LALIZAS was founded back in 1982 as a small manufacturing plant of buoyancy aids for professional sailing.
Today, LALIZAS remains a family-run company with 10 branches, 8 logistics centres, 7 franchises, 6 factories, and 700 employ- ees around the world. The company’s vision is to produce high quality products that ensure safety at sea, and distribute them in international markets through our well-established distribution network. LALIZAS’ product range includes both ISO & SOLAS lifejackets, foam-filled and inflatable ones, as well as liferafts, MOB devices and navigation lights, immersion suits, safety harnesses, IMO signs and many other safety marine products; these are designed by taking into account the regulations of different flags. All items are being manufactured and distributed to maritime companies, ship suppliers, chandleries, marine stores, shipyards and boat builders around the world always taking into consideration the market’s needs and feedback, as well as the latest updates on regulations. Τhe genuine care for their customers and the indispensable input of their employees, who are considered as #thelalizasforce, has resulted in the com- pany’s growth and will continue to contribute positively to the continuous develop- ment of LALIZAS. An interesting interview with mr. Stavros Lalizas follows...
Already with 40 years’ experience and knowledge of supplying the maritime & safety industry, LALIZAS keeps on innovating and now introduces the Fast & Independent (F&I) Liferaft Exchange. Could you please tell us a few words about it?
Having 40 years of experience in the global market, we pay particular attention to listen- ing & understanding our partners’ needs, providing them with solutions that optimise a vessel’s operations. LALIZAS F&I is a radical game-changer in the liferaft market, a unique proposal to Ship Owners/Managers for a sim- ple & fast liferaft exchange to keep the ves- sels compliant and in service. F&I is managing liferaft compliance, through exchange, in the world’s key ports as a managed service - for
a single fixed fee - without need of a contract and with no single OEM brand restriction. Re- gardless of the location where the exchange operation may take place, F&I offers the convenience of a single point of contact, which is LALIZAS, both for the management of liferafts’ due dates (monitoring system of 90- 60-30 days) as well as for invoicing. F&I has been designed without the need of complex agreements (no entry or exit costs) being purely customer centric. This is a genuine alternative to the traditional ‘ownershipser- vice’ or to the ‘no ownership-rental’ offer which currently exists in the market today.
The commercial shipping industry faces new challenges every day. The vessels must constantly comply with new regulations and standards, the inspection control in the ports is stricter and the fear of the ship being detained is more present than ever before. Do you think that LALIZAS offers what ship owners and ship managing companies need?
The required technical resources and specialised expertise held by LALIZAS provide successful advice to owners and management companies on how to keep their vessels protected and in compliance with regulations. Our dedicated in-house R&D, Design and Quality Departments develop safety appliances with materials of the highest quality. The high expertise in the field of LALIZAS Regulatory
& Approvals Department ensures that all of the LALIZAS products and services are up to date and comply with all the latest international maritime regulations and equipment standards. As safety remains our first priority, we offer worldwide service through our Fire Safety Rescue (FSR) Department, in which customers are directly handled by safety experts, in a worldwide scale without delays. LALIZAS offers a global network of professional contractors and facilities with a full range of products, services and standardised certificates. All commercial vessels can be offered the essential prerequisites to sail carefree, always keeping their crew safe on board. From liferafts to firefighting equipment and rescue systems, we offer service and replacement on all appliances, at any place, any time and at the most competitive prices for the vessels, making sure that full services with minimum port stay will be provided.
LALIZAS manufactures safety marine equipment with a commercial presence in 130 countries around the world. In what ways do you turn your motto “safety is not just a product, it is an ongoing process” into action?
We do turn our motto into action through several initiatives that address professionals, who place their trust in us, as well as the general community. In this frame, we organise (face- to-face as well as online) several trainings on lifesaving equipment inspection to technical departments of maritime companies we closely cooperate with. LALIZAS highly skilled technicians explain step by step important inspection procedures and service techniques so that our partners get the practical knowledge they might need, being able to maintain, service and extend the lifetime of their lifesaving equipment on board. Addition- ally, they are able to understand whether the work in the service stations has been done properly, ensuring that their equipment will be fully operational when duty calls. Details about the proper maintenance, thus operation, of lifesaving equipment are not well-known, al- though it is of extreme importance. In addition, we always strive to raise awareness on safety at sea, providing seminars as well as other trainings on young people, who aspire or not for a future in the shipping industry. We feel that it is our duty to build a culture of safety around our industry.
* Founder/CEO, LALIZAS