Page 20 - Hafen Hamburg | Port of Hamburg Magazine 4.2021

■ WORLD TRADE
Larger, Greener and More Digital: Shipowners Set Future Course
Deepsea shipping is one of the mainstays of our export nation. Shipping companies need to adapt rapidly and flexibly to fast changing requirements. They are pursuing differing strategies here.
With growing demand, ships are also of increasing size. For decades, this trend has determined world trade. Yet is bigger also better? In reality, shipping com- panies need to weigh up numerous factors conflicting with this belief. Viability, environmental friendliness and geographical restrictions are just a handful of those. So, they are shaping up for the future.
So ‘the three main Ds’ will be central to the future of this long-established shipping company, as Rainer Horn, Global Head of Corporate Communications, puts it. “CO2 neutrality in shipping, then along the whole logistics chain, takes pride of place.” The first three vessels with alternative propulsion systems should already be deployed for Hamburg Süd in 2030. The whole fleet should have been converted by 2050.
To remain so successful for so long, “the right deci- sions need to be taken at the crucial points,” says Horn. He is convinced that under the Maersk Group umbrella, Hamburg Süd is making all the right adjust- ments for the future. Essential in the first place are the close and personal relationships with customers that have facilitated forward-looking trading by the shipping company for 150 years now.
JOINING FORCES
The Port of Hamburg is Germany’s largest universal port and not therefore a base solely for container ship- ping companies. Hamburg-based SAL Heavy Lift, for example, specializes in heavy-lift shipments. This year the company has entered an alliance with Jumbo Ship- ping. As such, these heavy-lift specialists aim to pool their resources and knowhow to offer global solutions for every shipment. “With our Jumbo-SAL alliance, we have the opportunity to launch one of the world’s most powerful efficient service units for the technical heavy freight market, says Malte Steinhoff, Head of Market- ing and Communications. In this segment, the key to long-term success on the world market lies in always having the right ships in the right place at the right time.
The alliance enables SAL to cover a far greater range here. The fleet meanwhile consists of 31 highly spe- cialized vessels with lifting capacities of up to 3000 tons. These are backed by a worldwide network of around 100 engineers in more than 22 offices. “JSA enables us to tender simultaneously for several large projects – no shipping company alone would by itself be in a position to do so,” concluded Steinhoff. Combining forces pays off on wind power, especially. The market is growing, plants are continually increas- ing in size and complexity. The foundations in offshore wind parks frequently weigh over 1000 tons, and the turbine components, over 500 tons. The sheer size of the elements demands enormous capacity that this heavy-lift shipowner can now provide thanks to the Jumbo-SAL alliance.
20 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | December 2021
150 YEARS OF SUCCESS
This year venerable shipowner Hamburg Süd is cele- brating its 150th anniversary. Especially on its main trade routes between Hamburg and South America/ Oceania, it is among the specialists for transporting reefer cargoes such as fruit and meat. Today Hamburg Süd belongs to A.P. Moller-Maersk and is shaping up for another 150 years of success under the umbrella of the world market leader.
Maersk Line, the world’s largest container shipping company, is making sustainability the keynote for its corporate development. Primarily because most of the group’s major customers are committing themselves to carbon-free supply chains, the Danish group has re- acted fast and is moving towards decarbonization of the industry. “We are now extremely well positioned on the main topics for the future – in part thanks to be- longing to Maersk,” says Poul Hestbaek, Hamburg Süd’s CEO. “These primarily include digitalization, de- carbonization of shipping and diversification of our product range for customers all along the logistics chain,” he explains.
© SAL