Bridge Control Services Limited (BCSL) is a Trinidad and Tobago based company established in 2004, with a vision to be the premier and most innovative maritime service provider in the region. Our service focusses on the provision of marine transportation service for the marine pilots of the Trinidad & Tobago Pilots’ Association. The service has also evolved to other market segments including government agencies, shipping agents, oil and gas interests and other maritime service providers.
Service Offer and Investments
BCSL’s core business is the provision of marine transportation service. The service caters to marine pilot transfers, transportation of shipping agents, ship’s personnel, statutory personnel, offshore personnel and other marine interests. It is characterised by a steady focus on safety, efficiency and reliability and underpinned by a robust competence in vessel ownership, crewing operation and maintenance. The Company’s operations were launched in 2004, with the purchase of our first boat. Since then, through the spirit of entrepreneurship and further investment in state-of-the-art machinery and equipment, BCSL has become a well sought-after transportation provider to all segments in the maritime industry.Assets
At present, BCSL owns/operates eleven (11) boats, comprising eight purpose-built pilot boats and three passenger launches. Additional vessels are chartered to meet market demand and specific customer needs. The boats carry out transport services at all the major ports in Trinidad and Tobago including: Port of Spain, Chaguaramas, Point Lisas, Yara, Pointe-à-Pierre, Claxton Bay, Brighton, Point Fortin, Galeota Point and other ports as required. We operate from four bases in Trinidad, these include Chaguaramas, Port of Spain, Point Lisas and Galeota.Client List
Today, BCSL’s highly reputable client list includes major players in the shipping and energy industries including shipping agents, global and regional shipping lines; exploration and production interest and other support service providers. Services are provided either by spot or time charter hires.Workforce
The boats are crewed with a disciplined and professional workforce, which is directly responsible for the high quality of service to customers. A rigorous recruitment and selection process is executed to ensure the best candidates join the establishment. Our recruitment criteria are a combination of marine experience and credentials. In addition, a meticulous training and development program is implemented for all crew to ensure continuous learning and succession planning. Our employees benefit from a regime of in-house and external training in marine operations and boat handling techniques as well as from knowledge transfer as a result of working closely alongside marine pilots on a daily basis.Additional Services
Additionally, we have diversified our service offer to leverage the expertise of our directorship and staff in the following areas: emergency response, crewing and manning, mooring boat operations, private water taxi, dry-docking and maintenance management of vessels.- Emergency Response – our fleet of high-speed crafts are able to provide 24/7 marine emergency response service to our clients in the shipping and oil and gas industries, who require a reliable, safe and timely response to their HSE and emergency needs. Furthermore, if required, we can provide onward ambulance transportation from the shore-side to the client’s preferred health institution. We are able to provide a reliable and guaranteed service based on retainer contracts with clients.
- Crewing and manning – as the owner and operator of a fleet of 11 boats, a critical component of our service is the crewing of the fleet with competent and experienced personnel. Since the inception of our organisation, we have grown our establishment to have a present crew of 30 persons. We have established rigorous recruitment and rostering practices and training programmes to continuously develop our crew and efficiently man our fleet. We can extend such expertise to third parties based on our experience and credentials in fleet management and crewing.
- Line handling and mooring boat operations – we currently provide line handling services to moor/unmoor ships at specific ports in Trinidad. The service involves the safe transportation of mooring personnel with the ship’s lines to the point of mooring. Such service is important to ensure that the ship is properly and safely moored to allow for commencement of cargo handling operation.
- Private Water Taxi – our passenger launches can be used to provide safe, comfortable and timely marine transportation to the discerning passenger in need of a premium transportation service. Our passenger launches are outfitted with comfortable seating, air conditioning and other amenities to accommodate at least 24 passengers.
- Dry Docking and maintenance management of vessels – a critical support service for our core value adding activity of marine transportation is the dry-docking and maintenance management of the fleet. This ensures that our vessels are available, reliable and safe for the provision of service to our customers. We have a maintenance team of 9 competent and experienced engineers, technicians and tradesmen. We can extend such expertise to third parties based on the experience and credentials in the provision of maintenance management of a fleet of 11 vessels.
Leadership
BCSL’s leadership is made up of a technically skilled team of highly qualified directors who are all marine pilots by profession. They have an extensive combination of seafaring experience and land-based experience and knowledge ranging from port captains, ferry masters, marine administrators, lecturers, safety and training specialists, crew management and shore-based operations. The leadership has displayed the initiative and innovation required to grow BCSL over the years. This combination of experience, initiative and innovation combined with systematic management has positively impacted decision making at both the strategic and operational levels resulting in the growth of BCSL into a major player in the maritime sector providing new and innovative services. BCSL looks forward to offer services that continuously meet and exceed the needs of our various customer segments.
Pilot Boat underway to a pilotage operation.
Passenger Launch capable of transporting up to 24 passengers and light cargo.
