CSAV TAKES OVER NORASIA

CSAV TAKES OVER NORASIA    Compania Sud Americana de Vapores has taken over Malta-based Norasia Lines Ltd., the largest acquisition so far for the Chilean-based shipping group.
   CSAV, also known as Chilean Line, said that it has bought Norasia and its commercial activities for $38 million. The purchase will add 400,000 TEUs of cargo shipments a year to the CSAV group.
   Norasia, a privately-held company, is run by a management office based in Fribourg, Switzerland.
   A spokesman for CSAV at its head office in Chile would not say whether the acquisition includes the vessels owned by Norasia. The Norasia group owns a series of fast 25-knot 1,400-TEU ships built in 1998 and 1999.
   CSAV, South America’s largest liner carrier, is acquiring Norasia’s interests in the transpacific, Asia/northern Europe, Mideast/northern Europe, Asia/Mideast and Asia/Mediterranean trades. The network of Norasia will complement that of CSAV, which trades mainly in the South American trades and in the transatlantic.
   The purchase will boost CSAV’s annual revenues from $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion, the Chilean newspaper El Diario reported.
   Last year, CSAV acquired 69 percent of the Brazilian shipping line Companhia Libra de Navegacao and 70 percent of the Uruguayan liner operator Montemar Maritima. CSAV also formed a company with Hamburg-based non-operating owner Doehle Schiffahrtskontor GmbH & Co. KG to order seven 3,100-TEU containerships from the Polish shipyard Stocznia Szczecinska.