October 14 - EMS-Fehn-Group is establishing a new operation in Rijeka, Croatia.
The new facility will offer services from the group's subsidiaries, Northwest Crewing, EMS Chartering, EMS Log and Global Boat Shipping.
Larisa Gillespie, manager of German Albanian Logistics Agency (GALA) - another of the group's companies - will be responsible for overseeing the new office but local staff will also be employed, explained Manfred Müller, ceo of EMS-Fehn-Group.
"We are already in Macedonia and Albania, so the opening of a Croatian hub will allow us to cover the whole area, increasing our contact with the shipyards and offering lots of opportunity for the shipment of yachts and project cargo," Müller told HLPFI.
The new Croatian office will be opened by December.
Commenting on the current market, although he admitted that the situation is far from positive, Müller stated that the group has - for the first time in a long while - got projects booked in for next year already.
"I still believe that shortsea shipping will pick up. All the shipping sectors are struggling with overcapacity, but I feel that shortsea shipping will recover from this plight quicker than other segments," he suggested.
Müller was generally optimistic about the market recovery. Although he noted that the situation has never been as bad as it is now, he pointed out that "there is always room for opportunity" and you simply have to "find other ways to survive".
