Western Bulk Closes Panamax Unit
Western Bulk's Oslo officesThe Oslo-listed dry bulk specialist Western Bulk is closing its Panamax business unit, after its chartering arm did not succeed in creating the expected synergies between the Supramax and Panamax divisions.
In its Net TC Margin Report for March, Western Bulk said that WB Chartering, predominantly an operator of Supramax/Ultramax and Handysize vessels, has since 2012 had a separate business unit focusing on Panamax vessels.
Because of the unsuccessful synergies, and considering the present environment and expectations, Western Bulk made a decision to focus only on the segments where the company has historically been able to extract value over time, and to close down the Panamax business unit based in Oslo, which according to the company’s site currently employs 10 people.
”The closing of this unit will unfortunately result in some redundancies, the extent of which is not yet clear,” Jens Ismar, Western Bulk CEO, told World Maritime News.
”It is obvious that this is an unfortunate situation that we are trying to handle in a best possible way.”
World Maritime News Staff
