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The turn of the tide has brought in business over the last 150 years. "The shipping industry is basically a cycle and we (the industry) are probably at the top of the cycle right now,” smiles Homi Commissariat, chairman and managing director of James Mackintosh and Company Private Limited which is celebrating its sesquicentennial year and 45 years of the business being in the hands of the Commissariat family.

Riding the crest, the company has charted its course full steam ahead, Homi’s hand on the helm. On the board of directors is son Farokh, who is the deputy managing director, and Pervez Dalal, director, who has been with the company for over 35 years.

"We were very small earlier, business has evolved to what it is today basically due to a lot of hard work,” says Commissariat senior. James Mackintosh is one of the oldest P & I (Protection and Indemnity) Club correspondents in India, representing nearly 50 percent of the tonnage calling at Indian ports. P & I Clubs provide insurance for ships and matters relating to shipping, explains George Jacob, vice president. James Mackintosh represents some of the world’s largest P & I Clubs and provides claim settlement advice to owners and charterers, the managing director states. "I find P & I work extremely challenging  and in all my years of being involved in P & I, I cannot say that one matter has been identical to another. One is always learning in this field of work.” The P & I Clubs in UK have traced the name of James Mackintosh and Company in their Rule Book as far back as 1916. Records prior to that date of ‘correspondents’ or representatives were probably not kept.

Speaking at James Mackintosh’s special celebration at the Taj Ballroom on November 25, 2004, Homi Commissariat especially thanked Alistair Groom, chairman of the international group of P & I Clubs, and several other P & I Club representatives from around the world for their presence at the function. Also present with his colleagues was Peter Chang, vice chairman, Pacific International Lines (PIL), Singapore. James Mackintosh and Company have been the representatives of PIL in India for over 30 years. Among others, the chairman thanked Dalal "who has been with the company almost as long as I have and who has contributed greatly to the agency department and has been the company’s face at various forums including MANSA (Mumbai and Nhava Sheva Ship Agents’ Association).” States Dalal: "I started my career here in the mid-1960s and have worked my way up the hierarchy. Shipping is a very tough industry. You have to slog, and be very cautious as well.”

With P & I  and container liner agencies among its core business, James Mackintosh is also strong in what is known as ‘tramp’ agencies.  ‘Tramps’ are vessels which call at ports anywhere, at any time, in contrast to liners which come on a regular basis, explains Jacob. Servicing of tramp vessels includes port operations, crew assistance, arranging supplies, cargo handling, etc. "We are geared to operate out of the most sophisticated terminals as well as conventional ports, ensuring the ships’ interests are protected in the best possible manner,” states their website www.jamesmackintosh.com

Casting off from sheltered anchorage, the company has steadily sought to diversify its activities and is now looking to becoming a "total logistics supply provider.” In November last year, James Mackintosh acquired a Madras-based company called Gordon  Woodroffe Logistics Limited which has a strong presence not only in sea cargo but in air cargo and logistics as well. The recently formed joint venture known as PIL Mumbai  Private Limited handles all the business of PIL liners calling at Bombay. "We also represent Bulkhaul, which is the second largest ISO tank container operator in the world for bulk liquids, powders and gases,” Homi Commissariat elaborates. James Mackintosh is one of the few agencies in the country to offer this service, states their brochure.

The company has also ventured into multimodal transport under the name of Stellar Logistics Private Limited, to worldwide destinations from shippers’ warehouse to consignee warehouse. "This is something new we’ve started. We are going to scale it up,” asserts the chairman who believes in taking "calculated risks,” yet being a Virgo, wants meticulousness. "I like things in their place. My wife Tannaz says I’m ‘super critical,’” Commissariat gives a hearty laugh. Farokh, also a Virgo, is "more even tempered than I am,” declares the father, observing also that each new generation seems cleverer than the previous one.

"Where competition is intense, the skills of survival lie in multiple businesses,” observes the son. "The acquisition of Gordon Woodroffe has been a side step in diversification. We have to explore new challenges. That is the strategy.” The company is now looking to the next phase of growth — in the container yard business and container freight stations i.e. storage of cargo and containers, customs bonding (goods in customs’ custody), warehousing, transportation — businesses complementary to being an efficient end-to-end solutions company.

Over the last several years, there has been a sea change in the shipping industry worldwide, asserts Farokh who joined the business in 1987 after his schooling at Lawrence School at Sonawar in North India, BCom from Bombay University and Masters in International Shipping from Plymouth University in the UK. "India too is changing  — port infrastructure, way of operations, communications are far better now. We also have to constantly change to carry on in this environment.” Since joining the company Farokh has made, among other things, a major contribution to information technology inputs, commends Jacob. Their offices are equipped with the latest systems, so that customer service teams can ensure seamless movement of cargo. Customs rules and regulations, stifling at one time, have also been simplified and are not as complicated as they were 10 years ago. "The government is less involved now in several activities, leading to overall efficiency,” observes Jacob.

