BSM and Amon Maritime establish joint venture

The German company Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) and the Norwegian ammonia specialist Amon Maritime announced the creation of the 50/50 joint venture Ula Ship Management (USM) during the Nor-Shipping exhibition in Oslo. USM will be based in Sandefjord in southern Norway and aims to offer ship management services for the Norwegian market, specialising in ammonia-powered vessels. However, the new service will be open to all types of ships.

Commenting on the joint venture, Nick Topham, managing director of BSM Deutschland, said: “The cooperation with Amon Maritime is a milestone in the further development of our ship management services. Ula Ship Management promotes to access the strong Norwegian market with its diversely positioned shipowners. At the same time, we are consciously entering the operation of ammonia-powered vessels. With Amon Maritime, we have a partner at our side who has extensive expertise in this innovative and sustainable field. Our experience is an excellent match.” André Risholm, founder and CEO of Amon Maritime, added: “We were looking for a long-term, high-quality partner with international scale to build a new ship management company in Norway. The company will manage Amon Maritime vessels, and be a new, competitive force in the Norwegian third-party management market for complex vessels.”

BSM has many years of experience in the seaborn transport of liquid gases, including ammonia, the company said in in statement. It has been engaged in ammonia shipping though various managed gas carriers transporting ammonia over the past years. In addition, BSM has a track record in operating vessels using gas as fuel.

Amon Maritime has been working on ship projects, technologies, and bunkering systems, with a sole focus on ammonia fuel, since 2019. According to the company, the development is now sufficiently mature to close in on firm shipbuilding contracts during 2022.