Issue link: https://jocdigital.uberflip.com/i/1203273
18 The Journal of Commerce | Februar y 2020 www.joc.com Breakbulk & Project Cargo "that will focus on bringing the two organizations together while maintain- ing safe and world-class service levels to our customers." ALE has already been brought under the Mammoet brand after completion of the takeover was announced in early January. The combined business will have more than 140 offices and branches globally, as well as the world's largest fleet of heavy lifting and transport equipment. Under the deal, Michael Birch, previously global sales director for ALE and a member of the company's executive management board, has become chief commercial officer at Mammoet and joined its executive board. Other members of the five- person board include chief executive Paul van Gelder and chief operating officer Jan Kleijn. "We are looking forward to work- ing together with our new colleagues all over the world and establishing long-term relationships with our HEAVY TRANSPORT GIANT Mammoet has completed the acquisition of rival ALE to create a global behemoth, the Netherlands-based parent company has confirmed. The planned takeover was announced last July after Mam- moet inked an agreement to acquire its United Kingdom-based competitor. Mammoet said an integration plan will be rolled out in the coming months Kuala Lumpur headquarters, replac- ing Christian Andersen, currently on garden leave but expected to join United 07, a partnership between UHL and Ocean 7, as a managing partner in early February. Többe and Ove Meyer, who resigned in July 2019, co-founded Zeaborn in 2013 and were two of three shareholders, with the third director Jan-Hendrik Többe has relin - quished his management position in a statement to The Journal of Commerce but declined to comment further on the moves. Prior to his departure, Zeamarine's executive group was led by Stehle, chief financial officer Chad Call, chief operations officer Nicki Schumacher, and Frank Fischer, who headed tonnage procurement. The carrier confirmed that Fischer remains part of the man - agement team, but its statement did not mention Call or Schumacher nor the status of any of their positions. Stehle had been with Zeamarine for less than a year. According to German news reports, he left due to differences of opinion about the carri- er's strategic approach to the market. The MPV/HL sector has indeed been hungry for guidance on Zeamarine's market strategy, as rumors about a lack of synergy among the acquired companies have circulated per- sistently. An answer implying ambi- tion and confidence seemed to be sent mere weeks ago, when Zeama- rine announced the hiring of Namir Khanbabi to take over the position of director Asia-Oceania in the carrier's THE ABRUPT DEPARTURE in mid- December of Zeamarine chief commercial officer Dominik Stehle turned out to be a precursor to drama unleashed a few days later at the carrier's Hamburg offices. Staff were stunned, according to industry sources, when the German shipping press broke news of more changes at the top of one of the largest global multipurpose/heavy- lift (MPV/HL) carriers, revealing that Sven Lundehn, tax expert and manag - ing director with Bremen-based crisis management consultancy Alldatax, is taking over management of Zeama- rine. Zeamarine confirmed Lundehn's appointment and that managing Moving on Drastic changes play out at Zeamarine amid executive departures By Janet Nodar Mammoth merger Mammoet tops heavy-li sector with ALE buy complete By Keith Wallis customers, existing and new," van Gelder said in a statement. "We will put all our efforts into supporting them with their activities aimed at enhancing cities, businesses, and communities that are all part of the transition to a more sustainable future. As their goals increase in size and complexity, we must reshape our- selves to support them while keeping our primary focus on safety." Mammoet is the only global heavy lifting and transport business with a large research and development facility run independently from its operational activities, according to the statement. This includes ALE's former engineering research operation, which developed the mega jack, a system for lifting modular construction pieces weighing upwards of 40,000 tons. Snowball effect? The merger of two of the big four heavy transport companies led to speculation of further consolidation Zeamarine's 14,083-dwt Zea Fame berthed in Rostock Port last year. Markus Spiske / Unsplash