Yesterday afternoon, the naming ceremony is was held for another large container ship of the Nordcapital Group and its shipping company E.R. Schiffahrt, giving the name "Cosco Germany". Together with more than 250 customers, suppliers and friends from all parts of the world, the company group will thus celebrate a milestone in its history - in this fifteenth year of its existence, Nordcapital has now launched its 100th fund. In this period, the company has created more than 200 sustainable jobs in Hamburg alone.
The total investment volume has amounted to 4.8 billion, of which some 2.0 billion are equity capital, with 102 offerings of equity holdings in a total of 94 ships, 16 office and retail properties, and 7 Private Equity fund-of-funds. Some 40,000 private investors have put their trust in the Group's expertise and experience. In the first half of 2006 alone, altogether 266 million were placed in a total of 4 new funds, including some 166 million equity capital.
The naming ceremony for the "Cosco Germany" will follow the old maritime tradition, with a bottle of champagne, and will be accompanied by loud ship's horns and a colourful firework display. The name will be given by Ambassadorial Counsellor Zhu Yiqing, wife of Ma Canrong, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Federal Republic of Germany. "We are delighted that Mrs. Zhu Yiqing is giving us the honour of being the ambassador of good fortune for our ship and her crew," declares Erck Rickmers, ship owner and principal shareholder of Nordcapital. "We have a history of many years of intensive business contacts with China. Today's guests of honour from China are underscoring this long record of friendship."
Nordcapital has chartered a total of 18 ships to Chinese line shipping companies. They include seven big container ships for OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line), three for CSCL (China Shipping Container Lines), and the latest newbuildings - eight super-postpanamax ships (7,500 and 8,200 TEU) - which have been chartered for ten years each to COSCO, China's largest line shipping company. These include the "Cosco Germany", which will operate in "AE-1 Service" between Europe and Asia.
Source: Nordcapital
