Janani Yagnamurthy achieves Middle East branch topper with ICS for Port & Terminal Management

Janani Yagnamurthy, Group Analytics Manager for Marcura recently undertook the Professional Qualifying Examinations (PQE) run by the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) and was named a Middle East branch topper in the Port and Terminal Management module!

We caught up with Janani as she reflected on her experience of the course, her incredible achievement, and how it’s helped our customers and teams.

Q&A

1. Congratulations Janani on being named a branch topper in Port and Terminal Management! Can you please introduce yourself and provide some background on what you do?

Thank you! I’m the Group Analytics Manager for Marcura and I joined in 2012.

I work in a team of seven, facilitating and enabling ship owners/operators to optimise port call turnaround and port cost through intelligence-led data analytics, port performance KPI reviews and bespoke studies.

Our analytics team are based in Dubai and India, providing data and insights to our customers on a global scale.

We play a key role in providing data and reports for our PortLog customers – for more information, see here.

2. Can you explain more about Professional Qualifying Examinations and what they entail?

The Professional Qualifying Examinations is the core qualification under the ICS and is designed for experienced professionals within the shipping industry.

It comprises seven exams – four are compulsory and three are selected from a range of subjects.

The compulsory exams are:

• Introduction to Shipping
• Legal Principles in Shipping Business
• Economics of Sea Transport
• International Trade and Shipping Business.

The remaining three I selected are:

• Dry Cargo Chartering
• Port Agency
• Port & Terminal Management.

3. How long did it take you to complete the course?

The exams are taken over a period of up to five years though I completed mine in two-and-a-half years.

Many people complete it in less than the allotted five years and some are eligible for exemptions from certain exams based on industry experience and prior qualifications.

4. Where did you take the course?

I took the course in Dubai, which was a combination of independent study at home and face-to-face support from my mentors within Marcura and coaches from ICS.

The exams are held in a designated centre.

5. Why did you choose to take the course?

Firstly, for me, knowledge is power! I wanted a greater depth of understanding of the industry which I can share with my team and our customers.

I knew that I’d have a great support network within the Marcura Group as well as the ICS coaches to mentor and guide me throughout the course.

Secondly, I recognised the value it would bring to both Marcura and our customers – the course content combined with what I do at work enables us to make better-informed decisions.

6. What did you enjoy the most?

I enjoyed being able to apply what I’ve learnt to what I do at PortLog daily.

It’s also enabled me to engage more with teams that I wouldn’t have worked as closely with before, such as our product team, where I can provide my input and recommendations on how we can further develop our solutions.

I also really enjoyed the networking opportunities – being part of such an established industry body (ICS is over 100 years old) has given me exposure to many industry professionals from across the globe through events such as conferences, workshops and award ceremonies.

Building connections not only presents new opportunities for Marcura but hearing other people’s thoughts and views has given me precious insights that you won’t always find in a textbook!

7. What was the most challenging exam?

I found the Dry Cargo Chartering exam to be the most challenging as it involves plenty of laytime calculations and voyage estimations etc. but the course wouldn’t be as fun if there wasn’t a challenge somewhere!

8. What are the biggest things you learnt from the course?

Whilst each module/exam is different, I’ve learnt that they’re all interlinked and one area within commercial shipping can impact the other.

This is particularly handy when we want to develop our solutions for our customers and need to connect the dots to do so.

Another thing I learned, that I believe is so important for us as a business is that maritime is a constantly evolving industry, and it’s key to our business and customers to stay on top of these changes.

9. How has it helped you?

It’s given me a greater understanding of maritime and shipping.

My qualification adds another level of credibility to our brilliant team, where I’m able to share my knowledge and insights with them.

It’s also enabled us to achieve our goals quicker, as we’re able to make more informed decisions.

10. How will it benefit our customers?

It brings us closer to our customers because we can understand their pain points better. There is a deeper level of trust gained and it connects our vision.

As a business analytics professional, I connect closely with customers to translate port performance to insights that help them understand risk exposure and mitigate commercial risks in voyage estimation. Our commercial awareness and academic knowledge go hand-in-hand in creating solutions for our customers as we’re able to translate data into more meaningful and actionable insights.

11. Would you recommend the Professional Qualifying Examinations? If so, who would you recommend it to?

This has been a rewarding experience for me and I highly recommend the PQE to experienced maritime professionals looking to solidify their knowledge and understanding of the commercial shipping industry.

The course is designed for you to study in a way that works for you – whether that’s remotely or on-site.

There’s a wide range of resources available and the coaches are always on hand to support.

The ICS also offers Foundation and Advanced Diplomas as stepping stones into full qualifications for those who have less industry experience but would like to gain practical knowledge. So there is something for everyone!

Thank you Janani for your time – we’re proud of you and hope this has inspired others to undertake a qualification with the ICS!

PortLog is a digital solution providing tools to measure and manage time in port for commercial tramp shipping port calls, including granular breakdowns of port turnaround times, port costs and restrictions.