Profile

SeaQuest Shipmanagement is an independent, privately owned provider of ship management, crewing, ship operation and maritime consultancy services for third parties.

For 30 years we have been feeling and acting as partners for the Owners who selected us for the management of their ships and always run their vessels to our best.

We focus on the continuous improvement of the quality of our seafarers, shore staff and management procedures rather than on the sole growth in size of the managed fleet: this is why we achieve very low technical off-hires, actual vs. budgeted OPEX variations and H&M claims for all vessels in our management.

With service centres in Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Hong Kong, Manila and a point of presence in China, we have under full management a twenty-strong fleet composed by bulk carriers, general and multi purpose cargo, ro-ros and a chemical tanker.
We have also good experience of running crude oil and product tankers, OBOs, LPGs, livestock carriers, anchor handlers and PSVs.

Our safety management system has been satisfactorily applied for decades on different types of ships and is continuously updated to the highest standards. Our Safety & Quality manuals and ship management procedures are certified by RINA in conformity to the latest ISO 9001:2015 standards.

Directly controlled crewing agencies in the Philippines and Croatia, and carefully selected crewing partners in other key recruiting nations such as Ukraine, Romania, India, Indonesia and China, allow us to provide qualified professional officers and ratings for the ships under our management and to other ship owners.

We are members of InterManager, Intertanko, RightShip, IMEC and actively contribute to BIMCO's Shipping KPIs project:

We have successfully qualified for USCG QUALSHIP 21:

Click on below icon to download SeaQuest Shipmanagement general presentation:

Why SeaQuest

We provide the advantages of a middle-sized manning agency, having access to a directly recruited & trained wide pool of seafarers, and the accurate quality control of a ship manager serving a limited number of clients.

  • All our top management has a technical background and is directly involved in the daily management of the fleet
  • Outstanding safety, Port State Control, technical off-hires and insurance claim records
  • Excellent cost control over agreed operating expenses and drydocking budgets
  • First-tier purchasing power: nothing less than the largest ship management groups
  • Direct control on recruiting offices with training facilities in the Philippines and Croatia
  • Pragmatic approach to technical and crewing issues, always resulting in the prompt and effective solution of problems
  • Outstanding ship account reporting flexibility to suit the most exigent shipowners' administration departments
  • Thanks to the medium size of our organization, we can maintain our commitments:
    • Individual approach to every shipowner - we truly take care of the needs of each client, no matter how many ships has with us.
    • Tailor-made ship management - we are extremely flexible and able to adapt our ship management system to the specific needs of the client, up to the point of setting-up dedicated companies with autonomous management teams, in case requested.

 

Our performance

  • Overall Operating Expenses:              5.3% below the approved budget

  • Dry Docking performance:                  4.9% below the approved budget
                                                                       zero-days delay

  • Technical off-hires:                                0.4 days/year x vessel (99.8% operational availability)

  • PSC observations per inspection:       51.5% reduction over last 5 years

  • Safety & Environment (last 5 years):  Fatalities - Nil
                                                                        Oil Spills (in water & onboard) - Nil
                                                                        Collisions - Nil
                                                                        Fires - Nil

         Our performance is benchmarked within the Shipping KPIs project.

 

OPEX quotations

Should you be interested in receiving a quotation for a specific vessel, kindly complete the "Request for Quotation" e-mail form available at below link and we shall contact you:

 

Our Vision, Mission & Values

Vision:

To be recognized by the shipowners as a highly committed and reliable partner for the management of their vessels.

Mission:

To strongly contribute to the safekeeping of our clients’ assets and to enhance the profitability of their shipping business by providing skilled and committed seafarers and high maintenance standards, ensuring the best operational reliability and strictly controlling the ships' operational expenditures.
We target zero accidents by endeavouring to continuously improve the safety of operations and minimize the environmental impact on all the managed fleet.

Values:

To commit ourselves to sound and responsible business principles and ethics.
To show respect and care for our people, our clients and the global community.
To be transparent and promote teamwork and open communication channels.
To build value for our clients, always keeping the integrity and high professional standards.
To strive for continuous improvement.
To stay ahead of market developments.
To build our future through innovation and new business opportunities.
To acquire, develop and share knowledge.

 

Our people

SeaQuest personnel, either onshore and onboard, have a wealth of knowledge and experience, encompassing every aspect of the ship management practice.

