Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2 June 2008 Royal Vopak (Vopak) has sold Vopak Barging Europe to Interstream Barging, an existing joint venture of Vopak and Van der Sluijs Groep. In this way, Interstream Barging, which is established in Dordrecht (the Netherlands) and Düsseldorf (Germany), will extend its existing area of operations of transporting mineral oils into the shipment of chemical products. This cooperation has already been announced in March 2008. As the necessary approvals have been received, the takeover of Vopak Barging Europe by Interstream Barging has now officially been completed. The organisation will start to operate as one company as of 1 July 2008.
The merger of Interstream Barging with Vopak Barging Europe and Van der Sluijs Tankrederij will be in the form of an acquisition of all of Vopak Barging Europe’s shares as well as the shares of Van der Sluijs Tankrederij by Interstream Barging and has no consequences for the employees of either organisation. After the integration, Interstream Barging will have a fleet of 95 inland vessels available and will, therefore, be one of the largest tanker transporters in north-western Europe. This increase in scale will allow Interstream Barging to further strengthen its position and offer customers more flexibility, which will provide increased transport certainty.