New dry bulk shortsea alliance in Europe

Wagle Chartering is a competitive broker, agent and commercial manager based in Moss, Norway. Longship said the acquisition is in line with its strategy to enhance its position in Scandinavia and additionally to enable active participation in the ongoing consolidation of the dry bulk shortsea market.

Wagle Chartering and Longship already enjoyed a longstanding cooperation and, therefore, plan to optimise synergies to become a notable player in Northern Europe.

“Our acquisition of Wagle Chartering complements our overall service offering as industrial carrier, as we can now provide a wider spectrum of sizes to the shortsea trade,” said Longship CEO Øyvind Sivertsen, who was originally from Bergen in Norway and has had a long career in shipping, based in Groningen for the last 15 years.

“Industrial shipping is deeply embedded in the core of both companies, and this investment therefore constitutes a perfect match. The Norwegian roots that Longship is already having will now become even stronger.”

André Borge, CEO of Wagle Chartering, said: “The new setup adds to our overall fleet capacity and grants Longship geographic presence to treat and manage shipments for both our customers.”

Longship was established in 2009 and has since developed into a trusted name in the dry bulk shortsea segment. Longship operates a homogeneous fleet of about 30 modern vessels with an average age of less than 14 years.

Sivertsen, who is also a shareholder of Cargow, and Michel Cigrang, a shareholder of Longship and CLdN Cobelfret, both bring extensive knowledge of the shortsea trade and logistical market.

Wagle Chartering presently controls around 10 general cargo vessels in the range of 2,000-13,500 dwt from offices in Moss, close to Oslo.