Digital transformation in the maritime industry is gaining momentum. The recruitment process between seafarers and ship owners has been inefficient, intransparent, and full of obstacles for seafarers, partially being exposed to dubious middlemen.
Isabelle Rickmers, founder and CEO of TURTLE GmbH, wants to change this and set up the technological infrastructure for a clean recruitment process: “We want to combine digitalization with social impact. Through the application of technology, the company makes the process more efficient and at the same time enables seafarers to access a self-determined, fair, and transparent recruitment process. Seafarers and ship owners come together directly on an equal footing and as partners.”
Ship owners have a global 24/7 reach to verified seafarer profiles and can efficiently and transparently search through an automated matching process. Further, the companies can rely on a clean supply chain for the recruitment of their seagoing personnel, given that ESG should be embedded in every companies’ DNA today.
Making the crewing process easy and more efficient through intelligent automation.
The maritime industry will have to face a talent shortage of close to 90,000 seafarers by 2026*, hence it is strategically crucial to attract and retain employees from a more diverse talent pool. Here, TURTLE has a suitable value proposition, due to its global & diverse candidate pool.
The company has three locations, the headquarters is in Hamburg, a part of the team in Munich and a fully owned subsidiary in Gydnia, Poland.
How diversified teams add value to the maritime industry.
Inspired by her family history in shipping, Isabelle Rickmers has been working in leading positions in the shipping industry for more than 10 years. “Maritime is a super exciting industry with lots of potentials. And TURTLE is in the midst of it.” Isabelle strongly believes in the value add of mixed teams, as they simply perform better and create an exciting, inspiring company culture.
Next: Investment in technology for growth
One year after launch there are close to 30.000 seafarers and 20 reputable ship owners across six vessel segments with a managed fleet of over 2000 vessels on board. A great success that makes the company the leading maritime job marketplace!
Currently, TURTLE is in the seed round to make further investments, especially growing their in-house tech team and supporting further growth. The next step on its technological development is a collaboration with the “Technische Universität” Munich (TUM) to work on an AI concept.
“To be Mittelstand!” as Isabelle Rickmers says. “We are looking for investors who want to build a sustainable business model with us. Coming out of a traditional family business, I especially appreciate long-term stakeholder value and am happy to build the next generation Mittelstand. Together!”
*https://www.globalmaritimeforum.org/news/gender-equality-today-for-a-sustainable-tomorrow
