​Mahe Shipping Company Ltd has launched a new project called “Project Horizon”, a five-year plan aimed at taking the company as we know it and transforming it into a modernized, efficient, service-driven organization. The goal is to put the 50-year-old company back on the map as the leading logistics service provider in Seychelles.
 
The project entails the journey that the Mahe Shipping team will embark on in order to improve service culture within the organisation, increase efficiency, and develop skills to out-compete our peers and exceed customer expectations. This will be driven by the Board of Directors and Management team of the company to ensure the change is positively accepted within the company and for customers to receive an improved experience when using the services of the company.
 
In addition, Mahe Shipping launched its new logo reflecting a fresh, modern and vibrant look to showcase the new vision of the company. The launching ceremony which took place on 7th December 2022 at Docklands Auditorium was attended by the Board of Directors and all employees of the company.

Employees of Mahe Shipping were gathered at the STC Conference Room on Saturday 19th November 2022 to attend a Customer Service Excellence training. The training which was delivered by Mrs. Margaret Moumou, representing Enia Events, emphasized on providing excellent customer service as the foundation for success and business growth.
 
The half day workshop was organized to equip participants with the skills and knowledge to offer an improved customer experience to their clients, to have an understanding of the term customer service and to understand the difference between customer service and customer experience. The training was a means to engage the employees to develop a range of tools to improve the customers’ experience, which includes both internal and external customers of the company.

The cruise ship season in Seychelles is officially underway and Mahe Shipping were very pleased to welcome the first ship of the season on 9 November 2022, the MSC ORCHESTRA.

To mark the occasion, Managing Director of Mahe Shipping, Mr. Joe Morin, presented a copy of the book "Seychelles, Ships and the Sea", a maritime history of Seychelles produced by the Mahe Shipping on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. In turn, he received a ship's plaque, kindly presented by the Captain.

MSC Orchestra has an LOA of 294 meters. It carries 1600 passengers and has a complement of 800 crew. The vessel departed at 19.30 hours on 10 November 2022.

 NIWA is a Cable Layer ship, registered in Abu Dhabi and constructed in 1989 arrives in Seychelles on 26 February 2021. The vessel has a carrying capacity of 7900 DWT, LOA of 145.66 meters and width of 21.6 meters.

Mahe Shipping Company has been appointed as agents for the vessel and as custom broker for the project to land a second fiber optic cable at Ile Perseverance. This cable will provide much needed security in connectivity for Seychelles.

The SEAS (Seychelles East Africa System) submarine cable system was the first optic fiber submarine cable system connecting the country. This is a point-to-point system connecting Seychelles (Beau Vallon) and Tanzania (Dar-Es-Salaam) with a length of almost 2,000km. It came into service in August  2012.  More than 90%  of the international telecommunications traffic of Seychelles is carried through the SEAS system, for which the only alternative is the use of satellites.

For more details see Today in Seychelles article of 4 March 2022 page 1 and page 2

Five cruise ships have been authorised to operate in Seychelles waters for the 2021/2022 season, including Le Bellot, which called at Mahe twice in November before proceeding to cruise in the inner islands.
For the current season, ships will operate only in Seychelles waters and will not proceed to make regional calls as was the case in the past. Passengers will arrive via flights to Seychelles, board the vessels for their cruise and return home by air

All cruiseships coming to Seychelles are required to submit to the authorities a checklist, Company and Ship Management, Covid-19 outbreak management plan detailing procedures and measures in place to handle cases, risk assessments, onboard testing capacity, social distancing, isolation facilities, rules for boarding and disembarking the ship among other measures.

Mrs Willemin explained that since the reopening of borders to flights, the country has recorded around 140,000 visitors, 39% more than during the same period in 2020. Arrivals are still almost 60% down from 2019.
Marketing and promotion of cruise ship is also beneficial in diversifying the products being offered to visitors and give the country competitive advantage.
The reopening will also reap economic benefits for border control agencies, most specifically the SPA, which pulled in around R9 million in revenue from port operations in good cruise ship seasons, not taking into account spillover in the domestic economy.
In going forward, it is essential that stakeholder authorities also collaborate towards a comprehensive cruise ship plan. Projects such as the port extension and waterfront development will be essential to the plan to increase daily spendin

Press Release from the Seychelles Ports Authority
Port Victoria has won another title as the Indian Ocean’s Leading Cruise Port. This was announced by the World Travel Awards last week.It is the ninth time that Port Victoria receives this prestigious accolade.
Retaining this title is testimony to the commitment, hard work and close collaboration and coordination of the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) with other esteemed stakeholders such as the Public Health Authority, immigration department, customs, destination management companies, tour guides, taxi operators, shipping agents, craft vendors, entertainers, the police as well as the understanding and cooperation of port and terminal operator.
Following the moratorium that was imposed on cruise ship calls, due to the Covid- 19 pandemic now lifted, Port Victoria is due to welcome the opening of the new cruise ship season for 2021 – 2022, as from November 18, 2021.
The SPA, in collaboration with all the relevant stakeholders, under the guidance of the Public Health Authority, is finalising a port protocol to ideally handle all the scheduled cruise ship calls.
The SPA would like to thank each and every one who has contributed positively towards yet another successful achievement for Port Victoria.


Press Release from the Seychelles Ports Authority

Monday October 18, 2021 was a historic moment for Mahe Shipping Company as it relocates to new purpose-built premises on Veloutier Road at the New Port, Victoria. This is a major evolution for Mahe Shipping as the company strives to meet the challenges of the 21st century and maintain its lead as an innovative, efficient and dynamic shipping and logistics company.

Mahe Shipping celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019, but the company has even deeper roots in Seychelles history stretching back more than a century. The majority of the first shares were held by a consortium of eleven shipping lines from six European countries that dominated shipping in the Indian Ocean for a century. The balance of shares was held by Noel Bentley-Buckle (known to his friends as ‘Box’ as he was born on Boxing Day) and later his son Tony, chairman and founder of Southern Line of East Africa.

For the full story see newspaper articles:
Seychelles Nation
Today in Seychelles

When a company specialised in transport and logistics moves office, you might expect it to proceed efficiently. It did.........with every member of staff playing a part.