Jul.11--E.R. Capital Holding and Komrowski Holding have recently completed the merger of their shipping activities into a combined German shipowning group, known as Blue Star Holdings, seven months after the move was first announced in December 2011.

The two companies had initially planned to complete the merger in the first quarter, but the move was delayed by several months to secure the consent of competition authorities and the two groups' various stakeholders.

The ship management activities of E.R. Schiffahrt, Komrowski Befrachtungskontor and the Komrowski Group-owned Reederei Blue Star have been combined under the umbrella of the new company named Blue Star Holdings, which according to Alphaliner rankings, is now the second largest non-operating owner for containerships in terms of its fleet size, just behind its compatriot CP Offen.

The new group's shareholders are Komrowski Holding and E.R. Capital Holding whose subsidiary E.R. Schiffahrt will be responsible for managing the new activities.

Erck Rickmers' companies are consolidated under the umbrella of the Hamburg-based E.R. Capital Holding and include E.R. Schiffahrt, a ship owning and ship management company specialising in container and, more recently, bulk carrier shipping.

The jointly managed fleet under the umbrella of Blue Star Holdings consists of 137 vessels: 25 bulk carriers, four multipurpose units and 108 container ships (including two ships managed for the Norwegian shipowning group SinOceanic ASA).

Blue Star Holdings' strategy is aimed at growth, attracting other shipowning companies as partners and increasing the fleet to over 200 vessels. The company has said it is open to talks with other shipowning companies who are interested in joining the new group as partners, according to Paris-based Alphaliner.

(Source:shippingazette)