Latest Updates From Gulftainer Company Limited

There is no doubt that Gulftainer has elevated to the status of being one of the largest corporations in the ports and terminals handling industry, helping businesses across the world in maintaining supply chains. The success of Gulftainer is quite unprecedented and it is the result of able management and administration at the topmost as well as grass root level.

Ensuring such a balance in administration is the prerogative of an efficient manager or administrator. At Gulftainer, that person is Ramesh Shivakumaran who is the Group Director, Finance and Administration. He has been associated with Gulftainer for more than 20 years now and he has worked at many levels before becoming a part of the top management.  The many important positions he held in the company include Manager, Finance and Administration, Assistant Financial Controller, and Financial Controller. He has previously worked with corporations such as Price Waterhouse, New Delhi, India, and Ernst and Young in Dubai before joining Gulftainer.

Ramesh Shivakumaran has a multifaceted role to play in the corporation at present. His duties are to oversee the efficient functioning and administration in areas like HR, Accounting, Contracts, Claims, and IT infrastructure. He has provided a solid administrative framework which is critical to the smooth functioning of any corporation and ensuring that new endeavors are not stalled because of administrative hassles. Moreover, his responsibilities in the financial department are also momentous given the fact that Gulftainer has a huge turnover and that the company is growing at a fast rate.

As a Financial Manager, he has helped the company in attaining financial sustenance and stability. In fact, Gulftainer is considered among the most financially sound corporations and has a repute among the credit lending organizations, which is a great sign for any company. Moreover, he has also been supervising many of the Special Projects of the company and all new projects are also under his purview. All projects are handled on the administrative level by Ramesh Shivakumaran and proceed further after his nod. In fact, the many widespread international operations at Gulftainer which have come up in the recent times and are functioning successfully were carefully planned and executed under his supervision.

Gulftainer Company Limited, which is the largest port handling corporations of the Middle East, is also set to become one of the leading logistics providers in the world. The company has witnessed a steady and impressive rise to the top which is marked by a highly consistent performance for the last many years. This consistency in performance has made the company among the most felicitated companies in its field despite having a hard competition from nearest rivals.    

Gulftainer has attained a great stature in the port handling business after initially starting from handling the Sharjah Port Terminal and then expanding operations to more than 15 countries which include countries from Iraq, Kuwait to Brazil. Such a growth in such a short time is really amazing given the nature of the shipment handling operations.

All successful companies owe their rise to able leadership and management by a central figure that is in charge of all the happenings within the company. For Gulftainer, that person is Peter Richards, who is the highly dynamic and efficient Managing Director of this formidable enterprise. He has guided the company for past many years and led it to the dominating position it holds in the shipping and trading world.

A highly experienced and master mariner, Peter Richards is someone who has always been the perfect man for the sea. He was associated with leading firms before coming on board to Gulftainer in 1987, and has since then been a major driving factor in the astonishing progress that company has made. The even impressive fact is that Gulftainer has made most of its rise during the tenure of Peter Richards.

When Peter Richards joined Gulftainer, the company was an upcoming firm which was starting out, and after nearly 26 years, the company has come a long way from handling local ports to becoming an International Port handler with operations in many countries. Moreover, the volume of shipments handled by the company has grown manifold standing at more than 6 million teu which is bound to grow to 7 million teu in the coming year, cementing its position as the biggest port handler in the Middle East.

Peter Richards has a simple and efficient business model which he implements with precision. He is always one for expansion and rapid growth and has clinched many major deals at regular intervals. Recently, Gulftainer acquired a major stake in a major Saudi Arabian company Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company which will provide a huge momentum to the logistics and overall throughput of the corporation.

Gulftainer Company Limited, one of the preeminent shipping companies and port terminal handlers in the world, is all geared for rapid expansion under the leadership of Peter Richards, the erstwhile Managing Director of the company. It seems that Peter Richards has already got the proper plan in place to ensure that Gulftainer is ready for the exciting times ahead.

Peter Richards mentions on how he plans to proceed with his new expansion strategy, “We are bringing on board some high level and very experienced port industry people to take Gulftainer to the next step” He also added that, “I want to be able to lift my head up and look at opportunities in more detail. At the moment I am chasing my tail since we have got so much on the table”. As for the reason for this shift in gears, he quips playfully, “You have got to read that I am getting old, I am getting tired and I was travelling for 220 days last year. We are manning up to meet the growth of Gulftainer and the desires of the shareholders to continue our expansion”.

Well, the intent is quite clear in these statements and in fact, Peter Richards has already started implementing it. This can be seen in the fact that Gulftainer has already hired prominent new professionals for the task. Peter Ford, who was earlier associated with APM Terminals has been designated as the Group Chief Operating for the Salalah Port. Moreover, he is joined by other new young directors, viz. Jay New, the new Commercial director of the company who came aboard from Hutchison Port Holdings and Maersk Line. Another key person recently appointed is Richard Szuflak, who has joined as the Group Director, Finance and Investment after his masterful stints at CMB Port Group and Babcock & Brown.

