Wilhelmsen Ship Management, owned 100% and one of the main operating activities of the Wilhelmsen group, has acquired a 50% stake in the German based Ahrenkiel Steamship, a MPC Capital subsidiary. While Wilhelmsen Ship Management provides full technical management, crewing and related services for all major vessel types, Ahrenkiel Steamship is the technical container ship manager within the MPC Capital Group. Both parties have agreed to combine their technical management activities of container ships in the joint venture.
In the future, the joint venture will operate under the brand “Wilhelmsen Ahrenkiel Ship Management”. The company will continue to operate in Hamburg, Germany and now supported by Wilhelmsen’s global network. With around 100 employees, the new company will manage a fleet of currently 72 container ships with a focus on feeder container ships with a capacity of 1 000 to 3 000 standard containers (TEU).
The closing of the transaction is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities, which is expected within the third quarter of 2020.