By Nicole de Jong

They are always on hand without anyone noticing, but still indispensable: the lashers who continue their tradition of manual labour, despite digitalisation and automation. Their work is in container racks or on lashing platforms on vessels. Lashers are responsible for securing and fixing the many thousands of containers on vessels to stop them falling into the water or unbalancing the ship on their journey across the world’s oceans in rough seas.

“They do a good and very important job,”, says Michael Beyer, Managing Director of PG Maritime Solutions (PGMS), one of four lashing companies at the Port of Hamburg that has provided port services since the mid-1960s. Most of the lashers are skilled craftsmen who have been trained for the special work at the port. HHLA is their main customer. “Our traditional, conventional work is to lash containers and secure loads here at the Burchardkai container terminal”, he adds. Beyer has been at the helm of the company for almost two years.

115 men work as lashers at PGMS in total – and the term ‘men’ is meant literally, as all of the lashers at PGMS lashers are men. The work is physically demanding, as lashers are required to climb steep steps into and out of the ship and show their strength by lifting the 15-kilo fastening poles. Lashers need to attach four of these poles at the front and back of each container stack – so will carry 150 of them over the course of the average shift. “My work keeps me fit, so I don't have to go to the gym”, says Olli Reese, who has been working at PGMS for 20 years. Now a foreman coordinating staff at the terminal, he still frequently assists his colleagues with lashing.

Every day, the men are assigned to the aisles – a container gantry crane is one aisle – where three lashers are needed per shift. Their work often takes them to lofty heights. The container gantry crane lifts the lashing platform to where the lashers are needed – sometimes 50 metres up in the air. Arriving there, they are secured in place like in a rollercoaster to make sure they cannot fall out or down. And of course they must not be afraid of heights. Every movement has to be right to prevent any injuries. The precision of their work is crucial for safety on vessels and cannot be replaced by machines.

„Lashers attach
or release
fasteners
on containers"

Michael Beyer
Managing Director of
PG Maritime Solutions (PGMS)

Lashers attach or release fasteners on containers. In wind and weather. Whether the sun is blazing or it's raining, blowing a storm, snowing or freezing, whether the thermometer reads plus 35 or minus 20 degrees – lashers are on duty around the clock 361 days a year, working in three shifts, even at weekends. The port is only closed on five public holidays per year. PGMS only takes long-term employees, 47 years old on average, they have all been working as lashers for 15 years or more. “This is clear proof that they will enjoy their work and know the value of loyalty“, the Managing Director says.

Often they will not know whether they are needed until shortly before the shift begins. Daily volumes are hard to predict, as circumstances like the weather or tidal range can easily lead to delays. The first shift of the day is scheduled the day before, but workers on the second shift at 3 PM and the night shift only find out whether they will be needed around lunchtime on the same day. The men are dispatched as soon as HHLA announces how many lashers it will need on the gantries, so the number of aisles to be manned. “We have a good collective wage agreement, but rightly so, as the workers need to show incredible flexibility”, says Beyer.

Weekend work is handled flexibly as well, so anyone who has time and would like to work simply signs up in the week before. It used to be mandatory for everyone, but this practice was abolished a few years ago at PGMS. Many still want to work at the weekends because of the bonuses or time credits. “That’s why we almost always manage with our own staff at the weekend”, he says. This makes PGMS less dependent on external staff from Gesamthafenbetriebs- Gesellschaft (GHB), the personnel service provider for the Port of Hamburg. “Our voluntary arrangements and staff flexibility are more valuable than anything else I have experienced in over 30 years working at the port.”

What counts in the end is the amount of work on hand – and this can fluctuate. In its best years, PGMS secured between 85,000 and 95,000 containers per month. But the container segment has been in decline for a few years. Last year, there was even at times a drop of between 20,000 and 30,000 containers to lash and secure in place. But the company was reluctant to let anyone go, so it resorted to Kurzarbeit (short-time work) until May of this year. Volumes have since returned to around 75,000 containers.

A Hamburg company through and through, PGMS focuses on the Port of Hamburg. “We are service providers and are present wherever we are needed”, Beyer emphasises. The second business unit, PG Lashing & Securing (PGLS), which operates in the general cargo sector, steps in here. Its employees stow and lash everything that does not fit into the containers at the Wallmann, Unikai and C. Steinweg (Süd-West Terminal) multi-purpose terminals: project cargo such as machine parts, turbines, ship propellers or coils. They occasionally secure cargo on container ships as well if they are also transporting general cargo. Stowing and lashing have been the company’s core business since its inception in 1965

PGLS offers the additional option of equipping vessels with lashing equipment. Among other things, the company trades in twistlocks, which are used to lock containers to each other and to the ship, turnbuckles, lashing rods and stacking cones, which prevent stacked containers from slipping. Chains, wires and rope clamps, tensioning and lashing straps or dunnage and squared timber can also be obtained from PGLS. The entire company generates revenue of €11 million.

Olli receives a radio call to proceed to aisle 7. Something is jammed, so he as the foreman needs to fix the problem. He is on hand, but only his colleagues will notice.

„They do

a good and

very important

job."

Michael Beyer

Managing Director of
PG Maritime Solutions (PGMS),