A new life

Starting a new bunker company is something most of us never get to experience. We have done exactly that here since December and it reminds me a bit of when I was getting ready for my fiancée to give birth. There is a huge amount to do. I’m “the credit guy” and I only see a fraction of the huge amounts of work that Finance, Risk, HR, Management and the Commercial heads are putting in. Just like having a baby, there are endless things you need to prepare for, sign, buy, arrange and have on property. You need to draw up new procedures and ensure your “what if” contingency planning is 100% comprehensive.

They say no plan survives first contact with the opposition and that is so true of setting up a bunker company. But we have been doing lots to bring Delta to the market and it has been pretty exhausting, with a few sleepless nights for sure. How gratifying then, to start seeing the business begin to flood in and for us to stop crawling and start walking.

Policies have been produced, reviewed, signed off and implemented. Our ERP systems are being tailored with dedicated development resources to what we need, how we need it. Barges have been sorted, documentation has been arranged. Office space has been acquired and moved into and now feels very much like home. Credit reports have been written about us, endless KYC forms filled in, suppliers are now giving us credit and bank lines have been arranged. It has been a tiring few months but as summer blooms, so too does Delta’s bunker business. Covid coming to an end so we can have well-deserved drink together at the end of the week is really nice too.

One of the loveliest things about having a baby is watching him/her grow; so fast sometimes it feels like you can see it happening in front of your eyes and I get the same vibes from watching how Delta has been planned, brought into being, loved and nurtured and is now growing and developing day by day by a multinational, multi-nation team of professionals all taking their “parent” role to heart.