Traditional German shipowners are turning to international ship managers to win third-party ship-management services deemed essential to survive an era of dwindling fleets.
That has resulted in overseas managers grabbing a foothold in the German market.
Singapore’s Thome Group has hooked up with Germany's Carsten Rehder, while MPC Capital teamed up with Wilhelmsen Ship Management, also of Singapore.
A central theme flowing through the transactions has been the need to adapt the German ship-management model from a traditional owner-manager to a third-party manager.
That, at least, was a pivotal reason for Hamburg-based shipowner and manager Carsten Rehder.
“We simply wanted to be in a better position to do third-party business,” managing director Thomas Rehder said.
Rehder believes that family-owned, midsize companies in Germany have to provide financial investors with a compelling reason why they should manage their ships.
Otherwise, they might turn to the likes of Columbia Shipmanagement, Schulte Group and UK-based V.Ships, which expanded into the German market in 2018 with the acquisition of Norddeutsche Vermogen.
Difficulties of going solo
Some smaller ship managers, including Bremen-based FA Vinnen & Co, operate independent of partnerships with international players. It has carved a niche in managing five wide-beam containerships that Greek owner Costamare acquired from the German market.
That meant it did not need to establish a partnership with a bigger player, FA Vinnen managing director Michael Vinnen said.
But for most German players, going solo when part of the fleet is sold is not an easy option.
“Because we have a strong reduction in fleets, we are all forced to do more third-party business," Rehder argued. “We felt much better prepared to do third-party business in a cooperation with Thome, than just doing it by ourselves.”
A new company — Thome Shipmanagement Germany — has been established to handle Carsten Rehder's owned and managed fleet of boxships, bulkers and a multipurpose ship.
Thome ranks as one of the larger ship managers in the top 10. But its focus is largely on liquid cargoes and, to a lesser extent, on dry cargoes.
“They have literally no containerships or multipurpose vessels, so that’s a good match,” Rehder said.
Thome is not present in Carsten Rehder's home markets and has very little presence in Europe outside of Croatia, where it has an office for tanker management.
Technical challenges
Tie-ups are also deemed necessary due to the increasing proportion of the German fleet financed by leasing companies.
“The traditional situation, where you have a private owner who’s doing all individual elements of the value chain 100% in-house, is still there, but is not as dominating as in the past,” Rehder said.
“The different functions tended to be more split up in the past and we are better placed to do that in combination with Thome. It helps us in a situation where you want to draw on more know-how for technical changes."
The larger fleet would enable Carsten Rehder in an era of impending technical changes relating to carbon emissions and alternative fuels.
“There are a lot of technical challenges coming up,” Rehder said.
“I think you are probably better placed to address all that when you can share between a group of people using a larger group of ships.”
Commercial partnerships
Carsten Rehder has also formed a 50:50 joint venture with compatriot owner Aug Bolten, which markets a fleet of 12 handysizes and supramaxes.
The company — Aug Bolten Bulk (ABB) — has responsibility for the commercial operation of bulkers handled by Carsten Rehder's chartering arm, Victoria Shipbrokers.
Rehder deems the venture a complementary fit, given his company’s focus on providing tonnage for the time-charter market and Bolten’s experience in operating pools.
Similar moves have been mirrored by other German managers.
In December, German ship managers Bremer Bereederungsgesellschaft and Harren & Partner merged the management of their bulker fleets.
Another German operator Vega Reederei has teamed up with Su-Nav Marine Group of India. Su-Nav was established by ex-V.Ships staff and handles the technical management for Hamburg Bulk Carriers.
