Harren Group has made an exciting step in heavy-lift shipping by combining a fleet of 50 vessels of Intermarine and SAL Heavy Lift, two sister companies under one corporate roof and ownership. The step comes about after Harren Group completed the full takeover of Intermarine. 

When the Harren Group took a 50 percent stake in Intermarine in late 2020, the market was still significantly affected by the decade-long slump in the multipurpose sector and amid a COVID-19 pandemic. With a fleet of six vessels servicing the Americas, Intermarine was a niche operator with a historically strong brand and a dedicated team. Fast forward to 2022: Intermarine now operates a fleet of 25 vessels, is the dominant multipurpose operator in the Americas and is expanding internationally servicing clients in Asia and Europe.

From the beginning, it was clear that Intermarine should remain an independent brand with its own dedicated commercial setup next to SAL’s. This strategy will remain after the full acquisition of Intermarine, but an even closer cooperation will develop over time, Harren Group noted in its statement.

Svend Andersen, CEO of Intermarine, states, “When Martin Harren and I discussed the business plan for Intermarine two years ago, it was clear that we should build on its existing strong brand and legacy and keep focused on our core competency – our reliable and regular breakbulk shipping in the Americas. Since that discussion, we have expanded the business with offices in Brazil, Denmark, and most recently Bangkok. Today the Intermarine brand stands strong and in lock-step with that of SAL.”

“The last two years have been busy – we have re-established Intermarine as the go-to multipurpose carrier in all the Americas. We focus on reliable transportation for our clients in the oil and gas, mining, power generation and infrastructure industries, through our regular liner and chartering services. While SAL and the Jumbo-SAL-Alliance focus more on complex, heavy project cargos, we continue to find synergies that are beneficial for our individual and mutual customers with the vessels and services available through both of our services,” added Richard Seeg, President of Intermarine.

Chad Call, CFO of Intermarine, noted, “The synergies with SAL and the Harren Group have been crucial to building up Intermarine for the long term. By leveraging the Group’s ship management capacity, financing capabilities, engineering resources and marketing function, Intermarine has been strengthened significantly over the past 24 months. This will continue.”

Jens Baumgarten, Managing Director and Head of Chartering at SAL Heavy Lift, adds, “I can justly confirm that both the Jumbo-SAL-Alliance and Intermarine have grown stronger through the cooperation and mutual understanding we have commercially. We now explore together with Intermarine how we can expand further and build an even stronger offering in strategic markets and for key clients that can benefit from the bandwidth of services that we jointly provide. Intermarine sits extremely well within our global network that counts 23 offices in 21 countries and 50 vessels with more to come.”

Commenting further on the completion of Intermarine acquisition, Martin Harren, CEO of Harren Group said, “In fact both SAL and Intermarine support each other – our breakbulk clients benefit from more vessel positions and a wider range of services looking holistically at the business. But just as important – each company contributes to the growth of the entire group, enabling us to continue to invest and develop our businesses and fleets for the long-term future. So, you can say that the success of one becomes the success of the other.”

The transfer of shares was completed on 16 November 2022 and has no effect on the current operations or the commercial obligations of either Intermarine or the Jumbo-SAL-Alliance.