Our collaboration with Supermaritime

Vertraco works closely with stevedoring company Supermaritime. What does this collaboration entail and how does it work? Supermaritime's Operations Manager elaborates.

“For over thirty years Supermaritime and Vertraco have been working closely together in the oldest scheduled service known in the North Sea Port (ports of Vlissingen, Terneuzen and Ghent). The main destinations of this scheduled service are Paramaribo, Suriname and Georgetown, Guyana. Everything they need there, ranging from containers full of food and drinks to machines and entire trucks, comes in via this line. 

Preparation

Every two weeks we take care of the cargo of one ship for Vertraco. A week or two to four in advance they create an inventory of the cargo, and that list is then continuously updated. A few days prior to the work, I will be in contact with Vertraco. Then we discuss the list and I indicate how many crews I will need. This is rarely up for discussion. Thanks to our many years of cooperation, we both know where we stand and what needs to be done. 

Delivery cargo

Vertraco ensures that the truck delivery of the cargo arrives in good time. We then temporarily store the cargo on our terrain and in our warehouse. I receive the definitive list from my colleagues one day in advance and then proceed to complete the planning of our crews and machines. Sometimes Vertraco communicates a last-minute change, for instance if part of the cargo is being dropped or added. At Supermaritime, we handle these changes with flexibility. We do everything we can to help our customers.

Close relationships

Despite it frequently being quite a puzzle to load all the cargo onto a ship in time and the considerable time pressure that comes with it, I like this work dynamic. Especially with a partner like Vertraco. The relationship between our companies is very close and we know each other through and through. That makes for a very pleasant collaboration.”