Nakashima Propeller Takes Majority Stake in Becker Marine Systems

Japan's Nakashima Propeller Co. has taken a majority stake in the German shipbuilding supplier Becker Marine Systems GmbH.

“We have gotten to know Nakashima Propeller as a much respected and reliable partner through decades of cooperation,” said Dirk Lehmann and Henning Kuhlmann, the two managing directors at Becker Marine Systems, “and because we are expert suppliers in the area in front of and behind the propeller with well-known products such as the Becker Mewis Duct and the Becker Rudder family, the cooperation with the globally leading propeller manufacturer is, of course, a perfect fit.”

Both family companies will aim to offer a well-coordinated set of technologies in both the newbuilding and retrofit sectors. Customers can now put together packages from products that have been successfully tested worldwide. This includes Nakashima’s propellers and bow thruster systems and Becker’s maneuvering systems, energy-saving devices and battery solutions. Both companies also have state-of-the-art Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) departments, which will be used even more efficiently together.

Mr Takayoshi Nakashima, President of Nakashima Propeller. © Nakashima Propeller

"Becker and Nakashima have started the cooperation since 1978. This time, we are pleased to enhance  the strategic partnership with Becker Marine Systems through this agreement. I strongly believe that the relationship and trust which both families and management teams built over 40 years enables us to reach this agreement successfully. We will make a significant contribution to total optimization for propulsive performance as well as maneuvering performance to our customers during entire lifecycle of ships,” said Nakashima’s President Takayoshi Nakashima as well as Lehmann and Kuhlmann, who will continue to hold the position of managing directors.

Becker Performance Package (Becker Twist Rudder with Becker Mewis Duct Twisted). © Becker Marine Systems