SSG No 10 - Shipgaz
SSG No 10 - Shipgaz
SSG No 10 - Shipgaz
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SHIPPING AND SHIP MANAGEMENT<br />
Svitzer has just enlarged their fleet with around 200 tugs in the purchase of Adsteam.<br />
The Danish maritime cluster (Det Blå<br />
Danmark) can look back on 2006 as a<br />
year with great prosperity and a<br />
number of golden opportunities. If<br />
they have time in today’s shipping,<br />
they can look both back and forward<br />
to see a market for mergers and<br />
acquisitions in the presently golden<br />
market.<br />
DENMARK<br />
The Danish maritime cluster has taken<br />
advantage of this to gain more<br />
business for each particular shipping<br />
company, but also to meet the national<br />
goal for the years to come: To be the leading<br />
maritime nation in Europe. The Minister<br />
of Business Affairs, Bendt Bendtsen,<br />
who is also responsible for the shipping<br />
industry, has set up the goal. The parliament<br />
has given the industry further tools<br />
to work with to keep in line with the 2015<br />
goal.<br />
Part of this is a better tonnage tax-<br />
Looking towards<br />
a prosperous<br />
maritime future<br />
scheme, giving the Danish operator a large<br />
number of time chartered and bareboat<br />
chartered vessels under the scheme. Earlier<br />
only a few ships more than the owned vessels<br />
were allowed into the scheme, but as<br />
the business is growing rapidly the parliament<br />
has, in co-operation with the Danish<br />
Shipowners Association, increased the<br />
opportunities to four times the previous<br />
limit, with regard to ships sailing in pools.<br />
Also the time limit for ships on time<br />
charter with a purchase option has been<br />
extended from five years to seven years by<br />
staying under the tonnage tax system. For<br />
all these benefits the owners have to pay a<br />
price to society, and the owners have<br />
agreed to admit 200 extra students annually<br />
and even 75–<strong>10</strong>0 training jobs for ship’s<br />
assistants under the old training scheme.<br />
Interesting position<br />
The Copenhagen based J. Lauritzen is only<br />
one of the Danish companies that have<br />
manoeuvred into an interesting position in<br />
the market. During the last couple of years<br />
J. Lauritzen, under the command of Torben<br />
Janholt, has been extremely profitable,<br />
especially in the bulk division, which has<br />
been in the right position with the right<br />
tonnage mix to earn tons of money. Also<br />
the company has sold off its older reefers<br />
at the top of the market and the same goes<br />
for Lauritzen Kosan.<br />
The result is a company with a historically<br />
large orderbook with some 35 units<br />
under construction in a mix of owned vessels<br />
and vessels that will go to Lauritzen on<br />
charter or commercial management, but<br />
still under control from Copenhagen.<br />
Apart from this position J. Lauritzen<br />
also has a very strong financial position<br />
with several billions of Danish kroner<br />
ready for the right purchase. Something is<br />
already under consideration – at least so<br />
say rumours from the galley.<br />
In the market there is talk about J. Lauritzen<br />
being more than interested in taking<br />
over the Great White Fleet, the transport<br />
division of the Chiquita Banana Brand.<br />
The rumour is that the banana growing<br />
42 SCANDINAVIAN SHIPPING GAZETTE • MAY 21, 2007<br />
BENT MIKKELSEN
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