MESTEX SHIPPING & TRADING Ltd was founded in 2001 and is based in Odessa. The Company owns 10 vessels and holds participations in 12 additional ships.

In 2017, MESTEX joined the German Pools Group, based in Hamburg, one of the most efficient and exclusive among containers shipping pools.

What is a shipping pool?

A shipping pool is an organized group of ship-owners, who place vessels in a jointly controlled operational unit, to achieve maximum commercial advantages in the global market.

The concept of shipping pool was introduced to the containers shipping sector in mid 1960s. Several liner companies put their tonnage together on the same route in order to spread risks of sever competition and secure higher income. Shipping pools in specialised containers segment is one of the most effective ways to overcome difficulties brought up by the low market. The ultimate aim for a shipping pool is minimize commercial risks and enhance earnings of its member compared with those outside the pool.

Containers shipping is overwhelmingly important in world seaborne trade in terms of cargo volume. More than three-quarters of world total tonnage are engaged in the containers shipping industry.

Benefits of the shipping pool:

• Stable income. When the market falls sharply, the long and medium term employed ships will provide a financial buffer zone to the vessels encountered heavy losses in the spot market.
• Balancing of results. By pooling member ships together and placing them under a common marketing, the unsatisfactory results of a particular ship can be compensated by the positive results of another. In this respect, a pool is a kind of a mutual fund, whose risk is usually less than the individual risks of the assets it consists of.
• Commercial competitiveness. For a large pool fleet it will be easier to make full utilization of the ships available and rationalise the fleet’s scheduling. The pool can arrange several substitute vessels from the different positions at the same time.
• Overhead reduction and scale economy. A combined organization can cut overheads largely and, meanwhile, increase efficiency. The purchase power of a large fleet is considerable. The supply of spares, stores and provisions can be rationalised and sheer volume means additional discounts in many cases. Service industries, such as shipyards, are more likely to discount costs for potential volume use of facilities. Crewing is another service that can benefit from fleet size.
• Ship financing. Benefits in financing, rather than in operations, are also a driving force behind pooling and other forms of consolidation. The access to a pool is given further to a financial / commercial / technical assessment of the ship owner / ship manager, which increases his credibility and reduces the financial risk.

The German Pools Group's membership gives the MESTEX SHIPPING COMPANY a better credit rating, compared to other operators outside the shipping pool. MESTEX is also recognized by the German Register of Shipping.

In order to stay ahead of the market and optimize management processes, the MESTEX SHIPPING COMPANY implements advanced fleet management practices by using exclusive fleet/office/management software, recognized by the German Register of Shipping DNV-GL.

The Company's vessels are insured by the world's first-class insurance clubs (top 10), which puts the MESTEX SHIPPING COMPANY among the most dynamically developing companies keeping up with the times.