This year’s annual dry cargo training course was held at Commodity Quay for the first time since 2019 following the COVID social distancing regulations. The aim of the Dry Cargo Shipping Diploma (DCSD) is to deliver a comprehensive understanding of the global dry cargo shipping industry covering commercial, legal, financial, regulatory, operational and technical aspects. It is an invitation only event open to early career professionals who work for Clarksons and its clients.
The Diploma is very highly regarded for its unique course delivered by industry professionals and practitioners to the ‘next generation’ of professionals. It’s been running since 2008 and is delivered in the memory of Jon Marshall – one the best-known and longest-serving dry bulk brokers in the business - who was an advocate of the course and sadly passed away. Jon’s memory is honoured by the award of the Jon Marshall trophy each year to the top performing participants.
The course was attended by 27 delegates made up of 11 client reps and 16 Clarksons colleagues working from different group offices. The delegates travelled from Singapore, Johannesburg, Delhi, Perth and New York as well as various European locations.
The course made up of a series of formal presentations by staff from different Clarksons departments and external speakers covering various topics across the dry cargo market. A number of sessions involved interactive workshops including laytime & demurrage calcs, freight futures and the ever-popular ‘Shipping Game’ on day three where two groups of ‘charterers’ and three groups of ‘shipowners’ competed to fix the two available cargoes for three ships.
As has now become the tradition, the course culminated with a Dragons’ Den session whereby the five work groups pitched a newco business idea to four dragon investors. Not surprisingly, most of the groups presented a new tech proposal with the winning group, ‘Just In Time Arrival Port (JITAP)’, presenting a new app enabling an owner to submit a virtual NOR based on information on available berth space at the arrival port.
Two further prizes were awarded at the end of the course:
Jon Marshall Cup: This year’s winner was Cian Palmer of Viterra Chartering as the participant who achieved the highest level of engagement throughout the course.
