’s finest post sea Training Centers - Pentagon Maritime Training & Research Institute. It features world class facilities, including simulators’ computer-based training modules etc., to ensure that marine officers and engineers acquire knowledge and experience in every facet of tanker operations.
Pentagon Marine Services’ clientele is spread far and wide with well-known customers including Finaval, Tekne, SAM MonteCarlo, Fingas, Stolt Nielsen, Perservanza di Navigazione, Italy, New Consulamare Genoa & several Indian companies with fleet size of 68. In acknowledgment of its performance the company was honored thrice with the Excellence Award and Udyog Ratan award by the Institute of Economic Studies for its innovativeness of quality products and again with the Trans World Gold Star Award for "Quality Services”. More such could well be on their way to Pentagon’s kitty.