“Humanity needs shipping. Otherwise human beings will die,” emphasises Mr Mahesh Sivaswamy, Founder and Chairman of Transworld Group Singapore (TGS); a forthright statement from the founding head of one of Asia’s leading shipping and logistics companies, stressing on the indispensable role of the industry. Exim India was at the group’s Mumbai office for an interaction on the eve of the gala celebration here to mark its 25th anniversary, a milestone spanning modest beginnings to remarkable growth and expansion over a quarter of a century. Through multiple verticals, the group is today a key facilitator of trade, ensuring the seamless movement of goods across regions.
The group completed 25 years in July this year. It was in the month of July in 1999 that Mr Mahesh relocated to the strategic location of Singapore after gaining extensive experience in the various fields of shipping, logistics & international trading while working at his father’s office in India early in his career. The Late Mr R. Sivaswamy had founded his shipping business in India and the Middle East in the late 1970s.
Through struggle and perseverance, highs and lows, Mr Mahesh built up Transworld Group Singapore to a group that today operates ten verticals providing a comprehensive network of services including Ship Owning, Ship Management, Feeder Services, Liner Shipping, Logistics & Agency Representation of major shipping lines, Inland Terminals, and Wellness Services to seafarers.
He recounted the journey in an extended conversation. Excerpts:
The beginning
It was about exploring possibilities initially in Singapore, and he started out by visiting shipping companies to look for feedering opportunities. Maersk was one of them and soon enough came the lucky break, in February 2000, when Maersk agreed to give the fledgling company 1/3rd of its volumes on the Singapore-Bangladesh (Chittagong)-Singapore rotation. “We became Maersk’s third feeder operator on the route. That was our humble beginning,” Mr Mahesh recalls. “2000 was also the year Maersk switched from agency to having its own office in Bangladesh.” The company chartered 2 ships and deployed them on the route, on a 14-day rotation, heralding the start of a journey that would go places both literally and metaphorically.
Meanwhile, the company was also in talks with MISC, and in 2000 when the line commenced its Indonesia India Express service connecting Port Klang, Indonesia and the West Coast of India, it gave the company 100 TEU space on its ships. That was its second major break. “We were third party selling to other shipping lines,” says Mr Mahesh.
An eventful year Expansion
2000 was an eventful year for the company, and it was just getting started. When Maersk shifted its hub from Singapore to Tanjung Pelepas, it followed as Maersk had asked its feeder operators to move to the new facility. “Many could not make the move from Singapore to Pelepas, It was possible for us, as Maersk was then our only customer. We went there as one of the two feeder companies and began operating on the Pelepas-Chittagong string,” Mr Mahesh points out. With only two players, the growth was rapid over the next couple of years, with 3 more strings and 50% of the volumes. The vessels were fully loaded at Pelepas itself; the balance, if any, would be filled up at Port Klang or Singapore.
Maersk then wanted Kolkata and Haldia also to be covered, which resulted in the company’s network of services growing over the next 2-3 years. “We were ready and we continued to give them that kind of service”.
Entry into ship owning and CFS operations
In 2002, just 2 years after commencing operations, the company bought its first ship, the OEL Freedom, determining that it was the right time to do so. Flagged in Singapore, it was a new beginning for a growing company, an addition to the many vessels it had on charter.
The next strategic move was in 2005 when it came to India and tied up with CONCOR under a PPP agreement to commence a CFS at Dadri near Delhi, which was operationalised in 2006.
The setback and renewal
In 2007, when Maersk’s came out with a tender for feeder operators, there was no inkling that the company would be completely out of the line’s business within a month. But that was exactly what happened. “That was the toughest part of our journey. 80% of our business was Maersk,” Mr Mahesh recalls. To compound matters, the company had taken delivery of two new vessels and had many ships on charter that could only be given back after the end of the charter period. “There was no cargo to fill up the vessels. We thought we wouldn’t be able to run the company for more than 4 months. It was all happening in 2007.”
Fortunately, the company had developed contacts with many lines in Singapore over the years. One of them facilitated it coming back to Singapore and, within a month, it brought back all its services to PSA, combing the market for cargo and finding some to survive.
Liner operations
It was during this difficult period that the company decided to buy about 300 containers, paving the way for the setting up of its liner division, BLPL, in Singapore. The aim was to fill space on its ships. That proved to be the silver lining as the liner division got going. “Miracles definitely happen,” says Mr Mahesh. Within the first year, the 300 container fleet had increased to 1,500 TEUs, with business in Asia booming and a lot of cargo moving between SE Asia and Bangladesh, besides Kolkata.
Today, with 30,000 containers, 13 owned vessels and 8 chartered in tonnage that it manages (of capacity 2,000 TEU and below), the company’s feeder division Straits Orient Lines and liner division BLPL Singapore operate in the geography spanning North Asia, SE Asia, Indian Subcontinent up to the Middle East, calling all key ports on the East Coast as well as Nhava Sheva, Mundra, and Jebel Ali. Its hubs being Singapore, Port Klang, Colombo and Jebel Ali.
BLPL recently commenced an own service, with 4 vessels, covering Singapore, Port Klang into Nhava Sheva, Mundra and extending all the way up to Jebel Ali.
