Multi Maritime’s ferry and cargo vessel expertise complements NSK Ship Design’s portfolio across aquaculture, fishing and offshore vessels
Norwegian ship design specialist NSK Ship Design has acquired Multi Maritime AS, bringing together two complementary naval architecture businesses to create one of Norway’s largest ship design groups by revenue and number of designs delivered.
The acquisition combines Multi Maritime’s established expertise in ferry, passenger vessel and cargo ship design with NSK Ship Design’s capabilities in aquaculture, fishing and offshore vessel design. Together, the companies will offer customers greater engineering capacity, a broader portfolio of services and enhanced support throughout the vessel lifecycle.
“Our customers are growing and becoming more international, and demands for capacity and efficient project delivery are increasing. The ship design industry is also consolidating, with fewer players in the market. Multi Maritime brings expertise and market positions that complement our own. This acquisition is therefore an important step in our growth strategy and our ambition to bring even more newbuild projects to fruition,” says Mats Nygaard Johnsen, CEO of NSK Ship Design.
Multi Maritime will initially continue as a separate company, retaining its office in Førde and working closely with NSK Ship Design. The collaboration will develop gradually. The acquisition also strengthens NSK’s presence in Western Norway, close to the region’s shipyards and shipowners.
Together, the companies will offer broader expertise and greater capacity, drawing on Multi Maritime’s experience in designing more than 100 vessels.
The acquisition will make NSK Ship Design’s services for vessels in operation more readily available to Multi Maritime’s customers. These services are tailored to the demands of round-the-clock operations, 365 days a year. We are seeing growing demand for these services, partly driven by higher newbuilding costs.
The acquisition also extends NSK’s inspection services for vessels under 15 metres to provide nationwide coverage.
“Ultimately, this is about creating more value for our customers. Together, we will be better equipped to support them from early project development and newbuilding through to conversions and ongoing operational support,” says Nygaard Johnsen.
“After many years of ownership, it was important to find an owner within the industry who could take Multi Maritime forward. NSK and Multi Maritime have complementary expertise and a shared approach to ship design. At the same time, Fiskerstrand can focus its resources on its shipyard operations in Sula,” says Rolf Fiskerstrand, who has owned Multi Maritime since 2010.
“Our customers will now have a larger team of specialists behind them. Together, we can offer both broader expertise and greater capacity than before,” says Morten Aune, Managing Director of Multi Maritime.
