Interview with
Mr. Vincent Teo
Senior Director
First, I’d like to ask about the name Bok Seng. Is it a family name, or does it mean something else? When was the company established and can you elaborate a bit on its history?
Bok Seng is the name of the company’s founder. The company was established in 1975. The company started out as a civil engineering company mainly focusing on the construction business. Over the years, with a growing fleet of trailers, the company evolved into a transport company then into a total logistics service provider with two main business divisions, namely the integrated and project logistics divisions.
The Integrated Logistics Division is comprised of the following services:
1) Conventional Trucking
2) Container Trucking
3) Container Depot
4) Contract Logistics
5) Warehouse and Inventory Management
Project Logistics Division is comprised of the following services:
1) Specialised Mover
2) Heavy Lifting
3) Heavy Transport
4) Marine Logistics
5) Heavy lifting/transportation and marine transport engineering
Bok Seng also attained the ISO9001:2015, OHSAS 18001:2007 and ISO14001:2015 certifications.
We met at the Breakbulk expo in Bremen. You had a booth there and I wandered past it and made a stop. Would you say that it was worthwhile to be present at the expo with own booth?
This was the second year that Bok Seng participated in Breakbulk Europe in Bremen as an exhibitor. We have also participated in other editions of the Breakbulk exhibition, such as Breakbulk Asia in 2018 and Breakbulk China in 2016 and 2019.
Breakbulk exhibitions are a good opportunity for friends and associates in the industries to gather in a single location to meet, catch up, discuss business opportunities, and make new contacts. Breakbulk Europe provides a good platform to reach the project logistics community in Europe and allow us to showcase our strengths and capabilities to different stakeholders in project cargo.
It also allows us to meet up with the European representatives of our clients in Southeast Asia. This gives them a first-hand understanding of the service provider (Bok Seng) that their counterparts in Southeast Asia are engaging for their projects.
Singapore has a strategic position in the main shipping lane of the world, so your location is perfect. What can you offer overseas customers? Also, regarding said customers, can they be direct shippers, freight forwarders, shipowners, or a mix of them all?
Bok Seng has a wide range of customers, they can be direct shippers, freight forwarders, consignees and shipping companies. We serve customers from the offshore and marine, oil and gas, infrastructure, and ports and shipyard industries.
Bok Seng has offices, yards, and operations teams in various Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Brunei. With our network in the region, we can offer customers complete door-to-door logistics services from one country to another within the region. Other than providing the equipment to handle customers’ cargo, our experienced operations and engineering team (mechanical, civil, and naval architects), with the use of engineering software, can conduct surveys and provide customised technical proposals for the safe handling of customers’ heavy lift cargo.
You are asset owners, I believe. Can you tell us more?
Bok Seng has a comprehensive range of shore and marine assets, including prime movers, trailers, mobile cranes, crawler and mobile cranes (up to 750 ton), synchronised jacking systems, hydraulic skidding systems, self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT), conventional hydraulic trailers, waterfront yards with private jetties and tugs and barges (up to 330ft length). With our equipment, we can handle cargo up to 4,000 tons within the Southeast Asia region.
Although Singapore’s location is unrivaled, the size of the country is still limited. Do you also do heavy lift and other jobs outside Singapore?
Bok Seng has undertaken projects in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, and Indonesia.
Could you provide us with a few examples of jobs handled both inside and outside the Lion City?
Project Name: Leviathan Project
Services: Heavy Haulage (Loadout)
Cargo: 2,200-ton Module
Equipment: SPMT (108 axle lines)
Date: September 2018
Location: Singapore
Project Name: BASF Lemongrass Project
Services: Heavy Haulage
Cargo: 320 ton, 50m Process Column
Equipment: SPMT (72 axle lines)
Date: April 2016
Location: Malaysia
Project Name: Wheatstone LNG Project
Services: Weighing, Tug and Barge and Heavy Haulage (Loadout)
Cargo: 1,300-ton Module Loading Platform
Equipment: Tug and Barge, SPMT (88 axle lines)
Date: September 2015
Location: Indonesia
Project Name: Keppel Fels Jackup Rig Project
Services: Tug and Barge and Heavy Haulage (Loadout)
Cargo: 2 units of 1,200-ton Module Loading Platform
Equipment: Tug and Barge, SPMT (60 axle lines)
Date: December 2016
Location: Thailand
What’s the best way to reach you for further information?
vincent.teo@bokseng-ipl.com
www.bokseng-ipl.com