Qualified naval architects, marine engineers, master mariners and superintendents are the core of our office staff; collectively they form a united team sharing SeaQuest's vision, values and goals.

Each ship's superintendent is individually selected with proven sailing experience and ship management knowledge.

We have a growing pool of 650+ seafarers. The roster includes European and Filipino officers suitably familiarized with our office staff and fully trained to our procedures.

Careers

We offer job opportunities to highly committed people from time to time.

Shore based staff: if you are a suitably qualified and experienced naval architect, marine engineer, master mariner or superintendent, you may submit your Curriculum Vitae in English language, complete with photo, addressed to the Recruitment Office (Shore staff) of one of our service hubs in Genoa, Rijeka or Manila (see Contact for address details).

Seafarers: submit your application via the Kvarner Crewing Services website only. 

 

Management Team

Vittorio Portunato Fleet Coordinator, Genoa

Vittorio Portunato graduated in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Genoa and in 1987 founded Portunato & C. - today SeaQuest Shipmanagement - together with his brother Sebastiano.

Vittorio gained extensive experience and knowledge in ship management and new building project management and steadily expanded the company's activity over the years.

Sebastiano Portunato Director, Geneva

Sebastiano Portunato is a Naval Architect and Marine Engineer graduated from the University of Genoa and in 1987 founded Portunato & C. - today SeaQuest Shipmanagement -  together with his brother Vittorio.

For many years Sebastiano has been in charge of the technical and operational management of a fleet of tankers.

Today he is the Director of our office in Geneva. He is also the Director of the European branch of SeaQuest Marine Project Management Ltd., a world-class provider of shipbuilding project management and consultancy services.

Massimo De Vincenzo Director, Genoa

Massimo De Vincenzo, a University of Genoa graduate in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, gained extensive experience in ship management when working as a technical executive for a Monaco Monte-Carlo based ship management company, before joining Portunato in 1994.

He was appointed Managing Director in 1997 and has contributed greatly to the company's development and organization.

Goran Zivkovic Director, Rijeka

Goran Zivkovic joined SeaQuest Shipmanagement in 2009 after 23 years experience at sea, the majority spent as Chief Engineer on various types of merchant vessels, and 3 years as Technical Superintendent for a tanker management company based in the USA.

Goran has been in charge of the coordination of our superintendents, took-on the fleet management responsibility in 2012, was appointed director of our Rijeka office in 2013.

Vinod Sehgal Managing Director, Hong Kong

A graduate of the Indian Maritime University, Kolkatta (formerly DMET) with a degree in Marine Engineering, Vinod Sehgal holds a certificate of the CORe program (Financial Accounting, Business Analytics, Economics for Managers) from the Harvard Business School, Boston. He is a Fellow of The Institution Of Engineers(India) and Fellow of The Institute of Marine Engineers(India).

During his 35 year career, Vinod has gained extensive experience in Technical Management of various ship types including Bulkers, VLOC’s, Tankers, Containers and PCTC’s. Before joining SeaQuest, Vinod was a Director with one of the Top-3 Shipmanagement companies.

History

We have been active in ship management and marine technical consultancy since 1987, when the brothers Sebastiano and Vittorio Portunato founded Portunato & C. S.r.l.
Since inception, the company has been devoted to the wet and dry bulk sectors.

During the late 1990s we specialized in the management of OBOs, one of the most complex vessel types of that time, reaching an overall deadweight capacity in excess of 700k DWT.

From year 2000, after the decline of the OBO ships, our activity mainly focused on crude oil, product and chemical tankers, chartered to all main oil majors and traders and worldwide operating. Among our most significant achievements, one Aframax tanker was run for 5 years in lightering operations in the US Gulf with zero technical off-hire.

During the years, we gained in-depth experience with other ship types, such as gas carriers, general cargo, container feeders, offshore support vessels, RO-ROs and bulk carriers; the last two have become our core business in the current decade.

We have grown internationally, with management service centres in Genoa, Rijeka and Manila (where the Singapore hub was recently moved), keeping Geneva as administrative and commercial hub. We have representative offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong for commercial and technical support.

Since December 2014 we operate under the name SeaQuest Shipmanagement to develop a  quality brand.

We started the crewing activity around 2005 and more recently, to overcome the volatility in crew performances, we developed our own crew management services establishing a company in Rijeka, Kvarner Crewing Services, and a joint venture in Manila, Kvarner Elburg Crewing Services, with a mid-sized quality crew manager.