Gulf Agency Company Ltd (GAC) has established an operations office in Japan to cater for the growing demand for ship agency and husbandry services, in light of the booming energy sector.
GAC Japan will act as a General Agent to provide services at all ports and terminals through its local partners.
LNG demand
Fredrik Nystrom, GAC’s Asia Pacific Group Vice President, explained that increasing Japanese imports of LNG and thermal coal, as a result of its government’s revised energy policy plan, have boosted the country’s shipping sector and raised the demand for support services for the industry.
As Japan accounts for more than 30% of the world’s demand for LNG, Nystrom is particularly optimistic about the growth potential for GAC’s services: “The Japanese government has made LNG the first ‘fuel of choice’ for power generation, and this is good news for ship agency service providers like GAC, as more LNG shipments arrive from conventional and new supply sources at the country’s major LNG import terminals. With the rise in port activities comes a need for agency services, and this prompted us to open an operations office here.”
Support services
GAC Japan’s Yuichi Adachi, responsible for setting up the Japanese entity, added: “Beyond offering ship agency services, we look forward to introducing GAC’s other support services such as hub agency, disbursement management and information services to owners and charterers of these tankers and bulk vessels.”
Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward