24Vision seeks more collaboration and sharing in shipping
24Vision is a new type of venture that includes different aspects in shipping. Martin Lanting, the company’s founder, launched 24Vision in the twilight of his career. Combining his knowledge and experience, he created a new business model for the shipping industry: a model based on collaboration and sharing. In line with that philosophy, 24Vision also became member of the Rotterdam Maritime Services Community (RMSC).
Lanting is a lifelong entrepreneur who was 60 years old when he sold RaetsMarine, his final venture in marine insurance. “That was in 2013. Looking back, I saw that my career was not limited to insurance, but had actually been about shipping in general. I recently read a book about how the internet had shifted the centre of power from the supplier to the customer. That’s what gave me the idea to start 24Vision”, he says. Lanting started building a digital platform and recruiting professionals in various market segments, in ships, cargoes, bunkers, risks and insurance; the leading professionals also became partners in 24Vision.
Service provider
Clients are free to concentrate fully on their core business, while 24Vision facilitates non-core business. 24Vision acts as a ship and cargo operator, for example, and handles technical and commercial ship management for ship-owners. As a physical supplier, 24Vision also refuels vessels at sea or in port using ship-to-ship delivery. Moreover, 24Vision provides risk analysis services and helps clients arrange insurance coverage. The company’s clientele extends across the Netherlands, the rest of Europe and in the Middle East.
Eager to share
Lanting and his partners believe in a future in which businesses use better ways of collaboration and sharing. “Since everybody has internet access, a lot of transparency is already available. If you don’t notify your clients pro-actively, they will find out themselves. Accordingly, we believe that everything should be told. It makes collaboration much easier if you are willing to share all the information you have. At that point, IT becomes very important in order to deliver that transparency”, Lanting states.
IT portal
24Vision is therefore offering its clients access to digital solutions for sharing information. All the documents needed for shipping, cargo and insurance are available on an IT portal which can be managed through an app. There’s no need to wait weeks for a report to be supplied by someone, because everybody has real-time access. Contracts can also be validated online. “Especially in insurance, we see that a lot of extra work and non-transparency usually is created because the client, insurance broker, lawyer and insurance company all use different files. Our ultimate goal is to manage a single file in such a way that all the stakeholders have access to the information. This system of sharing may be swimming against the current a bit, but I believe it’s the only solution for making business models sustainable. That is simply based on the fact that I see the margins shrinking in every part of our economy”, Lanting observes.
Risk management
Lanting also believes in transparency when it comes to managing risks and arranging insurance coverage. “Clients do realise that there are risks in the marine adventure, but they don’t know how to manage those risks effectively. Insurance companies are very quick to pay out small claims, but when a big claim is involved, they take a lot of time to find a reason not to provide coverage. They will only pay if they are convinced that the damages are fully in line with what they were told when they entered into the insurance contract. We help to convince insurance companies by conducting a complete risk analysis for our client before we close an insurance deal. So when our client buys insurance, he can be absolutely sure the insurance company is going to pay if something happens”, Lanting affirms.
Rotterdam native at heart
When asked about the importance of Rotterdam as a maritime hub, Martin Lanting laughs. “Rotterdam is the best, of course. I’m a Rotterdam chauvinist. Rotterdam was the number one biggest port in the world for a very long time. On non-containers, we probably still are the biggest. The infrastructure in Rotterdam provides excellent access to transit cargoes.” As a new member of RMSC, 24Vision is looking forward to meeting a lot of people from other businesses during community activities. “Companies in Rotterdam that are involved in shipping need to know each other and work together. We need to go the extra mile to stay attractive to international companies and let us hear wherever we need to make changes. Along with the Rotterdam mentality, that is good enough to make it a winning proposition.” It’s more than apparent, Lanting says: “Rotterdam will stay important for a very, very long time.”
