Venture Management Group was formed in 1987. The company is essentially concerned with applying technology to ship design and shipbuilding, as well as advising government and non-government organisations on various aspects of the shipping industry.
VMG has advised the governments of Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Ireland on the establishment of their ship registries and their shipping and shipbuilding policies, with programmes that continue to this day as the shipbuilding tax lease schemes and tonnage tax and registration schemes in Luxembourg, the Canary Islands, Madeira in Portugal, as well as the Irish tonnage tax regime—all of which are considered leading “onshore” shipping regimes.
In the early 1990s, VMG worked with major international shipping groups in the USA, Norway, Spain, Italy and China. In the UK, VMG worked closely with Bibby Line Group, designing and building a series of ships and advising them on the acquisition of a 50% stake in Botany Bay Shipping Company of Australia.
Also in the 1990s, VMG built a series of highly innovative stainless steel chemical carriers for a number of the large chemical carrier operators following the establishment of a shipbuilding support and finance programme by the Spanish Government under the advice of Venture Management Group.
As the company grew and developed, it expanded by offering complete “Design, Build and Finance” packages with the design team of the former SEC shipyard in Viareggio, Italy, which established Ship Projects Engineering and Contracting (www.ship-projects.com) under the former general manager and chief designer of the shipyard, Dr Leonardo Acciarri. SPEC and VMG then co-founded Cathay Atlantic Shipbuilding & Management to continue shipbuilding activities in China.
The companies have designed and pioneered new containment systems for chemicals and hot and cold products such as LNG, LPG and asphalt and liquid sulphur. In addition we have specialised in the design of vessels for navigating in cold temperatures and have produced a series of designs for major Russian and other oil companies.
Since 2008, VMG has been working with a range of industrial designers, engineers and equipment manufacturers on the development of renewable and waste-to-energy projects, primarily in the UK but with the intention of rolling out similar projects internationally. Future waste-to-energy projects include plans for floating municipal and smaller-scale plants that could service island or remote communities and similar innovative ideas. VMG has also been working with various partners on developing composites for concrete reinforcement and aircraft and marine construction.