Although new V.Ships Germany chief executive Nils Aden does not subscribe to the view that the shipping industry has an excessive amount of third-party managers, he sees “room for consolidation”.

“I firmly believe size is a strong argument going forward,” he says.

One reason is that investing in digital tools is beyond the financial scope of many companies.

“Size is a big advantage in keeping up with the speed of digitalisation and driving this transformation,” Aden says.