Interview - P&O Ferry Masters

WE ARE GOING TO SERVE THE TURKISH MARKET WITH FIVE OFFICES 

Acquired by DP World, P&O Ferrymasters will be present in Turkey with five offices. Company's General Manager Duygu Can explained their latest plans in the country in DP World Blog.

Can you tell us a little bit about P&O Ferrymasters?

P&O Ferrymasters, is a logistics service provider operating in Europe, Turkey and Turkic Republics with 21 offices across 13 countries, a fleet of more than 6,000 self-owned trailers and containers and 540 employees.

Which countries do you work with?

We have a service network operating between Europe and Turkey. Additionally, we work between Turkey-Russia, Turkey-Ukraine, Turkey-Turkic Republics and Europe-Turkic Republics.

Which services will you be offering in Turkey?

P&O Ferrymasters Turkey currently offers highway transport service with dedicated trucks and intermodal transport service with self-owned 45 HC containers. We are planning to extend our service categories to include contract logistics, exhibition transport and maritime and air transport over the next 5 years.

Are you going to serve the domestic market only or work with foreign markets as well?

Our main field of business is highway and intermodal transport services with a special focus on diversifying our routes and equipment, and we want to grow equally in the domestic and international markets.

Can you also tell us about DP World’s acquisition of P&O Ferrymasters last year? What percentage of the company was purchased by the group? Where is the company management from?

P&O Ferrymasters’ parent company, P&O Ferries Holding was acquired by DP World in the first quarter of last year. The holding is currently being managed from the UK.

What are you going to offer DP World Yarımca customers as a solution partner?

We are planning to diversify our services or develop new service groups by combining our know-how and commercial experience with that of DP World. This will include road/intermodal transport to and from the port and storage services. Right now we are in the process of planning our joint projects.

As a logistics service provider, we have more than 100 years of experience and know-how in Europe. We have a broad reach from Europe to China with our extensive equipment portfolio as well as our intermodal and Ro-Ro networks. In addition to standard routes and equipment, we are competent in project cargo operations and temperature-controlled transport and as a 4PL service provider in supply chain management. In short, our extensive product network saves our customers time and money. That is what makes us their service provider of choice.

What are your short-, medium- and long-term targets in Turkey?

We are opening our second office in the short run. We have decided on the location – it will be İzmir. A third and a fourth office in Bursa and Mersin will follow, respectively. By the end of 2022, we will have included Denizli to our network, operating with 5 offices in Turkey. We want to have 8 offices by the end of 2024.   

Our most important investment in the medium term will be expanding our product range. We will include new destinations and routes in intermodal transport while also offering new services such as contract logistics, maritime and air transport and fair/exhibition logistics.

How do you see Turkey (in terms of its global position, etc.) as a point of the supply chain? 

Turkey is the most important part of our 5-year strategic initiative which we call “Go East”. We have over 100 years of know-how in logistics, an extensive distribution network in both road and intermodal transport and a broad service range, and we want to extend these all the way to China via Turkey.

Which industries will you focus on in Turkey?  

P&O Ferrymasters has a long-standing transportation experience in FMCG, retail, iron-steel, chemicals and industrial products in Europe. We want to further expand this experience, focusing on automotive, textile, paper-packaging and food sectors in Turkey.  

How many offices and employees are you planning to have in Turkey?

As I mentioned in our short- and medium-term targets, we, as P&O Ferrymasters Turkey, are planning to have 8 offices and a team of nearly 50 people, providing integrated logistics services, by the end of 2024.