Germany’s D Oltmann Reederei is handing management of its growing container ship fleet to Offen Group.
The Bremen-based owner is shifting management of eight large boxships to the Hamburg-based container ship manager.
The company has also terminated its existing ship management contract with Anglo Eastern (Germany).
Under the new agreement, Oltmann will retain commercial management and chartering responsibility, while Offen will handle crew and technical management.
The management deal incorporates three neo-panamax boxships which Oltmann recently acquired from US-based Seamax Capital Management.
These are the 8,533-teu RDO Brisbane (ex-Stratford, built 2006), 7,831-teu RDO Brooklyn (ex-Norwalk, built 2005) and 9,038-teu RDO Bristol (ex-Westport, built 2007).
The trio have a combined price of $126m, based on VesselsValue estimates. That reflects a significant appreciation since the vessels were purchased in April.
The former Seamax trio will join five other Oltmann vessels of between 5,600 teu and 10,100 teu, which Offen will manage.
These include the 9,034-teu RDO Bremen (UASC Zamzam, built 2014) and 10,100-teu RDO Ace (ex-Navigare Collector, built 2018), which Oltmann bought last year.
The others are the 6,969-teu RDO Concord (built 2009), 8,845-teu RDO Brest (Luanda Express, built 2007) and 5,642-teu RDO Endeavour (built 2006).
Perfect timing
The move is good news for Offen’s ship management unit, which has seen its fleet shrink due to vessel sales.
Recent sales involved vessels controlled by Conti Reederei, the Munich-based KG (limited partnership) financier, which Offen acquired in 2017.
In April, Offen sold the 11,020-teu CMA CGM Vela (ex-Conti Jupiter, built 2008) after the French charterer declared a purchase option.
Similarly, the 6,250-teu Conti Paris and Conti Lyon (built 2001) were reported sold in March for around $20m each, and renamed MSC Brasilia VII and MSC Suape.
Offen and Oltmann are both traditional family-run companies. Offen’s “mindset as an owner” was a key reason for the business acquisition, chief executive Arnt Vesperman wrote in the company’s newsletter.
“This means that the fleet we manage is growing again. This was precisely one of our declared goals: we are on course,” he wrote.
Offen currently manages 38 container ships, most of which are traditional post-panamax vessels.
