From 6 to 50 Vessels: How Enesel Built a Smarter Ops System

When you fleet grows 8x in just a few years, complexity increases. Suddenly, keeping track of cleanings, vendors, and ports across a globally distributed team becomes too much.

Kevin Gonsalves knows that first-hand. As a fourth-generation seafarer and former ship captain, maritime operations are more than a job to him. They’re a legacy. When he stepped ashore in 2022 to join Enesel Bulk’s commercial operations, he brought deep first-hand knowledge of ship life. But as Enesel grew, Kevin also faced a growing challenge from the other side: operational complexity were scaling faster than the systems supporting it.

The Challenge: Growing Fleet, Fragmented Systems

When Kevin joined Enesel Bulk, the company was still operating on a relatively small scale. Tasks like vendor management, hull cleanings, and port agent coordination were handled manually through trusted agents, often with personal relationships and verbal vetting. But as Enesel’s fleet expanded to over 50 ships sailing all over the world, the old ways no longer held.

“We grew from six to over 50 vessels. With six ships, I could keep everything in my head. At 50? That’s not realistic anymore. And that’s where CleanQuote came in.”

The Solution: CleanQuote as a Scalable Backbone

Enesel Bulk first heard of CleanQuote when they had an urgent cleaning need and once again found themselves looking online for different solutions.
After trying it out a few times, Kevin saw CleanQuote as the solution to centralize, streamline, and future-proof their underwater maintenance operations. What began as a tool to vet hull cleaning vendors evolved into a key operational pillar.

“Just like DA Desk for agent appointment, CleanQuote gives us visibility, structure, and trust in underwater cleaning. It’s like good housekeeping for our underwater work.”

One major reason Kevin and his team committed to CleanQuote is the willingness to adapt. Early in the relationship, Kevin requested feature updates that weren’t part of the original product, and CleanQuote listened, building a vessel idle stay calculator and deploying it just days after the request.

“Other platforms say, ‘This is how it works, take it or leave it.’ CleanQuote says, ‘Let’s make this work together.’ That makes all the difference.”

The First Test: Sudden Replanning in Gibraltar

One of the first real tests came with a hull cleaning job originally planned for Gibraltar. Due to shifting conditions, the job had to be moved to Las Palmas mid-process. CleanQuote allowed direct coordination with the vendor, keeping flexibility intact and ensuring cleaning happened without headaches.

“It isn’t rigid. We have choice. We have backup. And most importantly, the platform doesn’t get in the way: it helps.”

The Future: Faster Bookings, Smarter Planning, Better Hull Cleaning

Looking ahead, Kevin looks forward to CleanQuote’s development toward predictive quoting, drawing on historic data to provide estimated costs instantly for a port. This allows Enesel to plan voyages and hull cleaning needs faster, without waiting for suppliers to quote first.
He also sees value in integrating payments directly into the platform, retaining vendor relationships but simplifying the financial flow.

Summary of Results

“CleanQuote isn’t just a platform. It’s a partner helping us stay ahead as we grow.”

✅ 13 underwater services in first 3 months, all over the globe
✅ Reduced risk and improved reliability in new ports
✅ Less time spent vetting vendors manually
✅ Higher vendor accountability through platform reviews
✅ Greater internal alignment across global offices