Watco buys interest in Mid-Ship Group, Eric Wolfe appointed CEO

Watco Supply Chain Services LLC in Springdale has purchased an interest in Mid-Ship Group LLC of Port Washington, N.Y. Watco Supply Chain Services is a subsidiary of Watco Companies LLC of Pittsburg, Kan.

Mid-Ship Group (MSG) operates with three divisions: marine, logistics and Kinder Morgan Logistics (KML). Mid-Ship Group and Watco have had a prior business relationship that included Mid-Ship Group’s logistics, KML, Watco Supply Chain Services and Watco’s Terminal and Port Services division. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

On Monday (April 30), the companies announced the purchase expands their relationship and cooperation in marine chartering and international market expansion. Watco will join the existing ownership group for Mid-Ship, and the group includes an affiliate of Kinder Morgan Inc., executives of Mid-Ship Marine Inc., and its chairman Jeff Armstrong.

“We are pleased to integrate with our key partner, Watco, and believe this combination will lead to an expansive service offering for MSG and Watco customers. The core principals of client first service and dedication to our customers’ business success are shared by both Watco and MSG,” Armstrong said. “By leveraging MSG’s ocean marine, barge and bulk trucking expertise with Watco’s rail, highway logistics and supply chain expertise, we will provide our customers an expanded operations service and technology offering for all their logistics needs via our global network of U.S. domestic and international offices.”

Eric Wolfe, president of Watco Supply Chain Services, was appointed CEO of MSG. “The talent of these two teams and the unparalleled service footprint of the expanded network provides a unique platform to target areas of the supply chain that have opportunities for optimization to improve flow and reduce costs,” Wolfe said.

Watco offers transportation, terminal and port, mechanical and supply chain services for customers in North America and Australia. Watco Transportation Services owns 37 U.S. short line railroads and 34 industrial contract switching locations. Watco’s Terminal and Port Services division operates 87 locations throughout the United States. Watco has a 50/50 partnership with The Greenbrier Companies Inc. in GBW Railcar Services LLC, which repairs and refurbishes freight cars at 31 locations across North America. Watco Supply Chain Services provides highway, intermodal, rail and international logistics.

Mid-Ship was established more than 40 years ago and has five domestic and nine international offices. It offers service in ocean freight cargo and vessel brokering, barge, rail, truck, supply chain management technology, bulk liquids brokering and project management for more than 400 clients. It handles more than 50 million tons of cargo annually and provides supply chain management with its proprietary technology.

Kinder Morgan is an energy infrastructure company that owns an interest in or operates nearly 85,000 miles of pipelines and 152 terminals. Its pipelines transport natural gas, refined petroleum products, crude oil, condensate and CO2. It’s terminals transload and store petroleum products, ethanol and chemicals and handle products, including steel, coal and petroleum coke. It also produces CO2 used for enhanced oil production projects, primarily in the Permian basin.