Swire merges businesses

SWIRE Shipping is to fully integrate Swire Projects into the parent company as of November this year and acquire outright four of its six chartered heavylift MPPs while extended the charter of two others.

Swire says the move will bring together the company's maritime transport offerings under a single, globally recognised identity while reinforcing its commitment to customers in the project and heavy lift sectors.

Swire Projects was established in October 2020 to provide specialist shipping services to the energy, renewable and infrastructure sectors in the global project logistics market.

The division gradually expanded its fleet by taking on charter several of the ubiquitous 12,790 DWT Beluga E/F class, two of which will be purchased from Germany’s Nordic Project & Finance, Pacific Fortitude and Pacific Fortune, and two, Pacific Endeavour and Pacific Excellence, will have two years added to their Nordic charters. All four were built in 2007/8.

The larger, 19,618 DWT Pacific Integrity and Pacific Innovation, originally built for Maersk USA for seasonal Antarctic service, will also be bought outright from Nordic. Several of the six ships have seen Swire Shipping service under other names, such as Pacific Excellence, which also worked as Tasman Chief.

From the end of 2022 the fleet was expanded with three 28,000 DWT H-class vessels, chartered from German owners for three years but since returned.

In February 2023 Swire Projects launched a MPP liner service from Asia to Western Australia, and followed that with a similar service from Asia to West Coast North America in November that year. Special project work is undertaken as required

In announcing the strategic development in Singapore yesterday [7 September] Swire said the combination move reflected the evolution of Swire Projects as a core part of Swire Shipping's operations and supports a more unified market presence, enhanced customer experience and stronger alignment across the company's commercial and operational activities.

"The integration of Swire Projects into the Swire Shipping brand marks an important milestone in our growth journey," Namir Khanbabi, general manager projects, Swire Shipping, said. "Over the last six years, Swire Projects has built a strong reputation in the project and heavy lift cargo sector, handling some of the world's most complex and demanding shipments.

“Bringing these capabilities fully under the Swire Shipping brand strengthens our market proposition and enables closer integration with our liner shipping and landside logistics services, allowing us to deliver seamless end-to-end solutions for customers in the Asia Pacific.

“The acquisition of four multipurpose heavy lift vessels and extension of charter arrangements for the remaining two vessels represents a significant investment in Swire Shipping's fleet. This enhances the company's ability to deliver reliable, long-term transportation solutions for customers across industries including renewables, mining, construction and infrastructure, oil and gas, power generation, and marine and offshore,” Mr Khanbabi said.

"This investment demonstrates our confidence in the project and heavy lift cargo market and our long-term commitment to serving customers with dedicated, high-quality tonnage," Mark Celenk, Swire Shipping COO added. "By securing ownership of four vessels and extending access to the remaining two, we are strengthening our operational flexibility while maintaining the specialised capabilities our customers rely upon."

Swire Shipping confirmed that there will be no disruption to existing services as a result of the brand integration.

Swire Shipping retains its ABS Quality Evaluations certifications for ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management, ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management and ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health Safety Management for its specialist project and heavy lift cargo business, “a testament to the company’s commitment to the highest standards in the areas of quality, risk, safety, and sustainability”.

The brand transition will be implemented over the coming months, with all project and heavy lift cargo shipping activities, including its project engineering services, operating under the Swire Shipping name.