Titan Salvage, a division of US- based Crowley Maritime Group, has opened talks with AP Moller-Maersk-owned Svitzer Group company Svitzer Salvage over merging their salvage operations.

The tie-up could create a market leader with Svitzer Salvage’s worldwide network of tugs and emergency response experts combining with Titan’s experience in the wreck-removal business.

Titan was the lead salvor in the wreck-removal contract for the Costa Concordia on Giglio Island, Italy — widely regarded as the most expensive and complicated such operation ever undertaken.

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