BMT Marine Survey and Consulting Services Poised for Further Growth

• Through over 20 years of operations in the Asia Pacific region, BMT have been able to boost industrial collaboration and strategic partnerships to position the business for continued growth through maritime consulting opportunities.

• A combination of robust demand, coupled with the extension of government incentives to these ancillary services, has contributed to the dynamic momentum of the entire industry – in Singapore alone, P&I, H&M and cargo premiums have served as catalyst factors to grow demand for marine surveys and consulting services to blue chip clients worldwide.

• BMT have been exploiting these growth opportunities via its consolidated presence for Marine Surveys in Singapore, and through delivery of its full sector services offerings that will lend well to meeting growing export demand from South East Asia and as powerhouse economies emerge.

Marine surveyors and consultants, like BMT, have cemented a global standing as one of the top ‘maritime tech’ consultancy’s in the world. Through over 20 years of operations in the Asia Pacific region, BMT have been able to boost industrial collaboration and strategic partnerships to position the business for continued growth through maritime consulting opportunities.

A combination of robust demand, coupled with the extension of government incentives to these ancillary services, has contributed to the dynamic momentum of the entire industry – in Singapore alone, P&I, H&M and Cargo premiums have served as catalyst factors to grow demand for marine surveys and consulting services.

Adding to this market momentum is the increase in Asian trade in recent years that has led to a corresponding rise in demand from ship and cargo owners for surveys. To tap into this growing market, an increasing number of marine surveyors, including BMT, have ‘set up shop’ in Singapore, attracted by its stable political and pro-business environment. 

Singapore has built a vibrant maritime ecosystem in the last two decades underpinned by over 40% of global shipping tonnage coming from the Asia Pacific – these vessel volumes are especially relevant to South-East Asian countries that are more deeply integrated into the world’s supply chains of trade through regional preferential trade agreements.

Specialist marine consultants, like BMT, have been exploiting these growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific region for over two decades and have a fully established maritime surveys offering including marine investigations serving P&I and H&M markets as well as cargo underwriters, lawyers and providing expert witness in litigation. The expanded office presence for BMT Marine Surveys in Singapore and its array of full sector services offerings will lend well to meeting growing export demand from South East Asia and as powerhouse economies emerge.

BMT can also leverage on the expertise of over 1,000 maritime experts globally, meaning its customers have access to a range of capabilities, including Marine Surveys (Technical, Nautical as well as Cargo, Fire and Explosion), Naval Architecture, Specialist Engineering, Environmental Coastal Science and more. 

“Having a full-service office in Singapore allows us to help existing global customers as they grow, and to attract new business opportunities to the world's premier maritime hub. More crucially, underpinning all of this is the stability that Singapore provides our global BMT business operations with – thus empowering our people and partners to operate from a politically stable and well-regulated platform to transact business with both developed and developing markets in the Asia-Pacific region, which is leading the world in economic growth.” said Suba Sivandran, BMT Managing Director, Asia.

“Beijing’s One Belt, One Road initiative foretells decades of further growth and a bright future for the Asia-Pacific region. Singapore is the perfect base to be a part of this future. For mature companies like BMT, the advantage we gain from being able to utilise our marine surveying network to Singapore and to the Asia Pacific market, the need to be close to the large, vibrant, domestic and international shipping community that resides in Singapore, and the credibility and kudos that it provides, is integral to our global offering.” said Managing Director of BMT’s Survey’s business Dennis de Bruin.

For BMT’s de Bruin, all these components allow the business to provide “the best service possible” for its customers and industrial partners. “By continuing to grow our presence in Singapore, we can ensure that we do this for our South-east Asia membership. In addition, we want to continue to attract quality operators and new venture opportunities to our hub, which we believe will be enhanced by our continued presence in Singapore and will permit BMT to scale-up its business.” 

Value-add Capability and Innovation offerings primed for exponential growth in Asian-Pacific countries

Over the past decade, in an increasingly connected ‘P&I club’ marketplace, Singapore also serves as the gateway to Asia-Pacific for leading marine consultants and surveyors, fueled in part by the growth in marine markets including Hull and Machinery, Cargo, Fire and Explosion and P & I business.

