Crowley Accord Shipmanagement is aiming to add reefer vessels to its growing and diverse fleet, in line with owners looking to outsource technical management during the market downturn.

“The traditional reefer vessel sector is going through a downturn and it makes sense for owners to outsource technical management to ship management companies. We have the expertise in-house to manage these ships safely, economically and efficiently so that owners can focus more on commercial operations,” said Sanjay Shesh, managing director of Crowley Accord.

Seaborne reefer cargo grew 4.9% in 2014, but most of the growth was in the reefer containership sector, according to data from Drewry Maritime Research.

“Onwers want to know that they can rely on the technical expertise of their shipmanagement partner; this is particularly true of the specialist reefer vessel sector as the cargo is both valuable and perishable,” he added.

Crowley Accord’s fleet of 75 vessels includes tankers, accommodation barges, ro-ro carriers, deepwater pipelaying vessels, bulk carriers, self-propelled jack-up barges, containerships, tug boats, heavy lift vessels, trans-shippers, general cargo vessels, ROV and SAT diving vessels and OSVs.