Wilhelmsen Ship Management has acquired an 80% stake in Ahrenkiel Tankers for an undisclosed sum, the company announced Wednesday.
The transaction will result in the ship manager taking over the management of five tankers.
According to its website, Ahrenkiel Tankers’ current fleet list consists of the 46,763-dwt Atlantica Bay and Atlantica Breeze (both built 2007), the 49,990-dwt Atlantica Bridge (built 2005), the 38,341-dwt Voge Trust (built 2009) and the 68,524-dwt Danubia (built 2004).
German asset manager MPC Capital Group will retain a 20% stake in the Hamburg-based shipowner.
Ahrenkiel Tankers will be rebranded as Barber Ship Management, reviving the Barber name that originally formed the basis for the company's present ship management business.
Wilhelmsen was originally named Barber Ship Management when it was first incorporated in Hong Kong in 1975.
Wilhelmsen said the Ahrenkiel deal marks the "first step" since its earlier decision to re-enter the tanker segment following a decade-long absence.
The ship manager exited the tanker market in 2009 with the sale of its former subsidiary International Tanker Management (ITM) but reversed this decision two years ago due to an improved regulatory regime for tankers.
"This acquisition is a clear statement of our intent to expand in the tanker segment," said Wilhelmsen Ship Management chief executive Carl Schou.
"Ahrenkiel Tankers has developed a strong reputation for reliable tanker management and represents an ideal fit with Wilhelmsen Ship Management given our common values of environmental responsibility and safety, aligned with a high level of competence," he continued.
"We now look forward to growing in the tanker segment by applying our management expertise that has been proven over many years with a track record of safe, sustainable and cost-effective operations."
Barber Ship Management will now serve as Wilhelmsen's new specialised management arm for the tanker segment following the transaction, effective from 1 January this year.
"The tanker market is a very different sector today from what it was more than a decade ago in terms of quality and safety, with much better regulation on the competence side, and this has given us the confidence to mark our re-entry into the business with this key acquisition," Schou said.
Singapore-based Wilhelmsen is one of the world's largest third-party ship managers with a portfolio of 450 vessels in management and more than 10,800 seafarers.
