Australian shipmanagement and services firm ASP Ships Group has acquired a 50% shareholding in New Zealand’s Coastal Bulk Shipping (CBS).
CBS owns and operates the 820 dwt general cargo vessel Anatoki.
“ASP will greatly assist the company to further explore and develop a number of opportunities the company has identified over recent times. With ASP as a major shareholder CBS will have important and key access to a strong network of marine logistics, shipmanagement and technical support services through ASP’s network of offices in New Zealand, Australia and worldwide,” said Doug Smith, CBS’s general manager.
ASP Ships group CEO David Borcoski said the strategic acquisition is to combine the two companies’ core strengths and focus on developing the New Zealand coastal bulk shipping trades.
“Coastal shipping is an environmentally friendly transport mode on a tonne/kilometre basis and we will work closely with current and future customers to provide both a resilient and an environmental friendly footprint to their bulk shipping task,” Borcoski said.
ASP currently operates in New Zealand through wholly owned subsidiary Silver Fern Shipping, which it acquired in 2007, operating two MR tankers.
