All for One and One for All

Rotterdam Maritime Services Community – In the limelight

Since early this year, Raymond Ko has been the newly appointed Managing Partner of Marstrat. His optimistic approach shines a new light on maritime business advisory. According to mr. Ko, challenging times like these present new opportunities for the industry. “You can tell the industry is slowly starting to recover. For now, it’s of utmost importance to communicate and share our knowledge to regain trust in each other and the industry.”

Mr. Ko says sharing is one of the keywords which makes Marstrat stand out from the crowd. “We’re a small company, but we service the maritime industry in a broad way. Our work is based on four pillars (boardroom advisory, market intelligence, operational management and financial solutions), of which we each have our own specialist background and experience. Sharing our knowledge and point of view strengthens the unique combination of technological, business, financial and legal expertise we offer to the maritime sector.”

With a background in maritime finance, mr. Ko’s main focus is on the financial part of the business. “At the moment, the short-sea sector is still in harsh weather. My aim is to advise and assist these companies and work together towards long-term financial solutions, whether it’s solving existing challenges with capital providers or putting new opportunities together.” But the need for maritime financial guidance isn’t limited to the Netherlands. “Just recently I went to Thailand. The people there really look up to our maritime legacy. Our maritime historical knowhow is of a value we should not underestimate. It’s my personal goal to position the Dutch maritime knowledge and to encourage international partnerships.”

Internationally, the Netherlands is also known for its innovation capability. “Especially the maritime industry has a strong focus on R&D. The industry invests roughly 4% of its added value in innovation, twice as much as our national average. Especially in Rotterdam the port encourages new maritime business. This is also one of the reasons we’re located in Rotterdam. For us it’s the ideal maritime hub, with a stable and attractive economic environment and easy access to well trained staff and business partners.” To mr. Ko, RMSC is a valuable contribution to the maritime industry. “I love how companies of different sizes are all equal within the community. We all have the same goals: to unite, share, grow and work together. With this combination, we can strengthen Rotterdam as a maritime hub.”