Singaporean Swire Shipping has bought American ride-hailing company Westwood Shipping Lines



Japan's shipping and logistics group Sumitomo Warehouse has ceded the U.S. shipping company Westwood Shipping Lines (WSL), which operates maritime services for miscellaneous goods between North America's North America and Asia eastern, to the Swire Shipping Group in Singapore. The sale to the Singaporean Swire Group, which will purchase the WSL through SSPL US Inc., which is wholly owned by the Swire Shipping subsidiary, includes the fleet of four multipurpose ships of the American company, the Westwood Columbia , the Westwood Olympia , the Westwood Rainier and the Westwood Victoria which were built between 2002 and 2004 and have a container transport capacity of 2,048 teu. These are ships owned by subsidiaries of Sumitomo Warehouse and leased long-term to the WSL.

Citing the decision to cede the shipping company, Sumitomo Warehouse explained that the performance of the WSL remained stable in fiscal years from 2012 to 2015 when the activity was focused on the transportation of forest products from the North America and cargo project, including machinery, from Japan, as well as on container shipping. However, due to the decrease in the transport of forest products, such as newspaper paper coils, Westwood's dependence on direct containerized loads to the east has gradually increased and-specified Sumitomo Warehouse-le performance of the WSL could not be managed efficiently in the period between 2016 and 2020 when the market for containerized transport weakened.

The Japanese group also explained that the evolution of the business volume of the WSL, which operates ships independently on a single route, was directly affected by the fluctuation of the container sector's noli, fluctuation that was in contrast to the long-term stability of the group's core business in Japan, contrast that has grown to such a degree that it could not be more reconciled with management policies for the future of Sumitomo Warehouse. The company also said the decision to sell the U.S. ride-hailing company was also taken into account in the new environmental regulations of the International Maritime Organization.

As a result of the Westwood Shipping Lines Transaction, it will continue to offer services linking Japan, South Korea and China with the United States and Canada using the four fleet ships to which three other naval units will be added to rental.

WSL was formed on September 9, 1980 and was purchased by the Japanese group in June 2011.