James Mackintosh’s nautical network is headquartered at Darabshaw House at Ballard Estate, Bombay’s hub for maritime administration. The company has branches at major Indian ports — Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Kandla, Madras, Calcutta, as well as offices at ICDs (Inland Container Depots) at Ahmedabad, Baroda, Nagpur, Delhi, Ludhiana, Indore... These as well as their establishments at Pipavav and Veraval ports in Gujarat and representative arrangements in Goa, Mangalore, Cochin, Tuti­corin, Visakhapa­tnam cover almost all parts of the country, ensuring completion of operations and quick vessel turnaround time.

"Bombay is still on the top as far as ports in India are concerned,” Homi opines, adding that a new international player may soon come into Nhava Sheva alongside the JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust) and NSICT (Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal) managed by P & O Ports, with a changing scenario from "ships waiting for berths” to "berths waiting for ships.”

With Parsis of yore strongly involved in shipbuilding or the ferrying of goods across the water, it has not been smooth sailing for several stevedoring firms in recent years. "Much of the decline of private players in stevedoring has been due to the fact that the port authorities are doing the job themselves. The trend today is that ship owners are opening their own offices here, either in joint ventures like ours or on their own. This is the reason why ship agents vis-à-vis the liner trade, are becoming a dying breed,” analyzes the managing director. Ship agencies for tramps, however, have managed to remain on even keel.

In the dictionary the word ‘commissariat’ refers to persons who bring food supplies to the army. "I am told that one of my ancestors used to supply stores, and when he arrived at the army post, it was announced that Commissariat had arrived. Hence the name, from    the profession,” elaborates the     father.

After his schooling at the Cathedral and John Connon and graduation from Bombay University, Homi joined the company in July 1965. A few years earlier, in June 1959, father Framji had taken over the management and subsequently, the Commissariat family bought the full shareholding. "My father was a very humane type of person, an absolute gentleman. He had a degree in textiles from Manchester University and worked for some time in the textile mills my grandfather owned. He then started working for foreign insurance companies till he took over James Mackintosh. He had a stroke in the mid-’80s, but he liked to come to the office and sit and in fact did so, till the end came in 1992. He was well-known and well liked in trade circles because of his honesty and straightforwardness. He laid the groundwork for the company’s reputation by which it is known today,” Commissariat reminisces. Besides Farokh, Homi has a daughter, Laila, who is married to present baronet Sir Dinshaw Petit.

With three generations of the Commissariat family already in the business, the family looks forward to generation next — Farokh’s sons Cyrus and Zahan aged 10 and six respectively. Touching briefly on his Parsi employees Homi states: "I am very happy with the Parsi employees we have. The boys (referring to the staff on site) are very, very hardworking; they will work around the clock if you tell them to.” The same however cannot be said of Parsi boys in general, he     believes. "They should get out of their little environment, become more aggressive in outlook. They are too happy with what they have. Perhaps they are given too much too easily, rather than having to work hard for it. Why should charity housing be provided?” he queries.

Preferring to stay out of community controversies, both father and son believe the community has to change with the times. "It’s ridiculous the way things are going on. Our survival depends on whether we change or not,” remarks Farokh.

Though matters marine are their bread and butter, both father and son are totally down to earth when it comes to driving! "I have driven by car from Bombay to Ladakh; to Bhutan, Sikkim... I love to see the country that way,” the elder’s animation is apparent. Participating in the ’70s and early ’80s in car rallies and circuit racing outside Bombay too, with good old Fiats and Heralds as rally companions, Homi later involved himself with acting as steward and observer for rallies.

Up Farokh’s sleeve are navigational encounters of a different kind! In a rallying career from 1985-98 he has participated in several long and arduous rallies such as the Desert Himalayan Raid. In 1991, he shared top podium position with well-known rally driver Farhad Bhathena in that year’s national championship. Farokh has also navigated for auto buff and editor of Autocar India Hormazd Sorabjee, standing second in the event.

The company’s involvement in shipping started from the early part of the 19th century when it was founded by one Mr Blair in partnership with James Mackintosh and the firm was called Blair and Mackintosh, freight brokers. When Blair retired around 1850, Mackintosh continued on his own for sometime. New partners came and went, till the firm was named James Mackintosh and Company in 1857. On November 25, 1946, the firm was incorporated as a private limited company. "November 25 seemed an apt date for commemorating the beginning of the 150th year,” states Commissariat senior. While the company has been into P & I and ship agency all along, for 15 years it  also owned and sailed a vessel from Bombay to the Gulf. "We got rid of the ship in 2002 and I can say I am slightly sad about that, though at that time it seemed the right decision,” reflects Homi. The seafaring industry was then ploughing through one of its troughs.

With the golden jubilee of family ownership already within sight on the horizon, the task on the telescope is 100 years of family ownership and a double century for the company.