Zeaborn has entered the tanker shipping industry through the purchase of Claus-Peter Offen Tankschiffreederei (CPO Tankers), the tanker management subsidiary of Offen Group. The Bremen-based multipurpose vessel operator acquired all shares as per an agreement signed on the 29th of April.

With the takeover of CPO Tankers, Zeaborn is executing its strategy to further consolidate the shipping industry and expand its services its service portfolio to the wet market for oil and product tankers.

Offen Group decided to divest the tanker business to focus on owning and managing post-Panamax container vessels, in which the company ranks among the world’s top 3 players, the German shipowner says.

CPO Group’s managing owner Claus-Peter Offen comments: “We want to grow our leading position as owner/manager of post-Panamax container vessels through significant investments in this sector. Pure ship management services in tank or bulk are no longer in our focus.”

The tanker shipping market has had a tough few years with many companies posting losses. Zeaborn was built by seizing such anti-cyclic investment opportunities, in which the company is usually able to buy companies or second-hand ships for relatively low prices.

“With CPO Tankers, a well-known and very reputable company joins our ship management activities. CPO Tankers, the management and the employees are a great fit for our organization, enabling us to expand our service portfolio with first-class tanker management,” explained managing partners Ove Meyer and Jan-Hendrik Többe of Zeaborn.

The parties have agreed to keep the key financial data confidential. The completion of the transaction is subject to antitrust clearance.