Happy Wednesday!
The Greater Houston Port Bureau’s (GHPB)Women
in Maritime Happy Hour is held a few times a year in the evening at
different locations around the Houston-Galveston region to give women in the
maritime industry a chance to mix and mingle and learn about the industry. Last night, I went to the GHPB’s Women in
Maritime Happy Hour which was held at WGMA’s office. They had three speakers on this occasion, and
they were James Nash of WGMA, Jessica DiGiulio of Moran Shipping Agencies, Inc.
and Lindsay Hrones of Host Agency LLC. They
all spoke on the topic of “What does a Shipping Agent do?
I decided to check out the topic
for the evening before the event. What
is a shipping agent and what do they do? According to Wikipedia – (A shipping
agency, shipping agent, or ship agency is the term used to refer to the appointed
companies that handle operational and procedural (legal) requirements for a
commercial vessel’s call at port for the purposes of cargo handling (loading/discharging),
emergency calls, repairs, crew changes, or ship demolition, and protecting the
general interests of their principals on behalf of ship owners, disponent
owners, or charterers in an objective manner, n.d.) Check out Wikipedia, if you would like
more information, Shipping agency - Wikipedia.2023.
The first speaker was James Nash,
and he is the Director of Maritime Affairs for WGMA.
He has recently been named the President
of the Houston Propeller Club. He gave a
nice talk. Mr. Nash spoke briefly about
the WGMA, and how they are expanding throughout the Gulf Coast with talks in
the works in Tampa Bay, Florida and Mobil, Mississippi. He touched on our topic of being a shipping
agent. A Shipping Agent needs to be
trained and there are a variety of tests and certifications needed to be one. He ended his time with a bit about his
position and most importantly he is to share information with the industry.
Our next speaker was Jesica Di Giulio,
and she is the Vice President of Business Development of Moran Shipping Agencies, Inc. and she based
out of the northeast. Ms. Di Giulio is a graduate of Texas A&M
University, and her interest in the marine industry started before she went to
college. Once she graduated her interest
in the marine industry helped direct her to where she is now and includes her
helping build a yacht for a movie and a stint in Trinidad and Tobago. Ms. Di Giulio started as a shipping agent in
the smallest port in the northeast. In
her tenure at the smallest port, she was taught how to be a good shipping vessel
agent. Her job was around the clock and 365
days a week. The position taught her to
keep good records and how to keep a schedule.
A shipping agent knows what questions to ask and who has the money and
what documentation is needed. They are
the honey doers for their respective client, and they make sure their vessel’s
crew get anything and everything they need include birthday cakes and a pig, if
they can’t exit the vessel. The shipping agent is the person which makes
the ships journey profitable or a failure. Ms. Di Giulio was a lively speaker who really
showed her passion for the industry!
The last speaker of the night was
Lindsay Hrones, and she is the Director, Processes and Systems of Host Agency, LLC. Ms. Hrones
is a graduate of Old Dominion University, and she discovered the marine industry
by hap chance due to an elective course she had in college which covered the
international seen. Early in Ms. Hrones’
career around 2013 she landed a position as a shipping agent at her current
company as only the third woman to be hired by them. She learned about what it meant to be a
shipping agent! A shipping agent is the
legally appointed by the ship to do their bidding and to coordinate
everything. It is a position which never
sleeps and is on call 24 7. A shipping agent
is like a person doing a puzzle in the dark.
The shipping agent has to find the pieces, organize them, and then put
it all together. A shipping agent wears
many hats and puts out many fires in the course of their duties and maybe help
get some real fires extinguished too. They
are the conduit of the shipping industry.
Ships coming into port there may be three or four shipping agents working
for the various parts like the charter, cargo, and etc. The shipping agent is the one who makes
everyone’s life easier, and gets the job done including things like unloading
the cargo, unfortunately most burn out after a couple years. A shipping agent is an exciting and demanding
career which is needed in the shipping industry. Ms. Hrones was a fun speaker with a lot to
say about this exciting career choice.
The speakers were interesting and
informative on the duties and responsibilities of the demanding shipping agent
position and some of the things a good agent does. They spoke about the marine industry is
going to schools as early as middle school to get the next generation
interested in it. The industry is
looking into starting or developing programs for the shipping agent in colleges
around the area especially in school like Texas A&M University and San
Jacinto College which have marine programs now.
The GHPB’s Women in Maritime
Happy Hour was an informative and fun event to attend to help us get
acquainted with other women in the industry as well as learn about the different
areas of the marine industry. You should
check out the next event! I had a little bird tell me the next one will be at
the end of June!
If you would
like help in looking into how to transport your product efficiently, safely,
and with less of a carbon footprint or just find out what is underneath your
feet to help with your emission reduction goals, contact us via email in the
blog and check out our ESC's website!
We hope you have a wonderful evening and a great rest of
your week!
