Last month, Teekay Shipping Australia and KOTUG International B.V. announced the establishment of a new Joint Venture company: KT Maritime Services Australia Pty Ltd. With a century of experience combined with a modern fleet, KOTUG has built its reputation as a competitive and innovative player in the maritime industry.

The new company was created to pursue new business opportunities in the Australian towage market.

"At KOTUG, we have many years of practical and technical experience in the towage field, including the deployment of our highly maneuverable RotorTug technology," said  Ard-Jan Kooren, CEO of KOTUG. "Combined with Teekay’s worldwide reputation for operational leadership and deep knowledge and expertise in the Australian crewing and ship management markets, this results in a strong partnership to pursue new business.”

“The Australian market for towage services is growing as new LNG projects begin production, adding to the ongoing growth in Australian coal and iron ore export shipments,” commented David Parmeter, Managing Director, Teekay Shipping Australia Pty Ltd.  With our new JV company, we are formalizing a partnership that will deliver top tier towage services for the Australian market.”

Under the terms of the JV agreement, Teekay and KOTUG will both continue to separately manage respective existing operations in various Australian ports. KT Maritime Services Australia Pty Ltd will be located in Perth, Australia.  Jamie Anderson, Business Development Manager for KT Maritime Services Australia, will be responsible for developing new business with potential customers.

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