Spliethoff Group expands fleet to over 140 vessels through latest acquisition

Dutch shipping company Spliethoff Group has acquired ForestWave, a compatriot company active in the multipurpose shortsea segment, with the latter joining Spliethoff Group as its seventh business unit, expanding the number of vessels commercially operated by the group to a combined fleet of over 140 vessels.

With a fleet of 30 vessels ranging from 5,000 to 12,500 dwt, ForestWaves—which also has offices in the UK and Spain—specializes in diverse markets, such as bulk cargo, forest products, and offshore cargoes.

By extension, Fred Diepeveen, Managing Director of ForestWave, said that ForestWave expected this latest development to help the company steady the course toward its overarching “zero CO2 emissions by 2050” target.

Spliethoff Group management, represented by Messrs Bras and Van den Heuvel, stressed that the acquisition is a natural progression of the group’s ongoing relationship with ForestWave.

“After so many years of constructive and pleasant cooperation with ForestWave, formalising this cooperation is a logical step. The takeover of ForestWave will provide synergy and enable us to offer our clients an even broader scope of logistic solutions. We look forward to a productive cooperation,” they stated.

Group members, namely Spliethoff, yacht shipping venture Sevenstar Yacht Transport, and ForestWave, have closley worked together for quite some time in the sea transportation of mainly bulk cargoes and yachts—a cooperation that will now proceed under the umbrella of Spliethoff Group.

Over the years, Spliethoff has made numerous investments to oil the wheels of its sustainability endeavors. In August last year, the company took delivery of its second newbuild DP2 multipurpose vessel, MV Bloemgracht.

The 12,500-dwt vessel, fitted with an ‘advanced automated crane system’, is said to prioritize fuel efficiency, which is complemented by propulsion and power generation systems boasting scrubbers and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems.

Similarly, ForestWave has been just as engaged within the environment-first narrative. Earlier this summer, the company retrofitted two 10,600 dwt general cargo vessels with compatriot technology company Value Maritime’s (VM) emission-reducing Filtree exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) and integrated carbon capture unit.

The Filtree system, which is said to be capable of capturing up to 10% of CO2 emissions, was going to be installed on the FWN Sea and FWN Sun at the Value Maritime quay in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.