Corporación Marzam – Ecuador’s leading fuel shipper rides a wave of fresh demand
After a challenging 2020, Ecuador’s maritime shipping sector is on track to regain major momentum in 2021. The industry has undergone rapid recent growth – between 2012 and 2019, cargo shipping volumes in the country rose by 34% – and the post-Covid recovery is already being felt. As the pandemic ebbs, global shipping costs are skyrocketing, and firms like Corporación Marzam are set to benefit from a maritime renaissance. Established in 1981, Corporación Marzam is an integrated shipping firm comprising specialized companies that offer comprehensive services to shipowners, operators and other companies in the industrial, automotive, oil, shipping and fishing sectors. Corporación Marzam has always viewed the its primary mission as contributing to the economic growth and development of Ecuador, especially during crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, as its president and founder Mariano Zambrano Segovia explained: “When the pandemic hit, one of our main goals was not to fire anyone, because we knew that we couldn’t contribute to the country with unemployed people. Everyone needed to pull together to come out from this difficult situation. I think as businesses we have an obligation to think not just about our business, but about our country too, as we’re a fundamental part of Ecuadorian society.” At present, Corporación Marzam is focused on transportation and commercialization of fuels and liquids with its fleet of five tankers: Andes IV, Andes V, Andes VI, Rio Amazonas and Farallón. It is also active in transporting containers by land through tanker vehicles, heads and platforms, with each of its departments overseen by a team of highly-trained personnel dedicated to top quality customer service. Highly-skilled staff played a pivotal role in helping the company adapt to the challenges of 2020, and by expanding its business into exports last year, Corporación Marzam was able to fi nd opportunity in a crisis. As he looks to the future, Zambrano said he is open to partnerships that will support further expansion into new high-potential business lines such as lumber and agriculture. Ecuador is a major producer of mahogany, bananas, rice, and fi sh, and as life returns to normal, demand for these exports has nowhere to go but up: “We have always had the objective of working hard in order to improve, for example by investing our profi ts into more and better infrastructure. Our clients have been working with us for more than 20 years, so they know us and how we work. Economies go up and down, but companies that remain over the years are there because we do things right,” Zambrano concluded.