Titan Salvage in Early Merger Talks With Maersk's Svitzer Salvage -Source

By Costas Paris

LONDON--Leading salvage company Titan Salvage is in early merger talks with rival Svitzer Salvage, a unit of Danish conglomerate A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S, after a fast decline in sea-salvage operations, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

"It will be a good marriage with Svitzer's tugs responding to distress calls for towing, collisions and crew evacuations and Titan's extensive infrastructure and expertise in wreck removals," the person said, adding that it is still unclear whether the talks will conclude in a merger or a looser alliance.

Titan, a branch of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Crowley Maritime Corp., is one of the world's leading shipwreck specialists and has worked to remove more than 60 wrecks around the world. It was the lead operator in the Costa Concordia removal on Italy's Giglio island earlier this year, after the cruise ship hit rocks in 2012.

Titan might not be part of South Korea's lucrative Sewol wreck removal, however. The South Korean government has indicated that it can do the job on its own with giant cranes provided by the country's shipbuilding yards, which were used to recover the South Korean navy's Cheonan corvette in 2010 after it was sunk by a suspected North Korea torpedo attack.

Svitzer Salvage, part of Mærsk's Svitzer Group, has around a 30% share in sea-salvage operations globally, with more than 400 tugs. Along with emergency responses, it has long-term contracts with harbors and ship operators for towage and other services.

A merger among sea-salvage operators would follow similar moves involving container-shipping companies, ship-brokerage firms and others as the industry is still trying to recover from one of its longest-ever down cycles, dating back to the 2008 economic downturn.

Write to Costas Paris at [e-mail]

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