[231211.EN.SEA] Planned Rickmers-Komrowski Merger Would Form Germany's Biggest Fleet

TWO German containership non operating owners, Erck Rickmers and Komrowski have revealed plans to merge, which would form Germany's biggest fleet with 162 vessels, made up of 120 box ships.

Blue Star Holding will be established to unite the ship management arm of Rickmers' Shipowning unit ER Schiffahrt and the Komrowski group's Komrowski Befrachtungskontor, which would operate Blue Star Shipping. The merging parties will retain their own brands.

The merger will provoke further consolidation among German ship owners, suggested Newark's Journal of Commerce, adding that the two companies control 35 per cent of the global containership fleet, but have been badly exposed to the decline in charter rates this year.

The two companies said they would like to attract other shipowners as shareholders and create a fleet of 200-250 ships.

Said Komrowski Group proprietor Ernst Peter Komrowski: "This alliance is the continuation of an old Hanseatic [Hamburg] tradition: different companies pool their strengths to confront a difficult market with a joint strategy."

Said ER Capital Holding CEO Nicholas Teller: "Today's banks and charterers are looking for efficient structures and internationally experienced management. This is something the new company can provide."

As one of the world's largest charter shipowners, Rickmers possesses 106 ships, including a number of 13,100-TEU vessels on order in South Korea.

Komrowski Group owns 56 ships, including the Blue Star fleet with eleven 8,400-TEU vessels, which was acquired from AP Moller-Maersk in 2009. It is also active in bulk and multipurpose shipping.

Source: HKSG, 16.12.11.