China Navigation (CNCo) announced today its intention to separate out its dry bulk shipping activities from its liner shipping and fleet management business and establish Swire Bulk as a standalone privately held company headquartered in Singapore.
CNCo established Swire Bulk as a division of the company in 2012 and has grown the business rapidly over the last eight years.
Following the acquisition of Hamburg Sud Tramp from Maersk Line in 2019, Swire Bulk has become the largest part of CNCo’s business, operating a fleet of up to 150 vessels predominantly in the handysize and supra/ultramax sectors.
“While it has been a difficult dry bulk market over the last few years, Swire Bulk has built an excellent reputation in the dry bulk sector in a relatively short period of time. Setting up Swire Bulk as a standalone business will give it the independence required for its continued development as a high-quality global dry bulk operator. Market leadership in terms of the safety and quality of our operation and our sustainability commitments and initiatives with our partners will remain central to Swire Bulk’s business strategy” commented Sam Swire, chairman of CNCo.
“Swire Bulk has built an experienced and high-performing team with over 100 employees across nine offices around the world with a strong customer centric culture and an excellent reputation towards innovative freight solutions and its ability to build high-valued partnerships with tonnage providers, trading houses and our core industrial client base” commented Rob Aarvold, Swire Bulk general manager.
As with CNCo today, John Swire & Sons Ltd will remain the ultimate parent company for Swire Bulk. The target date for the separation is January 1 next year.
CNCo and Swire Bulk will continue to share certain service activities following the transition including technical management services for some of its owned fleet. An announcement will be made about the appointment of a new CEO for Swire Bulk in due course.
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