For the past month, I have served as an intern for Voyager. I have been graciously accepted into the company with open arms from the entire team. They have gone out of their way to answer any questions I have or help me with assignments.
My Role
I started my time at Voyager analyzing ASBATANKVOY charter parties and contracts of affreightment (COA) for terms that impact laytime and demurrage. This task proved to be an excellent opportunity to educate me on the content of charter parties, COAs, and how to think about the statement of facts (SOF) for a demurrage claim. Demurrage claims came easily after fully comprehending the COAs and knowing what to look for in SOFs.
I have also helped with the planning and design of demurrage workflows within the Voyager platform. In assisting COO/Head of Product Bret Smart, we were able to determine what terms are needed and how to make it as user friendly as possible. As a result, the tasks I have worked on have furthered my knowledge of the maritime industry and shipping.
The Team
Voyager’s atmosphere has proven to be a great asset to the company. As a start-up, it is imperative that everyone gets along well and has mutual respect for each other. Every staff meeting I have been apart is very inclusive and I have been able to experience some cultural diversity. It has been great to learn about Brazilian customs from the product development team in Brazil.
The overall vibe of the firm could be described as laid-back, but with a “get things done” attitude. In weekly development team sprint meetings, the team discusses the things they accomplished the past week and goals for the upcoming week. This meeting can last in excess of three hours, however, in the middle of all that grind the team takes a small break to stretch our legs, eat, and one person tells jokes to the entire team.
My time at Voyager has been well spent learning and expanding my knowledge of the maritime domain, becoming engaged in cultural diversity, and experiencing a great company atmosphere.
About Me
My name is Brandon Saldivar and I’m a 3+2 Maritime Business Administration & Logistics Student at Texas A&M University Galveston Campus (TAMUG). I’m heavily involved with student and campus life at TAMUG, enjoy watching sports (Go Aggies!), and spending time with my family and friends. Connect with me on LinkedIn!