News / Farewell to some familiar names as DP World rebrands marine units

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UAE-based ports, shipping, and logistics giant DP World announced yesterday the rebranding of its marine services units Unifeeder, P&O Ferrymasters, and P&O Maritime Logistics under the parent umbrella. 

The company said the move represented a major step in DP World’s transformation “from a leading port operator into a fully integrated global logistics provider”. 

P&O Ferrymasters will become DP World Multimodal Solutions’ P&O Maritime Logistics will become DP World Maritime Solutions, and Unifeeder will be re-branded as DP World Shipping Solutions.

Unifeeder was founded in Denmark in 1977 and was acquired by DP World in mid-2018. It has a fleet of 74 vessels, all of which are chartered. 

While the carrier’s shortsea and feeder footprint was originally limited to Europe, it has expanded to serve Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.  

Hans-Henrik Nielsen, global development director at Cargo Gulf, described Unifeeder as a “glorious company”. He said: “This is a nostalgic goodbye to one of the best shipping companies I’ve known. Not just in making monetary gains, but the way it operates. 

“DP World’s eagerness to compete directly with its port customers is a major concern in my view, and would be seen by many as a direct conflict of interest. I hope DPW will be able to allay these fears in an engaging manner.” 

Earlier this year, the Dubai-headquartered company began to phase-in DP World-branded equipment and re-named its two largest vessels with DP World prefixes. 

In addition to Unifeeder, DP World’s shipping portfolio also includes UFS, Feedertech, MCL Feeders, and Transworld Feeders, which toggether, Alphaliner calculates, operate a fleet of 94 ships of 155,000 teu, which ranks DP World Group globally as number 16. 

DP World assured that, despite the re-brand, the leadership and teams, transport solutions, and infrastructure would not change, “united by a shared brand identity”.  

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO, added: “We are building a future where trade flows effortlessly. While we honour the legacy of the brands we have built, we are now evolving together as one DP World team to further enhance our customer offering across the globe.

“Unifying these brands complements the next natural step in our transformation journey from a leading port operator into a fully integrated global logistics provider.”