Newly formed Wilhelmsen Ahrenkiel Ship Management will be the focus of a global containership hub in Germany.
It will leverage the global network of Wilhelmsen Ship Management to grow its container business.
But it will retain a base in Hamburg to help manage the fleet of 72 containerships, which are mostly between 1,000 teu and 3,000 teu.
Asset manager MPC Capital sold a 50% stake in its technical shipmanagement division Ahrenkiel Steamship to Singapore-based Wilhelmsen Ship Management in a virtual signing ceremony on 21 July.
Changing circumstances
The deal, leading to the establishment of Wilhelmsen Ahrenkiel, marks the latest development of the traditional Ahrenkiel brand, which MPC Capital acquired in two steps between 2014 and 2016.
“The industry is changing,” MPC Capital managing director Christian Rychly told TradeWinds.
“It does not respect tradition, but the ability of companies to adapt to changing circumstances. And that’s what we’re looking at here.”
The creation of Wilhelmsen Ahrenkiel is deemed necessary to meet the increased demands of modern shipmanagers.
“Customers in technical management need global coverage. You need to be where the ships are,” Rychly said.
Last year, 20 containerships in the Ahrenkiel fleet needed to be retrofitted with scrubbers.
Perfect partner
“That’s quite a demanding job for organisations like ours,” Rychly said. “All of a sudden you have to attend six different shipyards at the same time.
“That’s when you figure you need more teams spread around the globe. We figured that such demands would pop up again and again by owners and you need to have a solution in place.”
That realisation led Rychly and his team to look at companies and operating models in the containership industry in search of potential partners.
Wilhelmsen Ship Management was deemed the “perfect partner”.
“It [Wilhelmsen] has a fleet that would complement the container expertise that we have built in the years,” Rychly said.
In return, Wilhelmsen Ship Management would gain access to Ahrenkiel’s technically managed fleet. Most of those vessels are operated in the fleet of Oslo-listed MPC Container Ships.
Wilhelmsen Ship Management would also benefit from its German partner’s insight into commercial management via MPC Capital’s ownership of shipbroker Harper Petersen, which handles chartering for one of the largest fleets of feedersize boxships.
That “unique combination” of commercial and technical management has resulted in the partners opting to focus their combined container operation around Ahrenkiel.
“The idea is to build a central containership management hub around Ahrenkiel, but to utilise the worldwide network of Wilhelmsen Ship Management,” Rychly said. “That’s a combination which we didn’t find anywhere else.”
'Common values'
He expects the joint venture to bring opportunities for both companies to expand the fleet: “We have, together, many more opportunities than either one of us will have independent of each other.”
Culturally, he believes MPC Capital and Wilhelmsen Ship Management have much in common.
“With Wilhelmsen, we have through our negotiations felt there is a great alignment between the two of us,” he said.
“They are family-run, yet very modern and active. That’s ... very important.”
Wilhelmsen Ship Management chief executive and president Carl Schou said the partnership would strengthen his company’s presence in Germany: “We believe Ahrenkiel Steamship is a good fit as we share many common values.”
The joint venture has ambitious goals to use digital technology to enhance and improve operations.
Strong record
“We are looking forward to develop a strong track record together in the container segment through this partnership,” Schou said.
Ahrenkiel was formed in April 2014 through the integration of Hamburg shipping companies Thien & Heyenga, MPC Steamship and the CF Ahrenkiel Group.
MPC Capital acquired a 100% stake in the company in 2016, buying shares from GB Shipping & Chartering, formerly part of Leer-based owner Reederei Buss.