Transworld Terminals expands
Meanwhile, Transworld Terminals, the ICD and CFS division, was on its own growth path, taking over the neighbouring APL facility at Dadri, which proved to be a right call as volumes surged. It then commenced operating the CWC facility at Mundra, before buying out the Forbes facilities in Nhava Sheva and Mundra (the latter after the CWC deal concluded), as well as Forbes Container Line.
Transworld Terminals subsequently developed facilities in Kolkata, and the latest in Chennai which is all set to commence operations, thereby emerging as a pan-India CFS operator.
Transworld GLS, ship management
Initially starting out as a vertical under BLPL for customers wanting last mile services like trucking, warehousing, labelling etc., GLS was in 2011 carved out as a separate company called Transworld GLS as the liner and feeder divisions grew and the demand for services increased. Transworld GLS today has multiple offices in 10 countries across SE Asia, India, Sri Lanka and Dubai, offering shipping agency and logistics services including freight forwarding. In India, it represents OOCL as sub-agents in most locations as well as Carpenters Shipping.
Besides, the group has been handling air cargo over the last 7-8 years, which also comes under Transworld GLS. “This was an organic expansion,” says Mr Mahesh. The company has its own warehouse at Singapore’s Changi Airport.
With its fleet growing, the need was felt to have a ship management firm to look after the vessels. Thus was established Providence Ship Management, which handles the technical, crewing, insurance and other aspects. The company also has an in-house lawyer.
The next generation makes its presence felt: Transworld Wellness
Mr Mahesh’s daughter, Dr Mithila, a neuropsychologist by training, was working in Cambridge University Hospital when she came to Singapore during the Covid period and became aware of the difficulties being faced by seafarers, with some even committing suicide. That gave her the impetus to found Transworld Wellness, a company that started out focusing on the mental health and general wellness issues of the group’s own vessels’ crew. Says the proud father: “It was such a good idea. Shipowners like us had no inkling of the mental health issues faced by seafarers. We thought they have a great life. The Covid period saw an explosion of mental health problems among seafarers and we realised that there was no institution addressing the issue. So Transworld Wellness is probably the first of its kind in Asia.”
The company started gaining in recognition and was soon working with many Singapore-based firms, the port, top P&I Clubs as well as a leading line, while continuing to grow. It also provides consultation to staff such as trailer drivers in India. Transworld Wellness is a tech start-up having Singapore-based online counsellors who can speak English, Mandarin and Hindi.
Mr Mahesh’s son, Murli, a maritime lawyer, joined the family business in September 2023 after stints at maritime law firms in Singapore. Mithila too officially became part of the group at the same time. Both are currently in their 2-year training period.
Other companies
The group established TLPL Integrated to tap into the growing project cargo opportunities in India, and also has the Estates and Foundation verticals managing its estate holdings and CSR initiatives, respectively.
The holding company, Transworld Group Singapore, was instituted in Singapore in 2016.
Why Singapore?
“Singapore is strategically the best location for shipping and logistics. It is a country focused on the sector. I don’t think any other country in the world can match Singapore in this,” Mr Mahesh emphasises.
He highlights that Singapore is currently building the world’s largest port facility, the massive 65 million TEU capacity Tuas Port, the first phase of which is operational.
Vizhinjam prospects, non-container business
Commenting on the ambitious Vizhinjam International Transhipment Terminal in Kerala, which commenced partial operations recently, Mr Mahesh opines that one needs to see how much interest lines will show in the facility. “It has the scope to attract Indian transhipment cargo, a majority of which today goes to Colombo. Lines will either call Colombo or Vizhinjam.”
|
BUSINESS VERTICALS
* Ship Owning [Liberty Navigation (s) Pte Ltd]
* Feeder Service [Straits Orient Lines (s) Pte Ltd]
* Liner Service [BLPL Singapore (s) Pte Ltd]
* Shipping Agency & Logistics [Transworld GLS]
* Breakbulk & Projects [TLPL Integrated Pvt Ltd]
* Ship Management [Providence Ship Management Pte Ltd]
* Wellness [Transworld Wellness]
* Terminals [Transworld Terminals Pvt Ltd]
*Estates [M4 Estates]
* Foundation [M4 Foundation]
|
He rules out the group acquiring non-container vessels, emphasising the extensive opportunities in the container business, especially in feedering along the Bay of Bengal, the Indian West Coast and in countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. “Lines are today all building mega vessels that can only call at a limited number of ports. They need feeder support.”
Future outlook, message for the trade
Looking ahead, Mr Mahesh is optimistic about the future. All of the group’s businesses are growing and it has plans to enhance its feeder and liner services by buying more vessels, besides exploring new opportunities and markets, and embracing emerging technologies to improve efficiency and transparency. Importantly, the group intends to tap into the growth prospects projected for India.
He concludes with a message for the Indian trade: “The next 25 years will be even more exciting. A new generation is coming up in the group. The world is looking at India, with its phenomenal growth and multiple advantages. So India will continue to be our focus. Exciting times lie ahead for Transworld Group Singapore and India.”
Source:Mumbai.