Dutch based shipping company Cargow has acquired all shares of the Icelandic shipping company, Thor Shipping (Thorship). The owners of Thorship have already been involved in Cargow from the date of establishment and will remain shareholders.

Thorship will operate as a full subsidiary company of Cargow and will continue all activities under the original Thorship name. The Icelandic Competition Authority has already approved the merger and the goal is to complete the integration of the companies’ activities in the next few days.

Cargow and Thorship will optimise their synergies with this merger. Both companies have long-existing relations and contracts with the aluminium industry between Iceland, Norway and the European mainland which trade forms the basis on which a successful general liner service operation has been developed.

The new set-up will offer the high service level and reliability which customers are used to and provide resourceful and flexible logistics solutions at competitive levels. The goal of the merger is, amongst others, to increase competition on the Icelandic and international shortsea market.

Both companies bring extensive knowledge of industrial shipping and the shortsea market and new foundations have been laid for an even stronger logistic service to small and large importers and exporters.

The total turnover of Cargow and Thorship combined is estimated to be around €47 million this year. The companies’ fleet consists of six vessels with well over 60,000 tons carrying capacity. The vessels have weekly calls in all of its principal ports. The total transportation quantity in 2020 was about 18,500 TEU container units and in total more than 1.4 million tons industrial commodities.

The headquarters of Cargow are in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, whereas the operation in Iceland will be located at the facilities of Thorship in Hafnarfjordur. Stefan H. Stefansson will be CEO of the companies and Ragnar J. Dennisson CFO and COO.