The consulting company WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff is stepping up its focus on the maritime sector. Just over a year on from acquiring Parsons Brinckerhoff, a name well known in North America for its maritime sector expertise, WSP has added to its professional services armoury key Royal HaskoningDHV personnel with a strong track record in meeting the requirements of maritime sector clients spanning port authorities, terminal operators, shipping lines and other parties on a global basis.
Simon Harries, Roy Van Eijsden and Andy Penfold, all former senior managers at Royal HaskoningDHV, are now based in WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff’s London office with a remit to rapidly grow its global maritime and logistics business.
Simon Harries brings extensive experience in the planning, design, project management and supervision of large civil and structural engineering maritime projects. Roy Van Eijsden is a corporate risk consultancy specialist focusing on international economic and legislative developments and market trends. Andy Penfold, the founder of Ocean Shipping Consultants, a business he sold in 2011, will deliver commercial market studies and due diligence reviews in the shipping and port sectors, an increasingly important element of establishing the viability and finance friendly characteristics of projects in today’s marketplace.
Mr Harries, who will lead the new maritime division, noted: “The combination of integrated expertise that we offer accommodates current and future market challenges. We look to provide sustainable solutions via proper pre-project implementation market and risk analysis, and the delivery of cost-effective and innovative engineering solutions. We can maximise project viability and yield for large, medium and small size projects alike through the delivery of this multi-disciplinary style of approach.”
“It is important to note, however,” Mr Harries continued, “that this approach will not exclude the deployment of one or more select areas of engineering expertise as required. We have been working, for example, on innovative design and service packages ranging from breakwater design to engineering due diligence and the reduction of port terminal infrastructure maintenance requirements.”
Mr Penfold emphasises the importance of establishing market viability and fully understanding market requirements before new, market expansion and refurbishment projects begin. “Whether it is in the context of port master-planning, shipping system deployment, an acquisition or bringing project finance, market analysis is essential nowadays. As a percentage of total project cost it is invariably a small cost and therefore the logic of undertaking it, particularly in challenging market circumstances, is indisputable. It is,” he said, “a proven route to minimising risk and maximising opportunity.”
