With the shipping world rattled by its biggest-ever bankruptcy and major players seeking safety through mergers, a family-run company from landlocked Bavaria is braving the turbulence by financing fresh vessels.
With two new ships, MST Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition & Transport GmbH is reviving a German funding model that the global recession came close to killing off, tapping private investors for the bulk of the money with most banks reluctant to lend. The secret for MST, located in a hamlet more than 600 kilometers (370 miles) from Germany’s biggest port city of Hamburg, is to bet on a niche, like a long-term contract to transport clay, rather than rely purely on worldwide trade growth.
Continue reading here: https://www.bloombergquint.com/markets/2016/11/03/in-landlocked-bavaria-family-carrier-plots-ship-fu...