A feeder and short sea shipping operator has been launched in Saudi Arabia, headed by former Hamburg Sud boss, Poul Hestbaek, according to SeatradeMaritime.
Folk Maritime is headquartered in Riyadh and will offer feeder services and short sea shipping in the Middle East.
Folk Maritime CEO Hestbaek was formerly chief executive of Hamburg Sud and his last responsibility in a career spanning two decades at the container line was the brand integration of Hamburg Sud into Maersk. He left Maersk in mid-2023.
Its initial pair of routes are the Port Sudan Service (PSS) running a 700 TEU vessel fortnightly between Jeddah to Sudan and back, and the North Red Sea Service (NRS) with two 2,500 teu vessels running a weekly service between Jeddah, Neom, Ain Sokhna, Aqaba, Yanbu, and Jeddah.
According to its website, Folk Maritime will establish and manage new shipping routes and trade lanes to connect previosuuly unconnected ports and markets, boosting the movement of goods to and from Saudi Arabia.