M/V GOLDEN DIAMOND

Steamship agents have represented foreign and domestic shippers for centuries, and today, their role is more important than ever.  Ship agents maximize the profitability for vessel and cargo owners by attending to a wide variety of issues and making all the in-port arrangements for the ship, her cargo and her crew. As a duly appointed representative, the ship agent acts as the eyes and ears for vessel owners and shippers, both onboard and on-site at the terminal.  A reliable and effective ship agent is crucial to making port visits as brief, smooth and productive as possible. 

MNS supplies a number of ship agents, and this issue focuses on Terminal Shipping Company, Inc.  Full service ship agents for over 200 years, Terminal Shipping is headquartered at the Port of Baltimore and maintains offices in major US ports encompassing the East, Gulf and West coasts.  Terminal specializes in bulk, breakbulk and husbandry services, and also offers full attendance port Captaincy. Operations Manager Joseph Lis  explains, "We hire the pilots, tugs, linemen, and stevedores. We coordinate the ship suppliers' deliveries. We dispense funds on behalf of our clients, and take care of all the government paperwork and correspondence so that the cargo comes through without a hitch."  

MNS supplies charts and publications to all six of Terminal Shipping's East Coast offices, for delivery onto Terminal's client vessels.  One such vessel is the Hong Kong flagged bulk carrier Golden Diamond.  

During the ship's recent port visit to Baltimore, Joseph arranged a training visit to Maryland Nautical Sales for some of Golden Diamond's crew and cadets. Accompanied by the ship's master, Captain Christopher Tejano, the crew received a detailed tour by MNS Customer Service Rep Jessica Jenkins.   Jessica demonstrated the process by which a nautical chart is printed on demand on MNS's large format printers.  She also showed how a ship's chart order was filled, to ensure that the vessel had all the charts and pubs required to enter a port or conduct a voyage.  The crew expressed their appreciation for the tour; they now have a much better understanding of how the charts and publications they use onboard are produced and distributed.

Maryland Nautical  -  helping to prepare the next generation of seafarers to safely navigate the world.