Moreover, the company recently acquired a 51% stake in the Saudi Arabian enterprise Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Co. which will enhance the total volume to 7 m teu in 2014. This move is seen as essential since the company is keen to increase its hold on other important terminals such as Khor Fakkan, which is on its way to becoming a serious contender for the biggest port terminal in Middle East, therefore Peter Richards does not want to let this opportunity slip out of hand, since Gulftainer has already registered itself as the top Middle East port terminal handler despite stiff competition.

Gulftainer Ltd., one of the premier shipping and logistics corporations in the Gulf based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The primary objective of the company is to handle the management and operation of the container terminals at Port Khorfakkan and Port Khalid for the Sharjah Port Authority. Sharjah Port is host to some of the most important shipping lines in the world which include United Arab Shipping Corporation (UASC), American President Lines (APL), Hanjin, China Shipping, Sea Consortium, Hapag Loyd, and the Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL). The company also manages other international Port terminals in many countries such as Port Jeddah, Jubail (KSA), Port UMM Qasr (Iraq), and Port Recife (Brazil). Since its inception in 1976, Gulftainer has become one of the most rapidly expanding corporations in the shipping and logistics industry. The company has won some of the most illustrious awards as recognition of excellence in shipping industry and logistics. The company employs more than 1500 professionals who are experienced in numerous fields.

Ramesh Shivakumaran has been an important part of the Senior Management of the corporation for many years now and is currently the Director Finance and Administration at Gulftainer Co. Ltd. He became a financial Chartered Accountant (FCA) after completing his graduation in Commerce (B.Com.) from India and holds an Associate Membership of the Information, Systems, Audit and Control Association (ISACA), USA and that of the Certified Fraud Examiner, USA. He also holds a certification in Logistics Management from North West Kent College, UK.

Mr. Ramesh Shivakumaran joined the corporation in April 1993 and has since then held many critical positions in the Finance and Accounting departments of the company such as Manager Finance & Admin, Finance Controller, and the Asst. Financial Controller. He is also a Board Member and Director in the various bodies of the affiliate companies of the corporation.

Before joining Gulftainer, Mr. Ramesh Shivakumaran was employed at Ernst & Young, Dubai, UAE, from 1988 to 1993, and Price Waterhouse, New Delhi, from 1984 to 1988.

 Mr. Ramesh Shivakumaran is an integral part of the management body of the corporation and he has a major role in overseeing the financial and managerial aspects of the company. He possesses comprehensive experience and skill in management and his areas of thrust within the company are regulation of Financial affairs, Financial reporting, Business planning, Treasury management, Business strategy, and internal control compliance.

Moreover, he is also actively involved in other areas such as corporate governance, risk management, and organizational development by virtue of Information Systems. He also plays a key role in the establishment of IT infrastructure, Administration and Human Resources department, Compensation Management and Integrated Quality Management system development for all national and international operations of the company.

Gulftainer Co. Ltd. is one of the major port terminal handler as well as one of the leading third party logistics providers today in the UAE and many other countries. It was established in 1976 after the opening of the Sharjah Container Terminal and has handled the terminal since then.  Gulftainer Co. Ltd. expanded its operations over many port terminals situated in different geographical locations all over the world. The company has provided a major impetus to the trade development, especially in the field of container transport in the Middle East.

 Apart from the handling of operations at the Sharjah Container Terminal, the Khorfakkan terminal, and Ruwais Port in UAE, the company operates in four other countries i.e. Kuwait, Turkey, The Comoros, and Pakistan as well. The terminals handled are host to some of the biggest names in the trading world and some of the largest shipping corporations are associated with Gulftainer.

Moreover, since 2008, the company has launched its logistics division as a full fledged company, i.e. Momentum Logistics which has been operating in Freight forwarding, land transport, airport logistics, container repair and contract logistics in many countries such as Pakistan, Turkey and the Middle East.  Peter Richards is the current Group Managing Director at Gulftainer and is the present head of operations. He is an experienced and qualified Master Mariner who holds a diploma in Nautical Science.

Peter Richardshas a marine experience of more than twelve years and he possesses a highly enviable profile of having handled terminal operations viz. container terminals and port operations for more than twenty one years.

Peter Richardsjoined the Gulftainer Corporation in 1987 where he initially held various positions such as Operations Superintendent, Operations Manager, and Terminal Manager. He is a Board Member of Gulftainer Co. Ltd., an executive chairman of Gulf Comport Management SA, Comoros, and is also a Board Member of GTL MTI Transport Project in Pakistan and a Board Member of Demas International, which is a part of the International logistics branch of Gulftainer Co. Ltd.

Peter Richards is comprehensively involved in all aspects of the functioning of the Gulftainer Corporation. He is the chief person who plans, directs, and oversees the successful execution of any existing or upcoming project of the company. Moreover, he ensures the proper functioning and management of all the existing and new national and international operations at Gulftainer.

 Mr. Peter Richards’sphilosophy is that of establishing firm hands on control of the company’s operations despite rapid expansion. He believes that better decision making by virtue of smaller lines of communication, maintaining impetus and enhancing performance are essential to respond to ever changing needs of clients in this competitive business world.