Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2015)

NEWSMAKERS

ARDENT

The New Name (& familiar face) in Maritime Salvage

Last month Svitzer and Titan Salvage announced plans to merge their salvage operations. Peter Pietka, former chief executive of Svitzer Salvage, takes the helm of the new com- bined company – to be dubbed Ardent and headquartered in Houston – on May 1. Maritime Reporter & Engineering

News spoke with Pietka for insights on the path ahead.

By Greg Trauthwein vitzer, the salvage division of AP ? nancial risk. In managing both personal Maersk corporate council team working sels with LNG onboard. “But at the same

Moller-Maersk and Titan Salvage, and ? nancial risk, you need to be highly out of New Jersey, and subsequently he time, we are seeing that there are fewer

Sa division of Crowley Maritime disciplined,” otherwise it’s gambling. ran the Svitzer tug boat operations for incidents.”

Corp., will effectively meld two of the Pietka believes his combined team, North and South America based in Mi- “The intention of this merger was to enviable corporate cultures in the mari- with its accrued knowledge and long ami. For the previous three years, he has create a company which is stronger than time world, bringing together a pair of experience, will be well positioned to worked in the salvage business based in either of the two companies would have companies which include strong family continue to be successful in the com- Holland. been on their own,” Pietka said. “It has roots and larger corporate development. bined company’s traditional core seg- “I have one leg in both camps,” said allowed us to create a stronger company,

Last month the pair announced the ments – emergency response and wreck Pietka, noting that challenges are inher- that is better positioned to meet the re- plan to combine the salvage opera- removal markets – while also expanding ent in any combined venture, particularly quirements at a lower cost basis.” tions into one, larger operation, equally operations into other business lines such one involving companies from separate In Pietka’s view, Titan was the perfect owned by each company. Ardent ‘opens as offshore decommissioning and under- countries on separate continents. partner for Svitzer Salvage, as Titan has its doors’ on May 1, headquartered in water and diving services. been historically strong on the wreck re-

Houston, Texas, with of? ces in the Neth- “The company will become an industry Timing is Everything moval portion of the salvage business, erlands, the UK and Singapore leader in wreck removal and emergency Oftentimes corporate tie-ups are a di- including its role in the salvage of Costa

Discussions on maritime salvage to- response,” said Pietka. “Further, while rect result of prevailing, long-term mar- Concordia, considered to be one of the, if day start with words like “risk” and remaining integral to our new company, ket conditions, which appears to be the not the, most famous salvage of all time. “compliance,” meaning long gone are emergency response and wreck removal case in the creation of Ardent. “I think Svitzer Salvage in turn was particularly the days when salvors were viewed as will be part of a wider ecosystem of ser- that our industry is facing two opposite strong in the emergency response sector. cowboys, as the legal and ? nancial risk vices. We have come together to build a pressures,” said Pietka. “One pressure “We were very complementary in penalties in maritime and salvage opera- more modern and effective offering for (from the marine and the insurance in- terms of each other’s strengths and tions today mandate a level of sophisti- the maritime sector.” dustries) is the requirement to invest in weaknesses.” cation, engineering and expert support new equipment,” that will be able to of- unlike any other. “One Leg in Both Camps …” fer emergency response operations to a Meet Ardent “You can’t be a cowboy anymore,” Pietka, 48 and a Danish citizen, said ? eet of ships that are growing increas- The joint venture formed with effect said Pietka. “Today you are dealing his chief challenge in the short term will ingly larger. from May 1 and will be headquartered in with two types of risk: risk to the per- be communication among the entire For example, if one of the world’s Houston, Texas, with of? ces in the Neth- sonnel involved: for example we are ac- team, building a common culture and massive new containerships gets in trou- erlands, the UK and Singapore. The customed to coming to ships on ? re, in ensuring all are onboard with Ardent’s ble outside of port, salvage companies new executive management team will be some cases where the crew has left be- goals and direction. With a career span- need the equipment to of? oad the ship led by Peter Pietka; with Jeff Andreini, cause It’s too dangerous, and our guys ning 25 years and having previously ef? ciently and safely. Another area of chief ? nancial of? cer; Renier van den are boarding from a helicopter. If you lived in the U.S. twice for more than 10 growing concern is the ability to respond Bichelaer, chief commercial of? cer; and deal with that type of risk you need to be years, he feels well suited for the task. to the complex emergency scenario Paul van’t Hof, chief operations of? cer; incredibly disciplined. The other part is Many years ago he served on the posed by the growing numbers of ves- and Chris Peterson, merger manager.

12 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MAY 2015

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