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GAC Singapore has confirmed that it has been appointed by Danish shipping company Thorco Shipping (Thorco) to provide agency services for its vessels calling at Singapore. The scope covers the loading and discharging of breakbulk and heavy lift cargoes at Jurong port.

Thorco operates a fleet of more than 80 multi-purpose general cargo and heavy lift tweendeck vessels, trading worldwide, primarily in the project and break bulk sectors. Headquartered in Copenhagen, it has offices in different parts of the world including USA, UK, Germany, Holland, Brazil, Chile, Dubai, India, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Japan.

In a statement, Mikael Hansen, Managing Director-Partner of Thorco commented: "When we were looking for a partner in Singapore, we knew that GAC, with its established track records and strong safety and ethical commitment, was the right fit.

"We see synergies in partnering one of the leading ship agents in this region, and look forward to our greater collaboration in the future through an expansion of the current scope to include other agency work."

GAC added: "GAC has been attending to all types of port calls and providing its wide range of agency and support services in Singapore since 1981. Demand for those services in Singapore remains strong, in line with the steady growth in general cargo throughput at its ports since 2010."

Ronald Lichtenecker, GAC Singapore's Managing Director, remarked: "We look forward to putting our highly diversified ship agency experience, global reach and resources, and extensive local knowledge at Thorco's service to help deliver their strategy in Singapore, and beyond.

"We have recently expanded our team to include experienced breakbulk specialists to meet the needs of Thorco and cater to growing demand for our services in this sector."