On 1 December 2025, NORDEN announced that it has acquired the Southern African cargo activities of Taylor Maritime, previously operated under the IVS brand. The deal includes the specialist parcelling team based in Durban, South Africa, headed by Brandon Paul, who together with his team will continue to serve customers on parcel trades from South Africa.
“We are delighted that Brandon and his team join NORDEN as we are committed to further grow our activity and customer offering in Southern Africa as a global provider of ocean-based freight services for bulk and project cargo of all sizes,” said NORDEN CEO Jan Rindbo. “With a fleet of over 400 vessels, we are looking to further expand our business in the region and offer our customers fully flexible solutions.”
The Durban office becomes NORDEN’s third location on the African continent, alongside existing offices in Ivory Coast and Gabon. According to NORDEN, the region offers strong potential due to a growing mining sector and the presence of some of the fastest growing economies in the world. To unlock this potential, the company believes that a local presence is required to build close partnerships with customers and other key stakeholders.
The move is NORDEN’s third acquisition in as many years, following the 2023 acquisition of the activities of Thorco Projects and the 2024 acquisition of Nordic parcelling firm Norlat Shipping, both of which are now fully integrated into the Freight Services & Trading (FST) business unit.
“Today’s acquisition is thereby another strengthening of our parcelling strategy, creating a more customer-centric company,” added Jan Rindbo. “The project cargo business is more specialised and niche than our traditional shipping activities, calling for specialist knowledge, customisation and differentiation. We look forward to bringing these services to even more customers across the world.”
The acquisition sum is undisclosed and NORDEN said the transaction will not affect its guidance for full-year 2025. The deal has received the necessary merger clearance.
