How Japanese operators accelerate their digital transformation with Marcura

With digital transformation now at full speed in the maritime industry, Marcura’s solutions have gained traction in Japan.

Marcura set up its Tokyo office in 2013, and now many leading shipping companies have adopted Marcura’s solutions.

While visiting Marcura’s office in Japan, Hans-Christian Mordhorst, Marcura’s CCO, was interviewed by Kaiji Press, a leading Japanese maritime daily newsletter, about the company’s current situation and future plans.

 

What do you think about the background of the widespread adoption of your company’s services?

I think that the progress of digital transformation is significant. Our solutions result in paperless processes which is one of the key benefits of digitalisation.  For example, DA-Desk –  one of our core services – gets rid of the piles of paper associated with disbursement accounting.

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand and concern for compliance in the shipping industry, and our services significantly help here too.

 

I think Marcura’s solutions were put to good use during the Covid-19 crisis

Yes, that’s right. With MarTrust, seafarers who have been forced to stay on board for longer periods of time due to Covid-19 were able to effortlessly receive their salaries and send money to their families.

The benefits of MarTrust include the transparency of payments, hassle-free remittance, and cost reduction for employers and crew alike.

Due to Covid-19, the awareness of seafarer welfare has increased. Our service enables seafarers to receive salaries safely and send money more cost-effectively, meaning there is one less thing for crew to be concerned about.

 

What are your customers’ reactions to your solutions?

At least in the last few years, the awareness of our solutions has increased.  This has been accelerated by the need for a remote working environment, the seafarers’ plight due to Covid-19 and the greater importance of compliance in maritime.

Our solutions help with all of these things.

We regularly survey customer satisfaction.

Whilst there are always one or two issues that we work hard to resolve,  generally, we get a high score every time.

Takashi Ikeda, Regional Customer Manager in Japan, said: “It was good to see Hans-Christian and visit some of our Japanese customers with him. We hope to see him in Japan again soon.”