Jumbo Shipping, SAL Heavy Lift and Intermarine join forces

Netherlands-based heavy-lift contractor, Jumbo Shipping, and Germany’s breakbulk and project cargo specialist, SAL Heavy Lift, have joined forces with Houston-based multi-purpose ship and liner operator, Intermarine. The JSI Alliance now has a fleet of 50 vessels.

Jumbo and SAL had already set up a commercial alliance in 2021. Now, with Intermarine, the new partnership will offer a unified commercial entry point for sales and marketing and a network of offices and agents in 23 countries.

The 50-ship fleet ranges from multi-purpose vessel to some of the world’s most advanced heavy-lift ships, with lifting capacities of up to 3,000 tonnes safe working load. The new setup now offers a one-stop shop to meet customers’ maritime breakbulk and project cargo requirements, the partners said.

They explained how Intermarine’s assets will extend the scope of services offered by Jumbo and SAL. The American company’s fleet is based on standardised multi-purpose vessels typically geared up to a maximum safe working load of 500 tonnes. That is where the Jumbo and SAL vessel portfolio begins.  

Richard Seeg, Intermarine President, commented: “This is a great step for Intermarine and a significant milestone for us in our over 35 years of business. We’re a sister company to SAL, which means we’ve had some cooperation up to this point. But forming a real commercial joint venture and alliance marks the beginning of a new and greater adventure.”

Jumbo Shipping’s director Chartering & Projects, Laurens Govers, said: “When we launched our commercial alliance with SAL three years ago, we weren’t sure how the market and our customers would receive this new take on a commercial cooperation in the heavy-lift sector. Today, we look back at the success it’s been. Through our growing relationship with Intermarine as well, I’m confident that our new setup and wider service scope as JSI Alliance will be a valuable addition to our platform.”

Speaking for SAL Heavy Lift, managing director Jens Baumgarten, said: “We’ve obviously gained vital experience in our years of commercial partnership with Jumbo. JSI Alliance emerged more or less organically with our closer commercial cooperation with our sister company, Intermarine. That being said, we’ve worked intensively over the past several months to prepare and set up our structures so we can operate effectively from day one. Our greatest priority is keeping our customers happy – both during and after each project and shipment. We believe that the added value we create for our customers will strengthen relationships and lead to repeat transport inquiries over many years.”