Orient Express Lines

IN JULY 1999, Mr Mahesh Sivaswamy left Mumbai for Singapore with a goal: To penetrate Singapore's container feeder service market.

"Singapore is highly competitive, there are 35 to 40 existing container feeder lines, some connecting the routes we specialise in, which is the Indian subcontinent," he says.

Mr Sivaswamy, then 32, brought with him 12 years of experience managing shipping agencies and logistics for the Transworld Group, founded in 1976 by his late father. Despite his extensive experience in India and the Gulf region, Singapore posed a fresh challenge.

"Every market is different. Singapore's port, for example, is highly computerised. Fighting to get in here was a wonderful challenge because if you succeeded, you would be doing business with the big sharks," he says.

Orient Express Lines (Singapore) (OEL) was incorporated in 2001, at about the same time that Shreyas World Navigation (SWN), a ship-owning company also owned by the Transworld Group, was launched.

SWN's fleet of three container ships served OEL's four weekly direct services between South-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent. "The idea is to maintain a 50-50 dependency on ships that we own versus ships that we charter," Mr Sivaswamy explains.

"To operate fully on a chartered basis is possible, but risky. With fully-owned ships, we can subsidise pricing to even out market fluctuations."

This year, OEL received deliveries of its two brand new 1,000- TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) vessels, increasing its fleet of fully owned vessels to five. "They cost about $26 million each - highly capital intensive - but we are committed to this business and believe that such investments will pay back in time," Mr Sivaswamy says.

In its eight years of operations in Singapore, OEL is receiving its third Enterprise 50 award. It first won the e50.startup award in 2004. "The E50 award provided us with a strong platform to seek financing for investments such as our new 1,000-TEU container vessels," Mr Sivaswamy says.

When it comes to feeder connections, commitment is the rule of the game. "Our clients are major lines such as CMA-CGM from France. These mother vessels will not wait for you even if there is a berthing delay and issues with authorities," Mr Sivaswamy says.

"Sometimes we have to divert ships from other routes or make extra sailings to meet our commitments."

Mr Sivaswamy, 40, is not flustered by the work pressure. The managing director is usually home by 6pm to be with his wife and teenage children. They live at Sentosa Cove, and spend weekends discovering Singapore's offshore islands on the family's yacht.

"In any business, you have to be very committed in order to succeed, but you don't do everything yourself. I have a team, there are 20 of us, and everyone has a role to play," Mr Sivaswamy says.

"If there is a connection occurring over the weekend, the trade manager in charge will take care of it. For others like the general manager and myself, we study the statistics and explore new business opportunities."

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