June 10 - Wilhelmsen Ships Service, part of the Wilh. Wilhelmsen group, has launched a ships spares logistics service with a single point of contact for managing the delivery of spare parts from manufacturer to ship.

The service is based at a central freight forwarding centre located at Sittensen, near Hamburg. The centre has an online service which provides its customers with the ability to see the location and status of their orders as well as offering a number of reporting features.

The forwarding centre is strategically located conveniently near some of the biggest manufacturers of ships spares as well as having good access to major European ports and some of the region's main international airports. The centre is managed by Stephan Bennfeldt, who has 18 years experience of handling ships spares.

The company's IT system will track and optimise the spares logistics with 318 offices serving 2,200 ports worldwide and its products and services. All Wilhelmsen Ships Service's port personnel have ISPS clearance (International Ship and Port Facility Security) which means they have easy access to vessels for delivery of spare parts.

At the same time, Wilhelmsen Ships Service is introducing a key new service that is "set to change the way that ships agency services are provided," says the company.

Service agreements offer the customer the ability to use the same agent in handling their multiple port calls, replacing the prevailing custom of businesses dealing with local agents using a different agent in each port.