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Behind closed doors
Photo: VesselFinder
The world’s largest dedicated reefer shipping carrier, Seatrade, has purchased a stake in Dutch ship management and vessel owner JR Shipping Group.
The size of its stake and the value of the transaction were undisclosed, but the deal was described as a “strategic participation” in the company and will see JR founder Jan Reier Arends and managing owner Sander Schakelaar continue in their current roles.
JR Shipping operates a fleet of container feeder ships, offshore support vessels and smaller dry bulkers which are largely chartered out – it does not own all the vessels under its management, as financial reports reveal that some were financed by private investors.
Yntze Buitenwerf, CEO and chairman of Curacao-headquartered Seatrade, said the company had been on the hunt for investment opportunities.
“Seatrade has reached a development stage where it has become interesting to diversify and to invest in other shipping assets as well.
“The three segments JR Shipping Group is active in are all interesting to us.
“The offshore wind support vessel sector is a relatively new space for us, but exciting. Shortsea dry cargo vessels are not new for us. Seatrade once started in this segment and still holds some interests. So that is familiar ground.
“Perhaps the most thrilling part is the high-end feeder vessel market. It is complementary to our newbuilding portfolio of 1,800 and 2,800 teu specialised reefer container vessels, which are specifically meant for our refrigerated cargo transport,” he explained.
Seatrade has two 2,800 teu vessels under construction at the Huanghai Shipyard in China, which are due to be delivered in 2027. They feature 1,000 reefer plugs, and the carrier has an option for six further units.
Meanwhile, JR Shipping has a fleet of 12 container vessels in the 750 to 1,440 teu range. According to Xeneta’s eeSea liner database, almost all of these are trading in European feeder markets and are chartered to operators, including CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, and Unifeeder.
As a result, all its fleet has been equipped with gas cleaning systems to comply with emission regulations, and JR Shipping has further drawn up designs for a “range of ECO Flex Feeder designs in the 1,000–1,500 teu segment for the European feeder market”.
These are precisely the type of vessels Seatrade operates, and would allow JR Shipping to grow its fleet with a shareholder now backing its newbuilding programme, Mr Schakelaar explained.
“This partnership creates new opportunities to realise our ambitions. Seatrade’s industry knowledge, access to shipbuilding markets and financing capabilities, as well as its investment strength, will add real value.
“Equally important is the strong alignment in vision, values, and long-term objectives between our organisations,” he added.
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