It has been a challenging first year for the MarineTraffic Singapore office, but APAC Regional Sales and Business Development Manager, Joseph Tan, is optimistic for the year ahead.
“It’s no secret that the traditional approach of the industry has effected the speed to which new digital technologies can positively impact the maritime space, and we felt that impact to a certain extent in 2018. However, we are seeing a momentum shift as the need to innovate in order to meet the digital demands of the customer intensifies,” said Joseph.
Global Head of Sales, Vlassis Papapanagis shares Joseph’s optimism for the year ahead, pointing to the historic importance of the region to MarineTraffic:
“The APAC region has been one of the top markets throughout the history of MarineTraffic, significantly contributing to the company’s growth. While we already provide extensive services to dozens of major commercial organisations in this region I think we can continue to grow this count significantly in 2019 and beyond.”
For Joseph, the local presence of MarineTraffic is hugely important to achieving this in the year ahead. He notes that having a presence in Singapore provides the company with the important commercial advantage of being closer to the customer:
“The APAC is a very diverse market with a lot of potential. Opportunities are available, with many countries ambitious to support digital transformation in their respective maritime sectors. Being physically present in this region allows us to better understand the market needs and support the customer in their digital transformation journey.”
While Vlassis agrees, he makes note of the need for MarineTraffic to stay hungry in a crowded and competitive zone:
“We are seeing new maritime related platforms emerging on the market and new big-data initiatives announced on almost a weekly basis. In order to stay at the forefront of the industry’s digital space, we need to continue to innovate, expand our collaborations in the region and listen to our customer needs, ultimately finding ways to solve them with leading data solutions.”
Both Joseph and Vlassis point to initiatives and events MarineTraffic will be taking part in this year in order to build further industry engagement. Joseph makes particular reference to the company’s local sponsorship of Port Innovation Ecosystem Reimagined at BLOCK71 (PIER 71), an initiative run by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the National University of Singapore (NUS), which aims to accelerate maritime innovation in the region.
Vlassis points to the presence of MarineTraffic at notable regional events, Sea Asia and TOC Asia:
“We are very excited to be present at both Sea Asia and TOC Asia in early April. In addition to being a fantastic opportunity to network with our clients, those visiting our booth will be able to see our global ship tracking intelligence platform live. The events also give attendees the opportunity to hear about our latest news regarding our innovative data solutions.”
With the MarineTraffic APAC office now firmly established, 2019 promises to be an exciting year for the region. For Vlassis and Joseph, the challenge is to continue to build knowledge of the regional market trends and business challenges to ensure that MarineTraffic can continue transforming the maritime industry.