V.SHIPS TAKES OVER ACOMARIT

V.SHIPS TAKES OVER ACOMARIT    Monaco-based V.Ships has agreed to take over fellow ship management company    Acomarit, headquartered in Geneva.
   Following the transaction, the ship management companies will combine their organizations and activities, with a global office staff of some 1,000 personnel, and a managed fleet of more than 600 ships served by nearly 25,000 seafarers.
   Under the agreement, V.Ships’ parent company, Vlasov Services Corp., will acquire the entire share capital of the Acomarit group.    Acomarit group chairman Giorgio Sulser will join the V. Ships’ board of directors.
   “The major consolidations we are seeing in the shipowning and operating community require a response from the shipmanagement industry,” Sulser said.
   A spokesman for V.Ships said that the merged ship management organization will, over time, enable the group to maximize operating efficiency and deliver to owners a higher quality product together with a broader range of services.