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Shipping losses
Boskalis and its co-shareholders KS Investments Pte Ltd (Keppel) have completed the sale of Keppel Smit Towage Pte Ltd (KST) and Maju Maritime Pte Ltd to Rimorchiatori Mediterranei.
Boskalis announced the sale of the equity stake in its harbour towage operations in Singapore and Malaysia in November 2021 with approval from Singapore’s regulatory agencies following in May 2022.
Genoa-based Rimorchiatori Mediterranei has a eet of more than 100 vessels in over 20 major ports and now takes over the operations.
Boskalis received €92 million in cash for its stakes in the joint ventures with a pre-tax book gain of approximately €50 million, both of which will be included in 2022 rst half year results.
The sale follows Boskalis’s strategic decision in 2019 to divest its harbour towage activities, having sold its stake in Saam Smit Towage and Kotug Smit Towage in 2019.
In December 2021, Boskalis said it had embarked on a “review of its position” in the joint venture Smit Lamnalco, in which it has held a 50% stake since 1964, the remaining shares held by The Rezayat Group, which was also reviewing its position.
Separately, both Boskalis and HAL Holding N.V. have been publishing regular updates on the latter’s public offer for all issued and outstanding shares of Boskalis. The process naturally follows a strict legal and regulatory path and Boskalis recently announced that pursuant to the offer it will be convening an Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders in August (2022), where its board of management and supervisory board will discuss the offer, including nancial and non-nancial aspects.
While Boskalis may have all but withdrawn from the increasingly competitive harbour towage market, it is still a major operator of oceangoing tugs in the offshore energy sector. It serves many related markets, including transport, oil and gas installation and decommissioning and offshore windfarm installation – markets that are related and often require towage provision as part of the offerings.
It therefore has an impressive eet of powerful anchor-handling tugs and vessels operating in the offshore support sector with towing capabilities. Boskalis is also of course parent-company of Smit Salvage, a household name in the marine salvage industry that can call on tugs from Boskalis when available.
BOSKALIS COMPLETES KST AND MAJU MARITIME SALE
8 Boskalis operates a large eet of powerful
ocean-going tugs
Credit: Peter Barker
Boskalis received €92m in cash for its stakes in the joint ventures with a pre-tax book gain of approximately €50m, both of which will be included in 2022 rst half year results
