Fleet Stores-and-Provisions Recovery Leader

The mandate

Six vessels recently sailed without parts of their approved engine-room consumable, deck-safety and crew-provision orders even though the fleet dashboard reported high supplier fill. Item substitutions were recorded as quantity delivered, orders reaching a port agent were treated as onboard, and refrigerated food rejected at the gangway still appeared complete in purchasing records. Crews now carry local workarounds, duplicate emergency stock and inconsistent catalogues; invoices cannot always be matched to accepted quantity and condition. The fleet supply director departed after the Operating Committee concluded that purchase-order performance concealed voyage exposure. The interim takes executive responsibility for the requisition-to-vessel chain while peak sailing demand continues.

The leader must arrive within ten days for a fixed seven-month recovery. The opening sixteen days establish a vessel-by-vessel exposure list, protect evidence for disputed deliveries and define which stores may not be substituted without the chief engineer, master, medical or safety owner. The proof window then follows eighteen departure turns and two ocean rotations, including refrigerated provisions, remote-port delivery and an unplanned critical replenishment. Search for a permanent appointee begins during month three. Handover is achieved only after the successor has chaired six supply-readiness calls, approved one controlled emergency response and accepted every remaining catalogue, supplier and vessel exception with its service consequence.

Decision rights permit the officeholder to set fleet catalogue and requisition controls, freeze an unsupported substitution, quarantine provisions lacking required condition evidence, reallocate approved stock among vessels, reserve consolidation capacity, require chandler corrective action and authorise emergency sourcing within TWD80 million per event and the approved recovery budget. The leader can block administrative order closure until onboard receipt is evidenced. Masters and chief engineers retain vessel-safety and technical acceptance; medical and quality officers retain their controlled judgments. Supplier termination, long-term awards, menu policy, fleet-maintenance strategy, write-offs beyond delegation and voyage cancellation remain reserved to named executives and committees.

Recovery must create one operating truth without pretending food, PPE, chemicals, tools and engine consumables are interchangeable inventory. The leader will align item identity, vessel-class applicability, authorised equivalents, minimum voyage quantity, expiry or shelf life, temperature and allergen information, dangerous-goods or storage dependency, requisition cut-off, purchasing confirmation, hub consolidation, port-agent custody, terminal or launch access, gangway delivery, onboard inspection, stow location, rejection, return and invoice release. Readiness will be measured against the vessel’s next voyage and credible recovery time, not global line fill. A shortage control room must expose which apparent completion depends on local cash purchases, crew borrowing or a part that exists ashore but cannot reach the ship.

Out of scope are technical specification of machinery parts, vessel maintenance planning, safe-manning decisions, nutrition policy, medical prescribing, culinary management, ship operation and negotiation of permanent fleet-supply contracts. The interim must nevertheless ensure the relevant authorised owner has approved each controlled requirement before an order or substitution is released. By departure, at least two ocean rotations must run without an undisclosed critical shortage; refrigerated rejection, partial receipt and emergency delivery must reconcile operational and financial records; aged emergency stock must have disposition owners; and the permanent leader must inherit a ninety-day demand view, approved equivalence rules, live supplier remedies and a trained ship-shore control team.

Why this seat is open

The vacancy sits between procurement, marine operations and the vessel, where nobody can recover service by optimising only their own record. Purchasing sees confirmed orders, agents see packages at the quay, suppliers count substituted lines and crews see whether usable material crossed the gangway before sailing. The board needs a temporary executive with authority to challenge all four perspectives while a specialist permanent search runs. This is a bounded recovery and succession mandate, not a permanent purchasing role or an extension pathway.

What you will own

• Reconstruct critical stores and provision journeys across eighteen departures, linking requisition, approval, substitution, sourcing, consolidation, port custody, gangway receipt, rejection and invoice evidence.
• Establish vessel-class catalogues, authorised-equivalent rules, voyage minimums and escalation clocks for engine consumables, deck stores, PPE, medical boundaries and crew provisions.
• Build refrigerated, shelf-life, allergen, condition, dangerous-goods and stowage prerequisites into readiness decisions without assuming the specialist owner’s approval authority.
• Govern consolidation hubs, chandlers, agents and last-port delivery resources against usable onboard acceptance rather than purchase-order confirmation or quay arrival.
• Direct emergency replenishment, approved stock reallocation, unsupported-substitution blocks and supplier remedies within delegation while preserving master and chief-engineer decisions.
• Prove controls through two ocean rotations, twelve requisition reviews, six delivery observations and cold-chain, partial-receipt and remote-port disruption scenarios.
• Transfer the ninety-day demand view, exception population, catalogue controls, supplier actions, financial reconciliations and emergency playbooks through successor-led live calls.

Candidate qualifications

• Has held executive responsibility for fleet stores, marine purchasing or vessel provisions across a sizeable internationally trading commercial fleet.
• Can evidence recovery of a supply chain where supplier fill, port delivery and usable onboard receipt produced materially different service results.
• Understands vessel requisitions, technical-store catalogues, authorised equivalents, chandlers, consolidation, port agents, launch delivery, onboard acceptance, returns and invoice matching.
• Has governed refrigerated provisions, expiry, allergen, hygiene, dangerous-goods and storage dependencies while leaving specialist approval with qualified owners.
• Can prioritise critical voyage demand without teaching crews to hoard, borrow informally or disguise local emergency purchases as planned supply.
• Has transferred an urgent ship-shore recovery to a permanent leader through live departure and emergency decisions rather than a document-only handover.

Non-negotiables

• Can remain onsite in Kaohsiung and travel under short notice to vessels, consolidation points and port-delivery observations across the operating network.
• Will stop a false order closure or unauthorised substitution even when reopening it exposes missed procurement measures and supplier claims.
• Brings direct fleet stores and provisions accountability; shore warehousing, general procurement or airline catering experience alone is insufficient.
• Will not override masters, chief engineers, medical officers or quality specialists on vessel safety, technical suitability, health or controlled acceptance.

1. 49 words maximum. Which measure exposed the largest gap between supplier fill and usable stores received onboard in your fleet?
2. 49 words maximum. Describe a substitution you blocked because catalogue similarity concealed a vessel-specific operational risk.
3. 49 words maximum. What evidence should prevent payment when a port delivery never became accepted shipboard stock?