Wolfgang Freese News

Wolfgang Freese, President Region North America, will be retiring after almost five decades with Hapag-Lloyd.    Freese began his career in the shipping company in 1971 with an apprenticeship to become a shipping agent. In recent decades, he has held management positions in several locations, including Germany, Indonesia, Great Britain and the U.S.    Since 2009, Freese has led this region headquartered in Piscataway, near New York City. Following a transitional period, he will be succeeded on April 1, 2018 by Uffe Ostergaard, who joined Hapag-Lloyd in May 2017 following its merger with the Arab liner shipping company UASC.    Prior to his time as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at UASC, Ostergaard gained professional experience with Maersk, primarily in Copenhagen.

Has the Panama Canal expansion already outgrown itself? How does the success or failure of the administration's export initiative impact your bottom line? Breakbulk is flourishing; what does that mean to your business? These questions and other hot topics will be the focal point of the Containerization & Intermodal Institute's one-day seminar in Houston on June 20th at the Houston Marriott North. The program will commence with lunch at 11:30 a.m. and will be followed by two panels, adjourning at 5 p.m. Michael Masserman, Executive Director for Export Policy, Promotion & Strategy, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, is the luncheon speaker.

Alcoa "Ocean Carrier Award", Eastman "Excellence Award" and "PPG Excellent Supplier Award": Hapag-Lloyd America has been presented with no less than three awards for outstanding service in the last few weeks. Hapag-Lloyd America has received three awards for high service quality from major clients in the USA within a matter of weeks. The US company Alcoa – one of the world's market-leading manufacturers and processors of aluminium – for the first time named Hapag-Lloyd the best global container shipping company among its service providers. The judges' criteria were the volume of North American imports and exports and the punctuality of deliveries. Hapag-Lloyd is also one of Eastman's most valued service providers, scooping the US chemical company's "Excellence Award" for 2011.