Our Portfolio

Management – Consulting – Seminars – Training

The company and its experience

The executive partner, Captain Michael Groß (degreed industrial engineer), has been working in international shipping since 1970. From deck boy to captain (German Master’s License Coastal Trade, worldwide voyage without restrictions), he has experience as a nautical watch officer and captain on coasters, heavy lift, container, and passenger vessels. At the same time, he has many years of teaching experience, e.g. as a lecturer at universities of applied sciences in the maritime sector. He is an accomplished educator and certified simulator trainer. Until 2017, he was also an independent shipowner, ship manager, and shipping consultant, owning several companies. All his experience, knowledge, and skills are now available to the market through the company Groß Consulting GmbH, led by him and a strong team.

“It is not enough to know it, you have to be able to apply it.” We fully agree with these words of Mr. Pestalozzi, a famous educator.

Theory and practice are both essential for successful shipping. Our approach is to always convey theoretical knowledge in a manner that can be both understood and easily applied onboard and in the office. Our own experience as shipowners and ship managers has shown us this need. We see collaboration with our clients as meeting on equal terms. Our work is based on trust and emotional consensus because, by principle, we strive for a long-term and reliable partnership.

Capt. Treetzen has been a partner in the maritime company Groß Consulting GmbH since August 1, 2020. He currently leads the quality department. At the same time, he is training for executive management and will take over the company in a few years, continuing it in the spirit of the company founder.

He joined the shipping industry in 2002 and learned his trade from scratch. In 2008, he earned a worldwide ship master’s certificate in international merchant shipping for all vessel sizes. He gained experiences up to chief mate on large container ships in worldwide voyages and as a chief mate and captain on coasters. Captain Treetzen is also appointed and active as a freelance maritime pilot.

Examples of the services we offer, in- and out of house, bookable both traditionally and online as a webinar

Traditional business consulting

Market analysis for all maritime sectors

Market analyses reveal competitive advantages and offer a detailed overview of current opportunities, risks, and trends. You can now better control a variety of situations and react much faster to changes.

Is it worth investing in a new ship handling simulator to train your personnel? Is there a need for more navigation simulators? We support you in these and similar questions with a corresponding, well-informed expert opinion.

Ship operating cost analyses

Ship operating costs typically increase annually. The international shipping market is highly competitive. Are you sure your ship operating costs are within the average range or is there unrecognized potential for cost reductions?

We review your ship operating costs and give you a detailed assessment of where you stand, what is working, and what could be optimized.

Maritime project management

Effective project management is the cornerstone of a successful development project, its key to success. Complex planning, discussion, and coordination processes can only be guaranteed this way. The technical coordination and implementation of project management make it possible to design clearly defined projects and to integrate the important human factor into these processes. Especially in the maritime sector, critical systems are omnipresent. For this reason, their associated standards should also be present for maritime professionals with seafaring experience, just as it is in any other regulated industry. The goal of well-functioning maritime project management is to holistically coordinate people and technology. In this development process, we consider it particularly important to transfer knowledge of safety-relevant systems on seagoing vessels or other maritime installations to their specific characteristics, environmental conditions, and safety requirements. The maritime industry only partially works with international, technical, and binding regulations and standards. This is why experience knowledge of the maritime industry is essential and significant.

We support you in the implementation of your projects by sharing our decades of maritime experience with you.

Structural analyses of office and shipping companies

Is your company efficiently structured? In today’s tough competitive environment, every company has to keep asking itself this question. An internal company analysis can support you in finding answers. With it, you determine your concrete need for action in finding, retaining, and qualifying your personnel, and you receive an assessment of your employees. Additionally, an employee survey offers you a comprehensive understanding of your company’s current situation.

Your company will benefit from your internal analysis in different ways, such as:

• Providing a basis for strategic planning
• Gaining a basis for well-founded personnel decisions, in particular, manpower requirements planning
• Increasing awareness for personnel work
• Cost reduction by early recognition of challenges in the personnel area
• Optimization of existing structures
• Increase in efficiency with simultaneous increase of employee motivation

Curious? Then please do not hesitate to contact us.

In addition to the internal structural analysis, we also recommend an environmental analysis of your company.

