March 24 - The Rhenus Group has taken a 40 percent shareholding in Arkon Shipping, which manages a fleet of more than 120 seagoing vessels.
Arkon Shipping specialises in European coastal and container feeder services and global heavy lift and project shipping.
Rhenus says that with European short sea shipping forming part of its range of services, taking a stake in Arkon should enable it to significantly expand these operations and make it more flexible.
"During times of general consolidation in the shipping world, the formation of industrial partnerships makes sense and is a beneficial step," says Torsten Westphal, managing partner of Arkon Shipping.
The aim of the increase in capital and the establishment of a joint investment company, Rhenus-ARKON-Shipinvest, is to enable further expansion of the fleet of vessels being commercially managed by Arkon, the lines said in a statement.
In addition to Rhenus, the shipbroker Torsten Westphal, the shipowners Herm and Stefan Jüngerhans, and Gerd Wessels each have a 20 percent shareholding in Arkon Shipping.
Along with its partner Thomas Cord, Arkon Shipping is also a majority shareholder in Arkon Shipping & Projects, which has its headquarters in Hamburg and concentrates on global heavy lift and project services.
HLPFI readers will recall that Arkon Shipping & Projects heavy lift chartering department worked with United Heavy Lift (UHL) when that line was formed in 2015, but the alliance ceased when UHL tied-up with Thorco to create Throco Projects.
www.rhenus.com
www.arkon-shipping.eu
