The Cyprus branch of Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) has increased the size of its managed fleet by one-fifth to about 100 vessels over the past 12 months, helped by an influx of ships controlled by US private-equity funds.

“This year alone, we are looking at fleet expansion of over 20%,” managing director Arthur McWhinnie told TradeWinds on the sidelines of this year’s Maritime Cyprus conference.