Shipping services company Uniatlantico is taking over the maritime activities of Germany’s Ems-Fehn Group.
The Hamburg-based company has acquired a majority stake in EMS Chartering, Fehn Ship Management and Northwest Competence — the commercial, technical and crewing operations of Leer’s Ems-Fehn-Group.
The combined shortsea shipping and chartering operations will be based in Leer and operate as EMS Chartering.
It will also have chartering offices in Hamburg and Bremen.
The deal has been agreed with Heiko Luikenga, main shareholder of EMS-Fehn-Group. The transaction involves only the maritime division, while the ownership of the Leer-based company’s logistics division remains unchanged.
Uniatlantico operates a fleet of 19 owned, managed and chartered coaster, multipurpose and dry bulk vessels ranging from about 3,000 to 40,000 dwt.
It is engaged in tramp and liner services with a strong focus on Africa but also markets in Europe, America, the Middle East and Asia.
Andreas Bergmann, CEO and founding partner of Uniatlantico, said: “We became shipowners in 2016 when we acquired our first fully owned vessel, but so far we have mainly been focusing on a strong commercial operation.
“However, the idea of building up in-house competence in all aspects of commercial, technical and crew management is only now becoming reality with the acquisition of shares in EMS-Fehn-Group’s Maritime division.”
The deal incorporates EMS Chartering’s fleet of nine general cargo coaster vessels, ranging from 2,600 to 5,000 dwt.
It also incorporates Baltic Transocean Shipping & Crewing, the Riga-based offshoot of manning agency Northwest Competence.
The chartering team will be led by managing director Agnieszka Acar, who has been at the helm of EMS Chartering since July 2023.
“Combining the coaster fleets further enhances our flexibility and helps us leverage our collective expertise and resources,” she said.
