What is the role of a Ship Chandler?
Every day, a large number of ships arrive in ports all around the world including Australia. They usually arrive after traveling for several days or weeks and having exhausted all resources, supplies, and gasoline. Before they can embark on their next journey, they must be restocked and refueled. This is where The job of a ship chandler comes into play at this point.
The supplies on board a ship can quickly deplete during days, weeks, or even months at sea. A long list of ‘needs’ is likely to have been written up by the time a ship makes its next planned port call. That is where a ship chandler which specialized in the sale and retail of marine equipment and other supplies for the maritime sector comes into play. When a ship is anchored in a port, ship chandlers usually supply their services. It provides all of the necessary commodities for a ship. Marine equipments such as safety gears, nails, spikes, boat hooks, food supplies, oil, tallow, freshwater, and so on are examples. Ship chandlers perform this for a variety of ships, including cruise ship, oil tankers and many more.
Ship chandlers such as Cosomos Australia PTY LTD (marine suppliers of chandlery in Australia) and others ship chandlers stocks a wide range of goods, including food, cleaning supplies, maritime equipment, and other miscellaneous items that are necessary for the proper operation of a ship. A shipping business may establish a contract with a ship chandler, committing to satisfy all of the company’s needs in port in exchange for cost savings and other perks.
Before arriving in port, ships can place an order with a ship chandler so that the ship suppliers can prepare for the ship’s arrival. This will save loading and turnaround time by allowing suppliers to begin stocking the ship as soon as it docks. Chandlers also keep track of ship movements and projected arrival times in port so that they may plan ahead with orders and ensure that they have supplies on hand in case a ship has an issue.
Interesting fact:
Ship chandlers must be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week since ships can dock at any moment and short turnaround times do not allow for prolonged shore leave to obtain supplies. As a result, effective ship chandlers ensure that they are well-equipped and manned to supply huge quantities of merchandise rapidly, whether by truck or even small ships, if the need arises.
In other words, if we consider the marine industry as a machine, a ship chandler is a lubricant, as without it, the industry cannot function smoothly and efficiently.