The marine consulting services Asia platform in Singapore is home to approximately 20 service companies, of which Hull & Machinery and P&I providers in Singapore are supported by a strong network of surveyors and strategic partners. These include global market leaders such as BMT.

Through the Group’s long maritime heritage, experience, and legacy maritime operations, the office in Singapore is well-equipped with product knowledge and are able to offer bespoke services in maritime and across adjacent industries. And in Europe, as the consultancy continues to serve and grow its traditional markets across the strategic office locations Rotterdam, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Geneva their experts will also address client demand for Asia Pacific consulting services opportunities and anchor utilisation of other innovations happening across the region.

To strengthen Singapore’s marine consulting services hub, and as the world embrace’s the exciting changes taking place within the shipping industry, BMT intends to be at the forefront of the technological change underway with digital platforms and data analytics playing a larger role.

The shipping industry, especially during pandemic times is going through a period of enormous transition, which presents both risks and opportunities for its customers. BMT’s role is therefore to guide and assist customers in navigating this changing environment, from technological developments to the shifting regulatory landscape, such as the impact of IMO 2020.

With the region’s step up in offering more high-quality consultancy services and products, and the internal drive toward a new generation of technologies that are designed to optimise operational efficiency, more and more intelligent and innovative systems are being tested and receiving recognition from marine markets throughout the Asian Pacific – one such exemplary technology is the new marine geospatial digital data fusion technology from BMT.

Inspired by a ‘smart sustainability grid’ the new marine geospatial digital data fusion technology from BMT recently won acceptance from the UK’s Hydrographic Office (UKHO) ADMIRALTY Marine Innovation Programme challenge. The unveiling of the cutting-edge navigation technology to a government stakeholder last year, revealed BMT’s combined and proven REMBRANDT® and TUFLOW® simulation technologies being tested for a commercial maritime mission in UK’s sovereign waters. For the UKHO demonstration the algorithms of the two technologies were stitched together to enhance autonomous operations planning for operators in highly congested waters, thus empowering remote-controlled/manned vessel pilotage, and maritime sense-making systems, for more safer and efficient port operations.

There are a number of new and exciting applications that BMT’s raison d'etre of computer-powered scientific simulation technology, the REMBRANDT®, is exploring including a next-generation vessel traffic management system that is able to predict congestion hotspots and assists vessel route planning.

The Singaporean expansion also serves as a springboard for BMT to position its key brand / service differentiators

The strong performance in the Group’s marine consultancy services comes on the back of investments made to build momentum in those sectors. It is also a reflection of the continued development of the industry in Asia. In other adjacent markets, BMT’s Energy consultancy activities have continued with vigour, which is a solid achievement off the back of significant volatility in the price of oil. Several contract-wins announced last year have reflected the Group’s ability to work with different operators and newer entrants to a region.

“Despite headwinds presented by the pandemic, commodity price volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, we have managed to deliver an unparalleled service for our customers by being flexible, seeking innovative solutions and having a long-standing track record of excellence which I believe augurs well for the future.” said de Bruin.

“Driven by the innovation focus at BMT, our geographically-colocated and globally dispersed teams of technical consultants have expanded expertise in decarbonisation, hybrid-propulsion systems and fuel-cell technology” said Olivier van der Kruijs, Technical Director at BMT Surveys in Rotterdam.

“Alongside this, we continue to develop our work in the core market marine consultancy for H&M and P&I, services we have been delivering to clients in the insurance markets for decades. The in-house expertise that can be sourced within the BMT group is an extremely valuable addition to these services”. He continued.

“That said, Singapore will continue to grow as a strong Asian marine consulting services hub,” added de Bruin. “It is inevitable that, as the country continues to attract shipping companies to set up businesses here, the ship surveying business will grow alongside. As the shipping markets recover, I believe there will be strong growth in South-east Asia - in fact, some already consider Singapore the epicentre of Asia’s maritime services industry.”