Seaarland sets up in Singapore
Amsterdam-based Seaarland Shipping Management has set up a commercial office in Singapore and made a strategic move into both the large dry bulk and suezmax tanker sectors. The new Singapore company, Seaarland Management Services Singapore, will manage the commercial business for four 115,000 dwt mini-cape bulkers ordered by Seaarland last week from China’s New Times Shipyard, and spearhead expansion for the group into Asia. At the same time Seaarland has taken a suezmax tanker on a five year time charter as a preliminary to extending its existing aframax and product tanker fleet into the suezmax market.
Antonio Zacchello, managing director of Seaarland, says, “Our $350 million newbuilding programme will extend our bulk fleet to twelve modern ships by the end of 2011, while newbuildings for our tanker fleet include sixteen more product tankers from China and Korea, ranging from 37,000 dwt up to 74,000 dwt, and three more coated aframaxes from China -- all due for delivery between 2007 and 2011. At the end of the newbuilding programme the Zacchello Group will be controlling about 80 ships including a fleet of 20 long-term time chartered ships, in addition to 50 per cent of the ten SynerGas Ethylene / LPG carriers.
“We need a strong commercial presence in Asia, where we see a lot of opportunities for the sort of long-term relationships on which our business is founded. We are very pleased that Rasmus Bach Nielsen, who has experience with Maersk and Scorpio, has joined us to run the office, and we shall build a dynamic and motivated chartering team in Singapore, to supplement our European operations. Rasmus will be building relations with high quality charterers across Asia for our fleet and we think Singapore is the best place to do that from. It has good infrastructure, the right attitude to business and it is becoming a vital shipping hub.”
Amsterdam-based Seaarland Shipping Management is a commercial shipmanagement company and part of the Zacchello Group, which also includes Motia Compagnia di Navigazione, based in Venice, as one of the shipowning arms and the technical management arm for the group fleet. The group currently operates 44 modern vessels, including a fleet of 14 time chartered ships, mostly product tankers.
• For more information please contact:
Antonio Zacchello, Seaarland Shipping Management, Tel. +31 (0)20 3468410
[email protected]
John Guy Merlin Corporate Communications, Tel. +44 (0)1293 55 00 44
[email protected]
Gianfranco Damilano, Merlin Italia, Tel. +39 335 578 6526
[email protected]