Seaarland Expands into Germany

AMSTERDAM-based Seaarland Shipping Management has expanded its global network into Germany by setting up a joint venture with Hamburg-based TB Marine-Hamburg GmbH. Earlier this year Seaarland and TB jointly ordered four IMO II shallow draft 29,000 dwt product carriers plus two coated LR1s to be built at China's Zhejiang Hongguan Shipbuilding Co for delivery 2011. To manage the ships and to provide access to the German equity market Seaarland and TB Marine have now set up Seaarland Shipmanagement (Hamburg) GmbH & Co. KG.

Antonio Zacchello, managing director of Seaarland, said, "Working with a very energetic and professional company like TB Marine we can access the German equity market and also deliver top class technical management for our German ships and other ships owned by TB's partners. We already have 14 good staff in our Hamburg office and we will be taking delivery of a second-hand handy tanker at the end of this year or early 2008, as we build up the fleet prior to the delivery of other newbuildings in July 2008. Seaarland Shipping Management will commercially manage all our German tonnage. We now have a strong foothold in the Mediterranean, in North Europe in both Amsterdam and Hamburg, and in Asia, through our Singapore and Indian companies. This German initiative with strong partners follows our strategic growth plan, always working with good partners to maximise our mutual strengths and deliver to our charterers the powerful combination of a global shipping company with strong local knowledge."

TB Marine-Hamburg GmbH was founded in July 2005 by Stephan Bracker and Steffen Thate to initiate, finance, own and manage newbuildings and second hand ships for private and public investors in the German KG market. It has strong relations with Chinese shipyards and a Chinese investment group via Aquarius Marine Consulting, Hamburg. Thorsten Schablinki, sole partner of AMC, provides technical consultancy, plan approval and newbuilding supervision for TB's projects. TB Marine and its partners now have thirty tanker newbuildings on order, most of them Ice Class 1A chemical/product tankers fixed with long term employment.