Consultation and training in commercial law matters

Average and salvage should not belong in your routine measures unless you operate salvage vehicles. For this very reason, serious mistakes happen both in the management on land as well as onboard, which leads to extremely high costs.

This should be prevented. We offer practice-oriented training in these areas. This way you and your employees are always up to date and have much more knowledge of how to apply it when it’s needed than you would have, had you only encountered the topic once in training.

Nevertheless, we are also happy to support you with our knowledge if you have a concrete case of average or salvage.

Almost the same applies to the implementation of freight contracts, carrier liability, the preservation of evidence, time metering of different freight/carrier contracts, or the correctly timed coordination and issuance of notice of readiness, etc.

Have you identified a need for action? We look forward to speaking with you!

Quality management, safety/security/workplace safety

Execution or consulting of internal ISM/ISPS/MLC audits

The shipping industry’s quality standard required by law is derived from the ISM/ISPS and MLC codes. The International Ship Safety Treaty (SOLAS) mandates its implementation. Every shipping company and maritime vessel must be regularly inspected/audited for compliance.

Auditors must be impartial and this is often not guaranteed with internal auditors. They might lack the outside perspective. We can break this chain and also draw from the experience of numerous audits.

For this, we consider ourselves as your partner. Our audits are a “tool” to improve your systems. They are a dialog with people. They are not inspections but check the written processes and the system. Our auditors are guests at your company. Audits are not conducted hierarchically but through openness and the building of trust. You do not trust us? See it for yourself. Give us the chance to be your external, internal auditor. We will reveal the operational blind spots, which companies often miss. Our many years of experience in conducting audits, on our own and other ships, as well as in various land-based organizations, offers you a fresh perspective on internal audits and sets different priorities in audit planning.

We plan your internal and external audits based on ISM/ISPS/MLC, as well as ISO 19011. If desired, we take over the entire audit planning and execution as well as reporting and deviation management for you.

Development, creation, implementation, and auditing of ISM systems, including manual (SMM), according to SOLAS and ISM Code

Do you require a quality management system? We are happy to be your partner. We will be pleased to accompany you from the development to the implementation to the internal (supporting you through the external as well) audits. Our special focus is on systems for international shipping (e.g. ISM systems and ISO standards). Afterward, we will gladly continue to support you by taking over the maintenance of your system and further development. We are also happy to work on an hourly basis for your occasional support.

Development, creation, implementation, and testing of ISPS system, including hazard prevention plan (SSP), according to SOLAS and ISPS Code

Looking for a hazard prevention plan? We are happy to prepare this plan for you, in compliance with ISM. Of course, we also take into account the requirements of your flag state.

Inventory of Hazardous Material onboard (IHM)

On December 30, 2013, the European Union enacted the European Regulation on Ship Recycling (EU) No. 1257/2013. This means that all ships visiting European Union ports, regardless of their flag, will be required to have inventories of hazardous materials (IHMs) as of December 2020.

You need help with the implementation of this requirement. Feel free to reach out to us. We have specially qualified personnel for this. From the complete creation to the certification, to the care and maintenance of this area, we are happy to be your partner.

Staffing needs for short trips, transfer trips, trial trips, etc.

Do you sometimes have staffing needs for additional navigating officers or ratings? We can help. We dispatch nautical officers and captains, who will gladly take over such voyages for you. We can also support you in the area of deck ratings, in case of need.

Quality management training

According to Pestalozzi, knowledge alone is not enough. One must also be able to apply it. That is why we offer seminars, training, courses, modules, etc., for the whole range of quality management. Whether ISO norms, IMS, ISPS, or MLC, from prepared training to individualized material, designed for your company’s needs, we are glad to be your partner. We highly value and focus on practical relevance and real-life experience.

The well-known quality management systems (e.g. ISO standards) are good but often too general to fulfill the specifications of a certain area. Especially the maritime sector is often too complex for a generalized system.

From quality management to educational theory, to nautical/technical competence, our complete package has you covered.

Thanks to decades of professional experience in all areas of shipping and maritime teaching, we provide you valuable knowledge with practical maritime relevance. This clearly sets us apart from traditional educational courses offered by state organizations. Our certificate is thus proof of external, independent quality assurance measure that has provided you with qualifications and competencies.

Of course, we also do the preliminary work and/or accompany you during the certification process by other institutions, classification societies, or similar.