Crowley Maritime Corp and AP Moller-Maersk have decided to merge their respective salvage operations in order to form a new global leader on the market scene.
According to a morning statement, AP Moller’s Svitzer salvage division is to team up with Crowley’s own Titan Salvage, assuming the new name of Ardent.
All other divisions of the Svitzer Group are to remain under their current ownership structure and continue operating as they always have.
Peter Pietka, Svitzer Salvage chief executive will be taking the same job at the new-formed Ardent. He commented:
“The company is going to strive towards becoming an industry leader regarding wreck removal operations and emergency response. Furthermore, it is necessary to point out that the new company will maintain its primary focus on wreck removal procedures and emergency response but it will also reach out an explore other types of services. With this current merger we have employed our forces for the creating of a far more effective and modern offering for the maritime sector.”
According to Svitzer itself it is the emergency response leader while Titan on the other hand is one of the top wreck removal companies – its most notable project being the one revolving around the Costa Concordia wreckage.
Chris Peterson, Titan Salvage’s Vice president, commented:
“This merger has made it possible for some of the world’s most experienced and highly regarded salvage experts to come and work together. By combining our strength we are now able to provide a far stronger and well established network regarding key global locations, which directly translates into the opportunity of sharing the best practices on a global basis and having a vast range of proven marine capabilities that are to efficiently serve the needs of the maritime industry for years to come.”
Peterson has received the rather curious position of merger manager, Renier van den Bichelaer will become chief commercial officer, Jeff Andreini is to respectively become the chief financial officer, and Paul van’t Hof will serve the role of chief operations officer.