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Focus on Panama

Wrist Ship Supply acquires Panama chandler Centralam

Photo: Wrist Ship Supply WRIST-CEO_Jens Holger Nielsen.jpg
Denmark-based Wrist Ship Supply has acquired Panama’s ship chandler Centralam, expanding its global reach.

Centralam Panama is a leading ship chandler based at the Pacific side of the Panama Canal.

With the acquisition, Wrist, the said it expands its global reach and secures a foothold at one of the world’s most important maritime crossroads while at the same time enhancing Centralam Panama’s market position.

 “We’re looking forward to initiating our cooperation with Centralam Panama at one of the world’s most important maritime hubs,” said Jens Holger Nielsen, Group CEO of the Wrist Group.

Centralam Panama’s management team is experienced and competent, and our companies share the same core values and business principles. Our customers, and thereby ourselves, will benefit from the combined experience and capability in the ship supply market.”

“In becoming part of the Wrist Group, Centralam Panama will benefit from Wrist’s global reach, scale, and digital platforms, providing vastly expanded opportunities for our customers and business partners. Panama has historically been an area that vessel operators try to avoid for services and supplies. With the presence of Wrist, this will no longer be the case,” Thomas Rold, owner and CEO of Centralam Panama.

Rold will continue to manage Centralam as part of the Wrist group.                                                                  

Centralam Panama annually serves more than 2,500 vessels passing through the Atlantic and Pacific ports of Panama, providing customers with marine provisions, technical goods and stores, owners’ goods, and spare parts handling as well as storage, distribution, and other services.

The company’s operations are based around the large and modern warehouses located centrally at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal and only a 70 km drive from the main ports on the Atlantic coast.

Wrist, from 38 locations worldwide in all major shipping locations.

In December 2021, Wrist founded and financed Source2Sea, an independent digital sourcing marketplace facilitating online marine procurement and supply between maritime buyers and suppliers.

 

More recent expansions of the Wrist Group include the acquisition of Wrist Valencia in 2020, Van Hulle in Antwerp in 2019, and Klevenberg in Rotterdam in 2018. Further acquisitions are expected in 2022.