German asset manager MPC Capital has strengthened its shipping operation with a new hire.
The shipowner has brought in investment banker Felix Nolke as its managing director of maritime investments.
The 39-year-old will start on 1 October, working with the Hamburg group's shipping head Christian Rychly.
Nolke is currently the boss of the German division of Norwegian investment bank Arctic Securities.
He has “many years of experience in the financing and structuring of maritime projects, which he gained in various companies in Hamburg, London, New York and Zurich,” MPC said.
“With Felix Nolke, we are bringing on board an experienced head with an excellent network in the maritime investment industry,” said group chief executive Ulf Hollander.
"We see enormous opportunities for the further development of our maritime activities. With our broadly positioned team, we are ideally positioned to do so. Felix Nolke will ideally complement this set-up," he added.
Nolke joined Arctic in 2020 after four years at German lender Berenberg, where he finished as an associate director, having worked on shipping finance origination and headed its maritime operation in the Americas.
He has also worked at ER Capital Holding and Hamburg Sud.
MPC said in May it is working on more shipping decarbonisation deals this year.
Moving into methanol
The group moved into the methanol-powered container ship space in 2021, ordering four 5,500-teu vessels in South Korea.
It later sold three of these to Norwegian leaseback owner Ocean Yield.
The units are chartered to Israel’s Zim over seven years and are being delivered this year and in 2024 by HJ Shipbuilding & Construction.
But fees from managing these disposals could not stop first-quarter pre-tax profit declining to €4.1m ($4.48m) from €22.1m last year as MPC Capital reduced its property portfolio.
MPC Capital also has shareholdings in vessel managers Wilhelmsen Ahrenkiel Ship Management and Harper Petersen.
