Anglo-Eastern have announced plans to expand their Antwerp office into a fully fledged ship management office, as of September 1st, 2004.
Peter Cremers, CEO of the Anglo-Eastern Group said: “Too often people think that independent ship managers only manage ships under so-called Flags of Convenience.
“I believe there is a strong market for quality ship management among ship owners flying national flags. We have managed ships under the Canadian, New Zealand, British and (with the acquisition of the Dockwise Fleet), Dutch national flags for some time.
“Our Glasgow office is now running strong and is active in most of Europe. However, specific enquiries from certain countries on the continent have led us to believe that a second ship management office on the continent itself would mean further managed growth for Anglo-Eastern.
“To meet the demands of a fast growing Belgian Register – our Antwerp subsidiary, Anglo-Eastern (Antwerp) nv, will be offering full ship management services under a Belgian Flag Document of Compliance (DOC), meeting Belgian
tonnage tax ship management criteria.
“We expect to have at least 10-12 ships under full ship management by end 2004, all from major Belgian shipowners.”
The Antwerp office will be run by A.K. Banerjee – current no.2 in the Anglo-Eastern Bulk Carrier Division for an initial period of 6 months. In the meantime, local staff are being recruited and familiarized with the Anglo-Eastern Group’s policies.