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Boluda expands into Scandinavia with Finnish fleet acquisition
A leading harbour tug owner has purchased a local owner to gain a foothold in the Scandinavian market
Boluda Towage has added ice breaking and harsh-environment operations to its experience by acquiring Finnish tug owner Yxpila Hinaus-Bogsering.
The Spanish shipowner has consolidated its presence in northern Europe by purchasing the local towage provider in the Gulf of Bothnia, adding six vessels to its fleet and operations in four Finnish ports.
“This purchase is a further step in our consolidation in northern Europe, a complex market where the experience and expertise of the crews are key to carry out towing and marine salvage operations in extreme conditions,” said Boluda president Vicente Boluda Fos.
“In addition, we are opening the Scandinavian market, providing coverage to our customers in the northernmost part of the Baltic Sea.”
Yxpila Hinaus-Bogsering is a family owned company providing harbour towage and ice-breaking services in the ports of Kokkola, Vaasa, Raahe and Kemi, in the Gulf of Bothnia, with five icebreakers and one other harbour tug.
Port operations at Kokkola docks have grown significantly in the last decade, with the harbour becoming one of the largest logistics facilities in Finland, especially for the mining industry, dry bulk cargo, chemicals and timber.
The Yxpila Hinaus-Bogsering acquisition is the latest in Boluda Towage’s expansion in Europe this year, after it completed a series of other tug-owner transactions.
This division of family owned and run Boluda Corporación Marítima has acquired three companies in Europe, propelling one of the world’s largest tug owners further into emergency response, salvage and standby services.
For implementing this corporate expansion strategy and investing in low-emissions tugs, Boluda Towage was nominated, shortlisted and won International Tug & Salvage’s Tug Owner of the Year 2024 Award, sponsored by Med Marine, during the 27th ITS Convention in Dubai, UAE.
Boluda added 31 new tugs to its fleet in Europe – 20 in the UK, six in France and five in Gibraltar – and several new strategic hubs through three deals this year.
In February, Resolve Salvage and Fire (Gibraltar) was acquired from Resolve Marine Group, providing a new strategic centre at the gateway from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea.
This deal added tugs Elliot, Hercules, Rooke, Responder and Wellington to its extensive European fleet and emergency response and salvage capabilities. In June, VB Responder joined after its mobilisation from Setubal, Portugal, where this 33-m tugboat was previously named Med Setubal.
In March, Boluda acquired family run SMS Towage, broadening its activities and network in the UK. SMS had emerged as a major player in the UK towage market with operations in Tyne, Tees, Humber, Portsmouth, South Wales and Belfast. Boluda was already working in the ports of Invergordon, London, Liverpool and Southampton.
This was followed in May with the acquisition of Les Abeilles International and its emergency response vessels, bolstering Boluda’s presence on the French Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.
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