'K' Line, SAL forge alliance
Japanese shipping giant 'K' Line has bought a 50% stake in German heavy lift specialist Schifffahrtskontor Altes Land (SAL) in a move to expand its services to the oil and gas industry. Customers there are “increasingly being served by both SAL’s heavy lifters and ‘K’ Line’s oil tankers and LNG carriers,” the companies said in a joint statement. A case in point is Statoil’s Snovit LNG project in Norway. The Germans have carried plant and machinery for its construction, while the Japanese have secured the freight contracts for the product. 'K' Line and SAL’s owners, the Heinrich and Rolner families, will be equally represented in the corporate structure and management of SAL. “We will remain partners in the company. This is not the first step to a takeover,” SAL managing director Lars Rolner emphasised. The alliance with 'K' Line gives the heavy lift operator fresh opportunities in the Japanese freight market, which is dominated by domestic service providers. Many large engineering procurement and construction groups supervising projects worldwide are based in Japan. Rolner added that the project and heavy lift markets remain very firm. “We are booking cargoes way in advance with some contracts extending into 2011,” he explained. SAL currently operates 15 heavy lift vessels with six more on order at Hamburg’s Sietas yard. Earlier this months, another German heavy-lift specialist, BBC Chartering set up a venture with Italy's Intermare to strengthen its presence in the Med market.
