The three most frequently mentioned aspects of combining shipping companies are: market power, economies of scale and capital market access. In the liner shipping sector, alliances like Japan's »ONE« and actual mergers have been credited with bringing about a recovery in the market-place. In another sector, a large tanker player has been created through the acquisition of Gener8 by Euronav, which will control 75 vessels. One transaction of particular interest involves two entities, both based in Greece, who are operating small sized contain-erships. Nasdaq-listed Euroseas, owning 11 container carriers, with total capacity of 25,472 TEU (ranging in size from 1,100 up to 5,600 TEU) recently signed a non-binding agreement to discuss »a possible combination« with privately held Poseidon Container Holdings, at that time owner of 16 container ships, including four feeders and two Panamax-es aggregating 86,332 TEU. The Euroseas fleet also includes seven drybulk vessels.
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