Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) has moved to take full control from Westfal-Larsen of Norwegian open-hatch operator Saga Welco. NYK had previously run Saga Welco for the past 12 years as a 50:50 joint venture with Westfal-Larsen. No financial details for the takeover have been revealed. 

Saga Welco operates a fleet of 48 open-hatch vessels and offers worldwide semi-liner services originating principally from the east coast of South America. 

“Saga Welco’s ability to efficiently consolidate diverse cargoes on multi-purpose open-hatch vessels, coupled with scheduling reliability and specialized operations from its global network of bases, has consistently earned high praise from its customers,” NYK stated in a release. 

elcoJapanese shipping majors buying into and then acquiring Norwegian counterparts is a common theme in international shipping with NYK having other Norwegian interests, as does the likes of Mitsui OSK Lines, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Nissen Kaium and Shoei Kisen Kaisha.