Six vessels will reflag within 2017

SAL Heavy Lift GmbH, one of the leading heavy lift carriers worldwide, returning to the German Flag. SAL Heavy Lift has announced that six of its vessels will shortly be flying the German flag. Starting with MV SVENJA on Sept 22nd, MV TRINA, MV ANNE-SOFIE, MV REGINE, MV MARIA and MV WIEBKE will quickly follow. With the home port of Hamburg, the city in which SAL Heavy Lift is also established, the company is building on its German heritage and setting its course for the future.

SAL Heavy Lift returns to German Flag

“We are very proud to return to the German Flag,” says Sebastian Westphal, Corporate Director Ship Management at SAL. “The German flag stands for quality, safety and compliance, and these are core values in SAL, so the German Flag and our corporate objectives goes well in hand.”

“It was a logical consequence: a German family owned business with German built vessels, operated by many German officers, and now provided by all the advantages of a German Flag,” Toshio Yamazaki, CEO of SAL Heavy Lift states. “We are proud to put a “made in Germany” tag to what we do – and now sailing the German Flag underlines our commitment to quality and safety.”

By choosing the German flag SAL Heavy Lift also contributes to maintaining the German maritime cluster with its unique shipping know-how. Training on board vessels flying the German flag is ranked top-class internationally. In the long term, top level maritime training in Germany can only be sustained with seafarers employed under the German flag.

Working together with the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for Commercial Transport, Postal Logistics and Telecommunication (BG Verkehr) and DNV GL as classification society, the re-flagging process will be handled by leading specialists. The decision to re-flag follows careful considerations on the fleet management process in SAL.

Sebastian Westphal comments: “In view of the many benefits of the German Flag, we decided to initiate the re-flagging process. We are happy with the good cooperation we have had with BG Verkehr and DNV GL on the matter, and I know our crew onboard is proud to hoist the German flag.”

About SAL Heavy Lift

SAL Heavy Lift, a member of the Harren & Partner Group, is one of the world’s leading carriers specialized in sea transport of heavy lift and project cargo. The company was founded in 1980 as “Schiffahrtskontor Altes Land GmbH & Co. KG” and belongs to Harren & Partner Group since 2017. The modern fleet of 21 heavy lift vessels offers highly flexible options to customers. The vessels of SAL Heavy Lift boast an impressive travel speed of 20 knots, up to 3500 square metres of unobstructed main deck space and combined crane capacities ranging from 550 to 2000 tons: amongst the world's highest lifting capacity in the heavy lift sector. As a leading global company in the heavy lift and project cargo segment, the company meets the highest standards with regard to quality, technical innovation and health, safety and environment.

Source: SAL Heavy Lift GmbH