Hapag-Lloyd Lanka continues to triumph in customer excellence

Assistant General Manager Europe and Mediterranean Sector Kirk Baldsing receives Best Customer Service Provider award from Sri Lanka Ports, Shipping and Aviation Ministry Secretary K.D.S. Ruwanchandra 

Exceptional management team members honoured with prestigious world prize and for dedicated service

Hapag-Lloyd Lanka, a subsidiary of Aitken Spence PLC and the local representation for Hapag-Lloyd-AG-Hamburg, won two Customer Service Awards for the Europe Trade and Mediterranean Trade at the recently held awards ceremony by the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (UK) - Sri Lanka Branch.

The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) (UK), founded in 1911 and received the ‘Royal Charter’ in the year 1920, is fundamentally dedicated in promoting professionalism in the international maritime industry. Its worldwide acceptance affirms the institute as the only professional body that sets the highest standards of professional service to the shipping industry world over. 

The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) Sri Lanka Branch commenced in awarding Customer Service Awards at its Annual ICS Awards Ceremony in the year 1997, under the leadership of Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, the former Chairman of the ICS Sri Lanka Branch, who later on became the first non-Britisher to be elected as the International President of the Institute, in the year 2017-2019.

Receiving these two awards and also winning the ‘Market Segment’ award at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Sri Lanka (CILT) awards ceremony for the same year, underscores the success of the visionary strategic initiatives taken by the Management of Hapag-Lloyd Lanka online with the Hapag-Lloyd AG medium-term strategy. 

In addition to these awards, Lalith Witanachchi, Vice President of Hapag-Lloyd Lanka, was recognised by the ICS (UK) Sri Lanka Branch for his dedicated service as a lecturer for ICS (UK) qualifying examinations throughout the last 20 years. Dr. Geeth Kumarasinghe, General Manager of Hapag-Lloyd Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, also received the World Prize with the prestigious ARMAC award presented by the ICS (UK) to commemorate his exceptional performance at the ICS (UK) qualifying examination 2023. 

“Receiving the Best Customer Service Provider award for the Europe Sector for four consecutive years and for the Mediterranean Sector for three consecutive years confirms the success of our strategic initiatives to define implement and monitored sustainable Key Performance Indicators, which are derived from our differentiation strategies,” commented, Hapag-Lloyd Lanka Vice President Lalith Witanachchi. 

“We were able to improve our systems, processes and further strengthened our capacity building in our team over the past five years. Apart from this the synergies we have adopted being part of the Aitken Spence Group and the well-renowned Hapag-Lloyd AG are the most important factors behind this success,” said Hapag-Lloyd Lanka General Manager Dr. Geeth Kumarasinghe.

Hapag-Lloyd-AG is one of the world’s leading container shipping lines based in Hamburg, Germany and is ranked as the fifth Largest Liner Shipping company in the world, operating one of the largest shipping container fleet and recognised as one of the top five mainline operators at the recently held Colombo Port Awards Ceremony.

Hapag-Lloyd Lanka is a joint venture between Aitken Spence Maritime and Hapag-Lloyd-AG. Aitken Spence Maritime is a pioneer in the industry and was the first in Sri Lanka to undertake port efficiency enhancement management overseas with its entry into the African continent and subsequently South Pacific Islands. The company handles all areas of maritime services from ship agents and cargo handlers to liner agency, cruise vessels, port management and development, chartering services, bunkering and maritime education.