The company, which will be known as Waterfront Maritime Services, will focus its services on ship owners and operators, charterers, managers and traders involved in the movement of coal, grains, iron ore, minor bulks and project cargo as well as crude oil, clean and dirty products, chemicals and gas.
It will be headquartered in Dubai with commercial offices in Singapore and Miami as well as operational hubs in Jakarta and the United Arab Emirates.
The new business will officially begin on 1 April 2017, and will boast 299 propriety offices across 49 countries, supported with a network of vetted third-party agents worldwide.
Announcing the launch in London, Waterfront Maritime Services ceo, Terry Gidlow, said: “This is a bold move by two of the industry's most respected regional port agencies and will set a new standard in port agency.
“Built on solid financial, technical and historical foundations, we are offering a tailored, holistic approach to global supply chains that will set us apart from the competition.”
“Clients have been calling out for a port agency that can provide the best of both worlds: an agency that has real in-depth regional expertise but a single global approach.”
Waterfront Maritime Services will be equally owned by Sharaf Shipping Agency and Ben Line Agencies, but will operate as a wholly independent corporate and commercial entity.
Duncan Ramsay, chairman of Waterfront and managing director of Ben Line Agencies, commented: “Ben Line has been providing shipping services across Asia for more than 150 years. We know this business and region well, and we understand the challenges that our customers face in an increasingly complex and competitive global market.
“Waterfront leverages our strengths and capabilities as a business with Sharaf Shipping Agency, which shares the same commitment to quality, integrity and transparency that we do; providing our customers with global access and solutions that help them to compete.”
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