26th July 2023 – Colombo: Centrum Marine Consultancy, the emerging leader in the provision of Marine HR solutions in Sri Lanka, has entered its latest phase of rapid growth by unveiling its new headquarters ‘446 Centrum Haus’ at 446, R. A. De Mel Mawatha, Colombo 03.
The headquarters was ceremonially declared open by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation in the presence of several dignitaries from diplomatic missions, Kalinga De Silva – Founder / Managing Director of Centrum Marine Consultancy, special invitees and guests, and the Centrum Marine team. The new, centrally-located headquarters offers the Centrum Marine team a state-of-the-art building with all modern facilities as they prepare to take the world of Marine HR services to new frontiers by expertly handling the complex recruitment, placement and retention challenges faced by Global Ship Owners and Managers.
Sri Lanka is home to a growing fraternity of over 16,000 seafarers who are actively engaged with some of the most world renowned shipping giants. Over the years Sri Lanka has proven to be a dependable and versatile recruitment resource when it comes to sourcing some of the best talent in seafarers. Robust infrastructure in Maritime education and training systems ensure that Sri Lankan seafarers are widely considered to be world class.
Centrum Marine Consultancy is a provider of Marine HR services founded in the year 2020 by Kalinga De Silva with a team that possess over 45 years of collective experience. The company has made tremendous headway in globalizing these professionals as a brand of excellence around ‘Sri Lankan Seafaring’, showcasing the world-class training and experience that Sri Lankan seafarers possess backed by ship owner friendly attitude due to the personal traits such as loyalty, whilst positioning them as one of the best resources in the world for ship owners and ship managers to draw from.
The organization is highly responsive to the changing internal and external dynamics of the industry and operates on a lean and agile business model that allows it to deliver world-class Marine HR solutions, in a productive and cost-efficient manner to all stakeholders involved. Centrum Marine is MLC 2006 compliant, ISO 9001: 2015 certified and a Signatory to the Neptune Declaration. Furthermore, Centrum Marine is one of the very few organizations in Sri Lanka to hold a ‘Certificate of Authorization –COA’ issued by the Merchant Shipping Secretariat (MSS) of Sri Lanka.
Sharing his thoughts on the grand opening of the new headquarters, Kalinga De Silva – Founder/ Managing Director of Centrum Marine Consultancy stated, “As we unveil our new headquarters, I would like to thank my wonderful team for all their hard work over the years that has made this dream a reality within a very short period of time since we began our commercial operations. I founded this company after having worked for a larger German- Sri Lankan Ship Owning/management company for a decade or so, where I both grew in stature and global exposure. Having travelled extensively to promote Sri Lankan seafarers amongst ship owners, it was my dream to position ‘Sri Lankan Seafaring’ as a brand of excellence, which in turn communicates a promise of world class competency and skills. During that time, I observed a number of gaps in the local industry as to how these seafarers are managed. Owing to those observations it was important for me to create a sense of belonging for our seafarers when they are shore based on vacation as they are deprived of a sense of belonging to an office that they could call their own. So, that is one of the prime reasons why I wanted to develop a state-of-the-art office which has all the modern amenities. It is my vision to recognize these individuals at every possible opportunity and even when their families visit. When they walk in with their families, they should be able to proudly show where they work. I believe in setting up this new headquarters we have achieved this objective. They now have an office of international standards that connects them to Sri Lanka professionally.”
Centrum Marine focuses on three business verticals – Marine HR, Ship Broking and Trading Facilitation. Marine HR manages Sri Lankan seafarers on behalf of Ship Owners and Managers for long term and short-term requirements with a strong affinity to the management of seagoing assets. Ship Broking provides effective options for voyage and time charters in partnership with renowned Ship Owners and principal Ship Brokers. Trading Facilitation improves efficiencies in sourcing and logistics for commodity trading including Cement Clinker, Bulk Cement, Gypsum and Coal and etc.