HGK Shipping and Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH have signed a time charter agreement to lease three dry goods vessels on a long-term basis, according to the company's release.
The shipping company based in Duisburg will therefore become the preferred partner for the inland waterway shipping operations of Salzgitter Flachstahl. In return, the latter is using this development to secure itself access to transport capacity and is underlining its clear commitment to inland waterways.
One element in this partnership involves the new construction of a dry goods vessel and it will be directly designed to meet the product dimensions and requirements of the Salzgitter Group and cope with the west- ern German canal region. Intensifying their cooperation and the agreement covering the construction of the new vessel are the first specific steps resulting from the memorandum of understanding that HGK Ship- ping and two subsidiaries of Salzgitter AG (SZAG) – Salzgitter Flachstahl and DEUMU- Deutsche Erz- und Metall-Union – had signed in August 2023.
Salzgitter Flachstahl will coordinate and manage the operations of the three time-charter vessels from HGK Shipping’s existing fleet within SZAG. They are being made available to the company with immediate effect and will be used for alternating services between the Salzgitter business sites and its customers in the Netherlands and Belgium. They will transport raw and input materials for steel manufacturing, such as scrap steel.
Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG (HGK) is the logistics company within the City of Cologne’s public utilities group. Formerly just a port operator, HGK has developed into a group that pro- vides integrated transport and logistics services with operations across Europe.
HGK Shipping is part of Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG. Its fleet comprises about 350 ves- sels, including owner-operated ships. The spectrum of goods transported ranges from liquid chemical products and liquefied gases to dry goods and even break-bulk cargo.