Interview with
Mr. Omer Omeroglu
Managing Partner
Omer, you are based in the Netherlands. For how long have you been there; why did you move there; and when did you originally start your logistics career? Also, why logistics?
I will try to make it shorter because that question has a long answer. 😊
I studied Air Transportation & Logistics at Istanbul University, Turkey. This was the first logistics university in the country at that time. So, I have been in logistics since 2002. I worked all summer when I was a student and little by little, I started to have some ideas about what I wanted to do after graduation.
Lots of my school friends continued their career in different sectors but I liked logistics a lot ! It’s such a dynamic sector, not just like a ‘sitting behind the computer and working 0800 – 1700’ kind of job. If a person is wide open to learning, they will discover everyday that a job in logistics can be such a nice option. I am so happy about my selection.
After working in Turkey till 2016, I had a very nice work & life experience in Slovenia. That place added a lot to myself & to my family. In the summer of 2022, we moved to the Netherlands (NL) due to family reasons, and the Megagon B.V. story started.
Tell us about the history and background of Megagon.
I have known my business partner Suha Berksoy for a long time. When I had the plan of ‘moving to NL’, I shared my ideas with him. After that, all the plans came like dominos. My partner and I have both been in the market for more than 15 years. His profession is based on the sea; my part is the land. He is in the east (Izmir, Turkey), and I am located in the west (NL). So we made a nice connection like a bridge. Megagon Turkey has started its 4th business year while our NL office is now in its 2nd year.
The name Megagon suggests a large size. Do you have experience in moving heavylift and OOG pieces around the world? If so, could you elaborate and provide our readers with a few examples of projects handled?
Our main job is oversize/heavy cargo. So all of our shipments are OOG, and they each have stories behind them. Some of them are long and some of them are short, but all are nice stories. Nowadays, we have very nice and regular traffic from the USA and EU to TR and CIS countries. The cargoes are overwidth and/or overheight, sometimes heavy ones. As for overseas, we also have lots of cargoes to South America, West Africa, and the China area.
The Netherlands has huge competition in the logistics field. What makes you stand out and what are your advantages…would you say?
We already knew that potential, and we are also a bit lucky about our choice of locations.😊
Our office is located at Zeeland (Axel / Terneuzen). Thus, it is located between 4 big ports of that area which are Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Gent and Antwerp. We are a distance of around 1 hour drive to each of them. When we have any port operation, we can easily reach one of them. By the way, at the moment, there is a lot of construction at Terneuzen. They are making the current passage (Gent Port way) deeper and wider. After that construction, much bigger vessels will be able to sail from/to Gent Port, and Gent Port will be much more active in the game. When the game starts up again, we will already be ready. [The construction at Terneuzen is of a new lock. Read more here. -Editor]
Do you find that some shipowners are now trying to act as door-to-door agents, and in effect, compete with the freight forwarders? Do you think they will be successful and what is your opinion about it?
Yes, there is a growing trend among some shipowners to act as door-to-door service providers, essentially competing with freight forwarders. Whether or not these shipowners will be successful depends on various factors. While they have the advantage of owning the vessels and having control over the shipping process, transportation is not purely transporting items from Point A to Point B.
Freight forwarders have extensive networks, relationships with various transportation modes, and experience in managing complex logistics operations. This concept might be suitable for big key account clients, but in complex situations with medium or small scale clients, shipowners will most possibly fail. This is because in those situations, freight forwarders are mostly acting as their client’s import/export department. In fact, sometimes we issue their export documents. The other critical factor is that freight forwarders always follow market levels to reach the best freight level but shipowners use only their own service. So, for the spot market it would not work well, and clients are mostly not willing to spend their time on searching for the best carrier which is the main duty of their freight forwarder.
Overall, the success of shipowners in competing with freight forwarders will depend on their ability to provide efficient door-to-door services, build strong customer relationships, and adapt to the evolving needs of the industry. Yet, with their strict rules, we feel that would not work properly. It is an interesting development in the dynamics of the shipping and logistics sector that we will follow in the coming years.
Looking into the crystal ball for the soon upcoming 2024, what do you see from a logistics standpoint?
Looking into the crystal ball for 2024, here are a few potential trends and developments from a logistics standpoint:
1. Increased adoption of automation and technology: Technology is getting more critical in the logistics industry. This is especially so for new developments on Artificial Intelligence. It seems the market will be much more interesting in the upcoming years. Also, we as Megagon Project Solutions are willing to build up our own AI setup to revert to customers much efficiently.
2. Sustainability and green logistics: Environmental concerns will play a significant role in upcoming years. We are waiting for new regulations for reducing carbon footprints, and this might include obligations for freight forwarders.
3. 2024 might be more difficult if COVID will return again as a pandemic. When we look at it, the Logistics Sector has not yet compensated for the economic decline of the previous pandemic.
4. We will face more company mergers in 2024. Due to hard market conditions, companies will most possibly move to collaboration in order to survive and become more efficient.
These are just a few of the potential expectations that may shape the logistics industry in the near future. It’s important to note that the actual landscape in 2024 will depend on technological advancements, regulatory changes, and global economic conditions.
How is it best for our readers to get in touch with you?Not so hard, I am not ‘a hard to catch person’. 😊 Linkedin and/or our webpage (www.megagon.net) have all my data. If you have urgent matters, you can just use the benelux@megagon.net email, too. 😉
