ISSA chief warns ship owners to vet suppliers

ISSA chief warns ship owners to vet suppliers    Ship owners need to check the validity and ability of the suppliers servicing their ships and not just seek the cheapest price, warned Jens Olsen, president of the International Shipsuppliers & Services Association.
   “It can be difficult for owners and managers to determine who is a quality ship supplier and who isn’t, especially in these tough economic times,” Olsen said, adding that ship owners can find themselves swindled by suppliers of pirated spare parts.
   ISSA is insisting that all its full members and every company seeking to become an associate member undergo accreditation through the ISSA Quality Program. The trade group represents about 2,000 ship suppliers worldwide.
   So far, about 200 ship supply firms have been audited and certified to the ISSA program. “Work to upgrade the present quality standard is currently being considered to add further attractions to the ship supply companies who hold this valuable certification,” Olsen said.
   Olsen praised the ISSA Quality Program for helping to curtail the problem of pirated ship supplies.
   “In years gone by this was a major problem but ship suppliers and their customers, the ship owners and managers, soon wised up to the dangers of pirated spare parts and the consequent revenue loss, not to mention the dangers that using such spare parts caused,” he said. “Only a fool would install a spare part on board his ship which did not have absolute provenance.”