Page 26: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2021)

INTERVIEW SHIPBUILDING

Facing Maritime’s Challenges Head-On: “That’s why we are here: Engineers.”

Based in Shanghai, Krzysztof Kozdron – or “KK” as he’s known to many of his Chinese colleagues, clients and friends – is the Managing Director of Schulte Marine Concepts (SMC). As SMC passes a milestone in ship construction project management, Kozdron shares his insights on shipbuilding and repair activities throughout Asia.

By Greg Trauthwein tarting in 1973 to today, Schulte Marine Concepts “It’s quite interesting that after many years we managed to get has managed 600 ship construction, repair & conver- back to Europe,” said Kozdron. “It’s good to be back home.” sion projects, starting with its own vessels and evolv-

S ing into a company today that manages the majority Full Speed Ahead of its projects for third-party clients. The list of projects man- Despite the impacts of COVID-19 globally, Kozdron said aged by SMC is both long and broad. While Kozdron says that in Asia, “today, shipyards are working at full speed,” not- with a laugh “I haven’t been around that long, but today we ing that most of the inconvenience comes from clients and have a global presence, building ships starting from East to ship managers trying to come over to take delivery of the

West. That ‘600’ includes virtually each and every type of vessel. At the outset of the pandemic completing contracts, vessel, because we are not dedicated to any one particular which traditionally were done face-to-face, was a struggle, type or class.” but said that clients have generally settled into a comfort zone

Today, despite the impact of COVID-19, SMC has 91 ves- in conducting contract negotiations and signing via video sels under construction in Korea, China and also in Europe. conference. “The ? rst few contracts were challenging, but to- 26 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • April 2021

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