News / Forwarders combine shortsea operations as Ellerman City Liners buys Viasea

Photo: GB Global

UK shipping line Ellerman City Liners has acquired European shortsea liner operator Viasea, for an undisclosed amount.

The deal will see two major freight forwarders combining their shipping assets: Ellerman is backed by UK 3PL Uniserve, both part of the GB Global group; while Viasea was founded and is owned by Norwegian 3PL ColliCare.

“The vision behind Viasea was to move cargo flows from the roads to the sea,” said Knut Sollund, ColliCare CEO. “After only a couple of years in operation, Viasea became one of the largest customers in the port of Oslo.

“After nine years of continuous growth it was the right step for Viasea to seek for a bigger environment – within the GB Global family, Viasea will have great opportunities to continue on the path of moving even more cargo from the roads over to the waterways,” he added.

Viasea currently offers a scheduled liner services connecting Baltic ports with the UK port of Immingham and Rotterdam. It currently has three feeder vessels on charter.

Meanwhile, according to the eeSea liner database, Ellerman currently operates a Poland-UK feeder service, as well as a North Europe-Iberia intra-reginal service in partnership with CMA CGM.

“We’re excited about the opportunities this acquisition brings,” said Peter Andrews, Ellerman City Liners MD. “It marks a major step towards completing our European infrastructure jigsaw and enables us to deliver a truly comprehensive door-to-door service across Europe.

GB Global founder Iain Liddell added: “This acquisition isn’t just about growth, it’s about redefining shortsea shipping for the future.

“By combining Ellerman’s UK expertise with Viasea’s agile operational shortsea footprint and sustainable solutions, we’re building an extensive European network that delivers speed, reliability, and greener solutions for customers across Europe,” he said.

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