Azalea Maritime LLC

Azalea Maritime Agency, duly organized, was established in January 1997, partly owned by Azalea Maritime B.V., Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and it is authorized agent for Azalea Maritime B.V. and MOL Tankship Management B.V., Rotterdam.

Since 1997, over 200 seafarers from the region of Serbia & Montenegro, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, have been employed onboard Mitsui O.S.K. Lines vessels. More than 90% of them are still sailing within the same fleet, whilst 70% of the number has been promoted at least once during their service.

AgencyComplying with the standards of ship owners, primarily through dedication and hard work of the seafarers themselves, but also through cooperation of Azalea Maritime with educational institutions in Montenegro (traineeship and employment programs) gains more importance steadily and is the primary commitment of the agency.

At the beginning of 2002, Azalea Maritime Agency was given the official License for crew management business by the Employment Agency of Montenegro.

Our primary goal is safe, efficient, environment friendly and cost-effective operation of the vessels in terms with ISM code and our quality system in accordance with ISO 9001. The company has been accredited ISO-9002 certificate on 18th April 2000 through Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

Azalea Maritime LLC

INTRODUCTION

The principal driving force of the Azalea Maritime mechanism is highly-experienced personnel specialized in different aspects of seamanship, truly dedicated to the task of providing skilled and competent future seafarers, making them capable of meeting the requirements of modern shipping industry, but primarily to ensure their future career.

Even training for the lowest rank officer onboard requires many essential skills and great knowledge to be acquired Devoted work, constant self-improvement and close compliance with international standards highly affecting the life and work of seamen make the task we have undertaken not only continue without interruption, but gradually expand, proving the competence of our seamen, as well as all of us engaged in the process.

The ultimate "product", trained and employed seafarer, should be compliant with a number of conditions that need to be fulfilled. Since some of them are out of scope of our activities, we have affiliated third-parties with whom we have collaborated efficiently during the last decade. We can truly confirm a trustworthy cooperation with different embassies, travel-agencies, medical institutions and others not less important.

To get the system fully operational, it is necessary to provide fast and efficient communication among all the parties involved. As the information value plays a critical role, any delay has to be minimized as it can lead to a serious obstacle interrupting the work process. In this sense, we put a special emphasis on the development of an In-House Informational System, by which we keep track of all the applicants, active, stand-by and ex-employees with their accompanying data. As the number of engagements, as well as activities periodically increase, new key functionalities have to be amended so that any responsible party inside or outside the premises can have access to the required data.

We strongly believe that effort invested in new generations is the best investment and best policy. Thus, we continually provide financial support to numerous projects and activities in education, sports and culture, whose value has many times been compensated for by the outstanding results accomplished by its participants.

For the sake of an example, in 1999, we donated a PC-computer classroom with applicable software for simulating the liquid cargo handling operation, COLREG, Radar observer and ARPA to the Maritime School in Kotor with an estimated value of approx. 85,000.00 USD.

In Azalea Maritime, we have set demanding quality standards. Our objectives are to render inclusive and cost-effective quality services to our customers regarding shipboard personnel.

We understand that quality means compliance with requirements.

AZALEA CREW

Azalea Maritime LLC

Azalea Maritime Agency is a manning agency dedicated to serve maritime companies worldwide. Established in January 1997 with its headquarters in Herceg Novi – Montenegro, Azalea Maritime Agency has diversified its crewing services and now provides not only officers and crews from Montenegro but also multi-national crews for various types of vessels worldwide. Whether it is full or partial crew requirement, Azalea Maritime Agency offers solutions to all your crewing needs.

Azalea Maritime Agency has set a high-level standard for quality. Our objectives are to render complete and cost-effective quality services to our customers regarding shipboard personnel. We understand that quality means conformance to agreed requirements.

The aim of crew management, our main activity, is to provide our principals with quality personnel through quality service leaving them the freedom to concentrate on other aspects of ship operation, as they can fully rely on our competence in recruitment and selection of shipboard personnel.

Recruiting of seafarers is based on standard procedures which are defined in Azalea's Quality Management System (ISO9002). The recruitment process consists of: sourcing & maintaining data of applicants, selection & interview, processing in accordance with flag state required rules and regulations, pre-joining training and familiarization with different principals / types of vessels and their trade and pattern and monitoring of appraisal reports in order to find space for improvement.

CADET TRAINING PROGRAMME

In view of the world-wide shortage of maritime officers and engineers, Azalea Maritime Agency introduced a cadet training programme in 1997. This programme is based on training graduate students of a nautical college/university from cadets to junior officers. The programme applies to both departments, deck as well as engine.

Therefore, on the 08th October 1999 Azalea Maritime Agency signed a cooperation agreement with Maritime School – Kotor. The cooperation between the Maritime School – Kotor and Azalea Maritime Agency is reflected in the Azalea Maritime Agency's right of priority to select the best students from the Maritime School Kotor who want to make their carrier at sea. Those fulfilling the demands of the Azalea Maritime Agency will then be recommended to our clients to be employed on board their vessels.

WHY MONTENEGRO?

If Plutarch’s saying "navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse" (sailing is necessary, whilst living is not) did not originate in these areas, it has certainly proven true at our coast, where people have always been navigating.

We can talk about the incredible adventure of the first postman at sea between Venice and Constantinople, the capitol of Byzantium, about the fights with pirates from Ulcinj or of centuries old families of seamen from Perast, Prcanj and Kotor serving onboard ships all over the world.

There is a large material evidence of archaeological importance and archive documents testifying a nine-century old tradition. Legends play their part as well, like the one about the origin of "Bokeljska Mornarica" (Bokelian Marine), brotherhood of sailors, which tells that this organization existed already in 9th century. Its foundation, traced back as far as 1155 according to archive documents, undoubtedly implies the existence of ships, seamen and their needs at such an early point.

The first seamanship skills were acquired through onboard training. Therefore, they were acquired as a skill, through practical experience rather than education. First "schools" for seamen were established in small old towns situated in the Bay of Boka Kotorska, Prcanj, Perast, Herceg-Novi and Kotor, between 16th and the middle of 19th century. The best known of all was the one conducted by Captain Marko Martinovic in the years 1697 and 1698, attended by the cadets of Russian emperor, Peter the Great.

With the use of steam, as ship propulsive power, seamen were additionally required not only to have the skill, but also certain knowledge indispensable for navigation. Navigation remained a skill demanding ever-greater knowledge which could be acquired at specialised nautical schools only. As a result, in 1849, Nautical School was established in Kotor, being the first public nautical education institution offering the following courses: Mathematics, Astronomy, Ship Manoeuvring, Basic Principles of Shipbuilding, Geography, Commercial Correspondence and Ship Accounting. Ever since, cadets and officers trained at this institution have served onboard ships of many reputable shipping companies throughout the world.

Navigation, long regarded as mere skill, only recently started to use modern scientific achievements. It became obvious that developing new technologies, navigational aids, ship automation, port technology, and increasing requirements for marine environment protection call for on-going training of seafarers. Thus, shipping industry urged the establishment of maritime centres, as we have done here in Montenegro.

New pages in history are added by every new generation benefiting from the potentials of Azalea Maritime in the best tradition of our famous forefathers, assuring place in history for all the brave seamen from our coast who are still sailing and earning living for their families.