Wartsila set to expand underwater hull cleaning services with acquisition

DECEMBER 21, 2017— Wärtsilä has agreed to acquire Trident B.V., a Netherland based company specializing in underwater ship maintenance, inspection, and repair services. The move would make Wärtsilä the first global operator in the underwater services market. The enterprise value of the transaction is EURO 17.5 million and an additional EURO 3.5 million earn-out, based on the business performance in the coming years. The turnover of Trident is about EURO 9 million. The acquisition is expected to close in January 2018. 

The acquisition will enable Wärtsilä to integrate Trident’s services with Eniram’s analytics. Wärtsilä expands its “vessel-as-a-service” value offering to achieve maximum fuel savings by optimizing hull cleaning cycles. Eniram is a Wärtsilä company focusing on providing shipping companies with energy management technology to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Trident Group, established in 1993, is a leading innovative underwater service supplier specializing in repair, overhaul, and maintenance of propulsion systems, hull, and machinery. With fully equipped workshops and certified personnel in the Netherlands, Italy, and Canary Islands, the company serves customers around the globe.

“This acquisition supports Wärtsilä’s strategy on several fronts, starting from Wärtsilä’s purpose to enable sustainable societies with smart technologies. Reduced fuel consumption, efficiency improvements, and higher utilization rates are always on the top of the operators’ agenda,” says Tamara de Gruyter, Vice President, Area North Europe and Propulsion System Services, Wärtsilä Services. “At the same time, environmental issues are becoming an integral part of customers’ business planning. Trident is a pioneer in the development of environmentally sound solutions, for example, hull cleaning,” de Gruyter continues.

“We are very excited to join Wärtsilä,” says Managing Director Adrie Huijbregts,Trident B.V. “We have identified several synergies between the companies, such as the ability to develop more specific products due to increased knowledge, and thus provide an even more enhanced offering to our customers,” he continues.

Trident and Wärtsilä have previously co-operated in research and development. One result of this co-operation has been the jointly developed Wärtsilä-Trident Thruster preservation bag.