ITALIAN ferry, ro-ro and PCTC giant Emanuele Grimaldi has raised his stake in Höegh Autoliners to almost 10% after first buying into the PCTC specialist in April.
Mr Grimaldi is now the second largest shareholder in the Norwegian company, behind the Höegh family, after initially taking a 5.12% stake. The Naples-headquartered Grimaldi Group is Italy’s largest shipowner/ operator with 130 vessels and is also involved in terminals and logistics. It operates a monthly Europe-ANZ ro-ro/PCTC service.
A week ago [11 September] the second of Höegh’s 12 ground-breaking 9100 CEU Aurora-class, Höegh Borealis, was named and delivered at China Merchants Heavy Industry’s yard in Jiangsu, China in a ceremony attended by the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre who praised Höegh Autoliners and the Aurora Class:
“It was both impressive and instructive to see how Höegh Autoliners ASA is making shipping more environmentally friendly through new and green technology,” he said on the Norwegian Government’s website. “The ship will initially run on LNG but can transition to ammonia when the technology is mature. In addition, this ship features solar panels and can connect to shore power, allowing it to operate with zero emissions in the future.”
“Norwegian businesses can deliver world-class green technology. They are helping to build the solutions of tomorrow,” Mr. Støre said.
The namesake vessel of the class, Höegh Aurora, is due to make its Australian debut in mid-December, while the third, Höegh Australis, is nearing delivery. As the new vessels are delivered Höegh is clearing out older tonnage, with an Australian service regular, the 20-yo, 6500 CEU Höegh New York, recently sold.
The company reported another months of record freight rates in August “due to the ongoing cargo repricing and our focus on optimizing the trade network and cargo mix. We expect monthly fluctuations in the monthly volumes and rates depending on factors such as trade and cargo mix and vessels positions.
“Volumes in August were in line with average volumes in the last months and capacity is still a limiting factor. High Heavy and Break-Bulk share of cargo transported was slightly higher than the average for the last three months,” Höegh said.
