Until now, the Aponte shipping company MSC has been known primarily for container and cruise ships. Now it is expanding its involvement in tugboat shipping.
According to a report by the industry service Alphaliner, MSC wants to acquire 49% of the shares in the Spanish tugboat shipping company Boluda Towage. According to Spanish newspapers, the negotiations, which have been ongoing for two years, are to be concluded in April or May.
According to the agreement, the company led by Gianluigi Aponte will receive the minority stake and will itself contribute the fleet of the MSC subsidiary MedTug. This comprises more than 170 ships operating in Europe and Asia.
As a result, the combined fleet will operate in almost 200 ports worldwide. The joint operation is also expected to generate commercial and technical synergies, it is said.
MedTug to be integrated into Boluda
Two years ago, the Aponte family had already acquired a 7% stake in Boluda Towage and transferred some MedTug tugs to Vicente Boluda’s company. According to reports, the MSC investment is intended to provide the Spanish company with fresh capital. Boluda is planning to invest €600 million in its fleet this year.
Boluda Lines is excluded from the planned transaction. This is a smaller shipping company operating short-haul services around the Iberian Peninsula with 15 container ships (400 TEU-1,100 TEU), including eight of its own.
In 2022, MSC expanded its own towage activities with the acquisition of Rimorchiatori Mediterranei, giving it access to around 100 units in 20 ports in Italy, Malta, Singapore, Malaysia, Norway, Greece and Colombia. In 2021, Boskalis and KS Investments’ stakes in Keppel Smit Towage and Maju Maritime were acquired.
Boluda Towage, a company of the Spanish Boluda Corporación Marítima, is one of the world’s leading companies in port, coastal and offshore tug and towage. With a fleet of 600 tugs, it is represented in 50 countries and 148 ports on the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The tug shipping company also has a strong market share in Germany. Since the takeover of URAG in 2017, it has been the top dog in Bremerhaven. Since then, it has also been present in Hamburg through Lütjen & Reimers. The shipping company then acquired Kotug Smit Towage (KST), previously a joint venture between Boskalis and Kotug. Iskes’ port towage activities in Eemshaven (Netherlands), Lübeck (Germany) and Lisbon (Portugal) followed at the beginning of 2021.
