Boluda agrees to buy Samskip as Contship returns to liner shipping with Tarros
The Boluda-Samskip network will run 32 ships on 18 routes from northern Europe to West Africa; Contship buys the whole Tarros group
Spanish shipping group Boluda signed an agreement on 28 October to acquire Samskip, the Icelandic shortsea and multimodal operator headquartered in the Netherlands, combining two of Europe's main independent shortsea container businesses. The deal is expected to close on 1 January 2027, subject to regulatory approval, and financial terms have not been disclosed.
The combined network will run 32 ships on 18 routes serving 28 countries, from northern Europe to the Iberian Peninsula, the Canary Islands and West Africa. Ashore it will have 21 container terminals, five rail terminals and more than 500 company-owned trucks, with annual throughput expected to exceed 750,000 teu and a pool of about 35,000 containers. Boluda Shipping describes it as the most comprehensive independent shortsea container network in Europe.
"We see significant potential to strengthen connections across Europe and with West Africa, while continuing to focus on efficiency, reliability and service for our customers," said Ignacio Boluda Ceballos, executive chairman of Boluda Shipping.
What changes for Samskip?
Samskip keeps its brand, and Ólafur Orri Ólafsson stays on as chief executive. The two companies already cooperate on services in Spain, and Rotterdam is to become an important hub for the enlarged network, building on Boluda's existing towage and shipping operations there. In February Samskip agreed to sell its UK and Ireland freight business, including container services linking Rotterdam with British and Irish ports, to Luxembourg-based CLdN.
The purchase takes Boluda further beyond its origins in Valencia. In its 200th year of family ownership, the group is the world's largest towage operator, with about 850 tugs in more than 230 ports, built up partly through acquisitions such as Les Abeilles International in France, LBSH in Ukraine and the towage assets of Seatrium in Singapore. Last year it agreed to buy Boskalis' towage operations in Australia and Papua New Guinea for $640m, and this month its terminals division won a 16-year multipurpose terminal concession in Barcelona. Boluda Towage has also just taken delivery of VB Norwegian Falcon, a 90-tonne bollard pull escort tug built by Sanmar, which will be based at Florø from November.
What is Contship buying?
In the Mediterranean, Italian terminal operator Contship is returning to liner shipping by acquiring the entire Tarros group through its subsidiary Sogemar. The deal covers Tarros SpA and its subsidiaries Terminal del Golfo, Car Box, Compagnia Marittima Servizi and Med Logistics Malta. Founded in 1828, Tarros runs a door-to-door network across 16 countries and 31 ports linking Europe with North Africa and other Mediterranean destinations, with 751 employees and about 2,700 customers.
Contship plans to combine Tarros' regional shipping services with Sogemar's intermodal network and its terminals in Italy, Egypt and Morocco. Chief executive Matthieu Gasselin said the combination would strengthen the group on north-south corridors between Europe and Africa. Completion is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval, and terms were not disclosed.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 30 October 2026.
