Interview of the week - Dynamic Shipping Services - Israel

Zimi grew up in a house where his father was working at one of the affiliated companies of Zim. He has worked in Greece and learnt the Greek language. He returned to Israel in 1984 where he worked at the chartering desk and later as a senior broker. In 1994 he went self-employed and established Dynamic Shipping. 

Yaron has been at sea from the age of 15. He graduated from nautical college and in 1991 completed his education as Captain, serving on board various vessels. In 1998 he joined Zimi as an employee to run a general cargo vessel. In 2001 he made partners with Zimi and together they have built a fully diversified company. 

"We do not pray for easy life, we pray for the strength to endue a difficult one (B.L.)" 

Tell us about Dynamic Shipping. Who owns the company?

Dynamic Shipping is a privately owned firm. The owners are Zimi (stands for Zion Michael) Cohen and Yaron Karmi. Dynamic Shipping was established by Zimi Cohen in November 1994 as a dormant company with the name Elimar Shipping (Elimar stands for Elinor and Itamar, both Zimi’s kids).

In parallel to that company Zimi established an additional company by the name Dynamic Shipping. That company's activities were brokerage and agency services only. Zimi was the owner and the sole employee. Near 1997 Zimi added two partners to Dynamic Shipping, and during July 1998 Yaron joined Zimi as an employee to run a general cargo vessel. In July 2001 the partnership Zimi had broke up, Yaron joined Zimi as equal owner to Elimar and the name was changed to Dynamic Shipping Services (DSS) Ltd.

Where are your offices located?

Our head office is now located within the offices of the firm Yaron grew up in the city of Tirat Carmel (adjacent to Haifa). We also have offices at Ashdod port and we do drive to Eilat in case of need.

What projects have you handled recently?

We have done several projects. Some are complicated such as the delivery and insertion of the Haifa city funicular cable car (Haifa’s famous underground cable car) and the delivery of two navy vessels each 400 MT on board SAL vessels.

But the one we are mostly proud of was the chartering of an expedition vessel form South Africa to the Antarctic for the 25th Jubilee Indian (NCAOR) expedition. It was an Israeli firm that won the tender, chartered a south African owned vessel for the Indian expedition crew, took care of the Indian scientific guys, arranged for food and utensils, prepared the vessel, loaded cargo on board, sent the vessel to the Antarctic zone where no pilots, no charts and no provisions are available and brought back the previous year expedition team which was there for one year. If one seeks for adventure it is in these voyages. We have gained friends up to now and in fact we have met the only Indian guy we know that can type faster than he speaks.

We can say that over the years we participated in some weird adventures which can really fill in books.

Tell us a few words about your experience, your expertise and your business in general.

Zimi:
I grew up in a house where my father was working at one of the affiliated companies of Zim named Layam. Layam is a ship supplying company and covers all Zim’s ships needs around the globe. At that time Zim was a state owned firm and run all types of ships including passenger ships. After the mandatory army service I went to Greece to work at one of the major ship-broking offices and there I learnt the Greek language. I came back to Israel in 1984 where I worked at Carmel Shipping for ten years at the chartering desk and as a senior broker towards the end of my work at Carmel.

In 1994 I went self-employed and established Dynamic Shipping. Going fast forward to 2001 the company as you know became active and both myself and Yaron went a new way by adding David Persitz to the lines (this is a major black hole in our firm's life). I can say that I am well known within the maritime activities in Israel. It really doesn’t matter what time you will wake me up, I can sing the GENCON charter party backwards.

Yaron:
I have been at sea from the age of 15. I graduated from nautical college as sea officer which was a paramilitary school with rather strict discipline. Over there they teach you that the box was created only because you need to think out of it. After mandatory navy service of 3 years, I resumed my maritime career as deck officer starting at Zim lines on their multipurpose vessels and later to containers vessels. In 1991, after completing my education for Captain, I went to work at foreign companies on ships which could be perfect museum exhibits but there you get the experience.

After becoming a Captain and serving on board various vessels, I was offered a job at the company’s office starting with implementation of ISM (it was the early years of ISM time when it was not compulsory). I was working under a lady which is still one of the best in Israel when it comes to looking for loop holes at charter party and converting a losing voyage to a profitable one only by earning money from laytime calculations or cargo discrepancies. Later I worked as a line manager for a semi container line between Israel and the Black Sea. That period can fit in some thriller books.

I joined forces with Zimi and together we have built a fully diversified company which is literally doing everything: from land transport to air and sea, from chartering to brokerage, from sale and purchase of vessels to ship-management (fully certified by IACS members), from active sailing to active flying. Nowadays we do not say NO to anything, all is doable and if not we will find the way to do it. The fact that DSS is a small company and that we always touch the steel at the beginning or end of each project is helping us gain clients.

Are there any particularities in project cargo forwarding in Israel,  such as customs regulations etc?

For project cargoes in Israel there are certain regulations which need to be followed. They are normally being handled by the trucking companies themselves but the main issue is the police escort. The police dictates the dates and cargoes cannot be moved before. Sometimes the dates are two to three months apart from arrival date and nothing can be done.

Therefore, whenever there are cargoes which need police escort, is it wise to pre-arrange it even before cargo arrives in Israel.

Which are the main industries served in Israel?

Israel is a small country and on every project the parties which are doing it are charging on the tenders as predators. The market here is fierce and there is no place for “vegetarians” here. For every tender the book must be re-written. The industries are usually the IEC (Israeli Electric Company), Ormat Industries and of course all military industries.

Which are the main ports used for serving project cargo in Israel and how are these equipped? Are any free ports or free zones in Israel? 

Project cargoes are being discharged at all ports. The main issue is usually in the land transport which will be carried out later, that in fact is what dictates the port of entry. Ports are very limited in their equipment and in fact all units over 40 MT need to be discharged either by hired mobile cranes or ship’s gear. There are no free zones but cargoes can be discharged to bonded area and be transited to Jordan and from there to other countries.

That process is gaining momentum recently due to the normalization we are getting nowadays with the gulf states and it is our vision in fact to be there and be active there when the small snow ball starts its move downhill. For that we need our colleagues here to start opening their eyes for such movements of cargoes and start selling it. "Power in Unity", so let’s unite and be the first.

What made you join the industry?

Zimi joined the industry because he likes the industry, Yaron started his way from the other side (on board) and now enjoys both worlds. It is the thrill, the action, the adventurous life and surely not peace and love!

Is special transport a competitive sector in Israel? How do you ensure that you will stand out?

The special transport as service providers is extremely tight here and for every move there are several offers, some are professionals and some are not, but at a place where the bottom line has the most weight in the decision making mechanism it is really hard to stay alive, and yet we have managed until now.

It is really not easy and we are sure that other countries do have the same attitude, you need to create something unique which is yours only and this is what we try to do, sometimes we win and sometimes we don't.

What do you like the most about your business?

Here we will quote Hannibal from the A team: "We love it when a plan comes true". You plan, you manipulate, you smile, you say yes (even if sometimes it is no), you join all pieces of the puzzle to one complete masterpiece, you lean back, look at it and enjoy, that feeling doesn’t exist anywhere else.

It is the same for a chartered contract or a voyage which you command and have under your responsibility the life of 40 crew members with a very special cargo on board. Upon arrival to port you go out to have a beer. That taste is completely different.

Who should be approached in Dynamic Shipping for inquiries?

Either via our web site, or via mail to agency@dynamic-shipping.com

Mobiles
Zimi: +972544270366
Yaron: +972544300136

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One day we do not reply and this is Yom Kipur (the Atonement day)