Ionian Shipping Consortium and Pan AtlanticShipping Company have emerged as potential buyers of Ilva Servizi Marittimi’s business, the shipping arm of the Italian steel giant Ilva Group which is up for sale.
Italy’s government took over administration of the loss-making Ilva last year to try to save some 16,000 jobs and clean up its polluting factories in the southern Italian city of Taranto.
There had been 29 expressions of interest in purchasing ILVA assets and affiliates.
Ilva Servizi Marittimi owns 4 pushertugs, 8 hatchbarges fit for transporting steel products and a modern Chinese-built VLOC.
Ionian Shipping Consortium is a network of companies based in Taranto and active in shipbroking, terminal handling and freight forwarding activities. Rinaldo Melucci, chairman of Ionian Shipping Consortium, told Splash: “We have promoted our expression of interest for Ilva Servizi Marittimi in order to understand whether is possible to undertake and continue the maritime transport business in support of the Ilva plants around Italy. We are also considering potential partnership with another two companies based in Genoa involved in ship management and ship broking dedicated to steel products shipments.”
Pan AtlanticShipping Company’s head, Pietro Alfonso Milani, also confirmed its interest in the shipping company previously owned by Ilva but declined to provide further comments on the deal.
