When a ship is purchased for importing and exporting goods, a ship management team is required to maintain and operate the vessels. The function of the management team is to provide the owner with support throughout the occupancy or charter of the vessel. Vessels can range in sizes and function.
Most management companies provide the owner or operator with crew on board. When the ship comes out of the shipyard (where the ship is built) the management company takes it over providing technical support to the owner. Most Management companies also offer other services like inspection prior to purchase, supervision during building, crew management and supply and ship lay-up solutions.
Major locations where third party ship management activities are carried out from include Limassol (Cyprus), Singapore, Hong Kong and Malta.