Belgian maritime giant CMB.Tech and US-listed bulk carrier company Golden Ocean have completed a stock-for-stock merger, forming the world’s largest diversified listed shipping group with a fleet size exceeding 250 vessels.
CMB.Tech and Golden Ocean signed a merger agreement in the first half of this year. According to the agreement, Golden Ocean has now merged with CMB.TECH Bermuda, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CMB.Tech. The new group will be listed in New York, Brussels, and Oslo, with “strong” liquid funds exceeding $400 million.
CMB.Tech issued 95,952,934 new ordinary shares through a capital increase via contribution in kind. These shares will be delivered to the former Golden Ocean shareholders as merger consideration at a ratio of 0.95 CMB.Tech ordinary shares for each Golden Ocean ordinary share held. Upon completion of the merger, the current shareholders of CMB.Tech will hold approximately 70% of the issued share capital of the merged company, while Golden Ocean shareholders will hold approximately 30%.
The merged company’s fleet will exceed 250 vessels, spanning five major shipping segments, with a total fleet value exceeding $11.1 billion (approximately RMB 79.725 billion), an average vessel age of just 6.1 years, and outstanding fuel efficiency; more than 80 of these vessels are hydrogen and ammonia fuel-ready, allowing for future retrofitting to use low-carbon fuels.
It is understood that Golden Ocean is headquartered in Bermuda and specializes in dry bulk transportation. Its current fleet operates over 90 dry bulk carriers with a total carrying capacity of approximately 13.7 million deadweight tons (dwt). CMB.Tech, on the other hand, owns more than 160 vessels, including crude oil tankers, dry bulk carriers, container ships, chemical tankers, and offshore wind support vessels, while also deeply engaging in the alternative fuels sector, providing hydrogen and ammonia fuel solutions.
Analysts from Fearnley Securities estimate that post-merger, CMB.Tech may sell 34 non-core and older vessels valued at over $1.98 billion, potentially including 8 older Capesize bulk carriers (valued at $198 million), 10 Kamsarmax bulk carriers (valued at $191 million), 4 Panamax bulk carriers (valued at $70 million), 5 VLCCs (valued at $320 million), and 7 Suezmax tankers (valued at $303 million).
Analysts pointed out that CMB.Tech will focus on large bulk carrier businesses like Capesize and Newcastlemax in the future, while medium-sized bulk carriers such as Kamsarmax and Panamax types may gradually be phased out of the fleet due to business adjustments. Furthermore, from a long-term strategic perspective, CMB.Tech may divest its Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) fleet. As the first 6 Wind Farm Commissioning Service Operation Vessels (CSOVs) it ordered are delivered starting in 2027, the existing CTV fleet might be classified as non-core assets.
CMB.Tech is the green technology division of the Belgian maritime group Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB). It merged with tanker owner Euronav earlier last year, with the new company using the name CMB.Tech and Euronav serving as the brand name for the tanker division. Currently, CMB.Tech has become a diversified clean technology maritime group that builds, owns, operates, and designs large vessels and industrial application equipment using dual-fuel diesel-hydrogen and diesel-ammonia, as well as mono-fuel hydrogen engines.
In February last year, CMB.Tech partnered with Norwegian fertilizer company Yara International and North Sea Container Line (NCL) to place an order at Qingdao Yangfan (now China Merchants Industry Qingdao Shipyard) for the world’s first ammonia-fueled container ship—the 1400 TEU ice-class container ship “Yara Eyde”. The new vessel is scheduled for delivery in mid-2026. Besides container ships, CMB.TECH also has a series of 210,000 dwt Newcastlemax bulk carriers on order at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding, including the world’s first ammonia dual-fuel Newcastlemax vessels. From 2023 to 2024, the company successively ordered 5 ammonia-ready VLCCs at Beihai Shipbuilding.
In March this year, CMB.Tech collaborated with Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines to order 6 x 26,000 dwt chemical tankers at China Merchants Industry Yangzhou Dingheng Shipyard. Two of these will be ammonia dual-fuel vessels, equipped with ammonia dual-fuel engines from completion; the other four will feature an ammonia-ready design for potential future conversion to ammonia power. These are also the world’s first ammonia dual-fuel chemical tankers.
Alexander Saverys, CEO of CMB.Tech, stated: “We are very pleased to complete the merger of CMB.Tech and Golden Ocean. In less than 18 months, we have transformed from a company focused on crude oil tankers into a leading, future-oriented large diversified shipping group.”
“With the Golden Ocean team and fleet joining the CMB.Tech family, we look forward to creating value for all stakeholders with over 250 modern vessels, $11.1 billion in assets, listings in New York, Brussels, and Oslo, over one-third of the fleet already conditioned for using low-carbon fuels, a $3 billion contract backlog… We have only one goal: decarbonizing today to sail towards tomorrow.”
