On 16 March, NileDutch, the West Africa specialist container line, announced the acquisition of the Europe to West Africa services and operations from Safmarine MPV, an independently run multi-purpose vessel business owned by Maersk Line.
The acquisition complements and expands the service offering of NileDutch to customers of containerized, oil & gas, project and conventional cargo to carry a mix of cargo on the same vessel under a single bill of lading. Employing a staff of 24 and operating 3 chartered vessels, Safmarine MPV offers direct services from Northern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula which call main ports and private jetties along the West African coastline and perform offshore ship to ship transfers.
“The extension of our service offering delivered by this transaction will enable NileDutch to enhance its operational competiveness in global shipping. With so many infrastructure projects underway in especially West Africa, this multipurpose offering gives NileDutch a real edge and will allow us to seize more business opportunities in the fields of energy equipment, infrastructure, mining and agriculture. By bringing together the know-how of both teams, we will be even better positioned to provide premium services to our customers across all markets,” said NileDutch COO Jan Willem de Braal.
Jorg Knuttel, Managing Director of Safmarine MPV commented: “Following the divestment of Safmarine MPVs owned vessels in 2015, today’s agreement marks the complete divestment of Safmarine MPV, which was announced in the Maersk Group 2015 Annual Report. For years Safmarine MPV has demonstrated that breakbulk and containers is a strong combination, hence this acquisition is a natural fit. NileDutch and Safmarine MPV are both West Africa specialists with great heritage and strong focus on customer service and personal relationships.”
NileDutch’s MPV service will focus on the Europe West Africa trade. Direct calls are made from numerous ports on these services, which accommodate the full range of cargoes, including containers, breakbulk, neo-bulk, project modules and oil and gas-related cargoes. The multipurpose vessels of NileDutch are equipped with cranes capable of loading, carrying and offloading commodities in bulk, project cargo, heavy lift and containers to the most challenging destinations in West Africa.
