Frank Smet News

German container shipping company Hamburg Süd said its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Frank Smet will retire at the end of March after roughly 27 years with the company.Smet, who has been working in the shipping industry for over 40 years – including in Brazil, Chile, Australia and Hong Kong – has been a member of Hamburg Süd’s Management Board since 2012. He was initially responsible for Network, Operations and Logistics before assuming responsibility for Sales and Customer Service in 2017.In the future, Hamburg Süd CEO Dr. Arnt Vespermann will also be responsible for the customer relations.

Hamburg Süd has strengthened its product portfolio on the Europe with new stand-alone service offered in collaboration with Maersk.The trade between Europe and Central America, Caribbean and South America West Coast has always been a key element in Hamburg Süd’s global network of liner services. In cooperation with Maersk, Hamburg Süd will be expanding and enhancing the services it offers on this core trade beginning in June 2019.According to a press release, the serice will have maximum flexibility for tailor-made solutions, better port coverage and competitive transit times and high schedule reliability.“Combining the strengths of Hamburg Süd and Maersk…

Hamburg Süd christened the Polar Ecuador containership in Antwerp.The new vessel belongs to a group of four structurally identical vessels in the Polar class that have been built for Hamburg Süd by the Chinese shipyard Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding. With a total length of 230 meters and a width of 37.30 meters, the ship offers a container storage capacity of 3,800 TEU and is equipped with 1,000 reefer plugs.The Polar Ecuador is deployed in Hamburg Süd’s North Europe – Mexico/Caribbean service (EMCS)…

The trade between Europe and Central America, Caribbean and South America West Coast has always been a key element in the container liner shipping line Hamburg Süd’s global network of liner services.In cooperation with Maersk, Hamburg Süd will be expanding and enhancing the services it offers on this core trade beginning in June 2019.“Combining the strengths of Hamburg Süd and Maersk, we can offer our customers a best in class stand-alone service configuration without having to depend on vessel sharing agreements with other shipping companies,” says Frank Smet, Chief Commercial Officer of Hamburg Süd.“This allows maximum flexibility towards the needs of the trade and our customers because we can design and operate the systems totally independently.

Hamburg Süd is introducing its future use of Remote Container Management (RCM) with full transparency in real time as well as significantly increased efficiency for refrigerated transport chains.In recent months, all the reefer containers used by Hamburg Süd have been outfitted with RCM technology, said the international logistics service sector.Using satellite and mobile radio technology, RCM makes it possible to monitor the refrigerated container and the condition of the cargo inside it – including its location, temperature profile, relative humidity, and concentrations of oxygen and CO2 – around the clock and in real time. In addition…

German shipping company Hamburg Süd is resuming its weekly direct service from Peru’s Port of Paita to Philadelphia just in time for the forthcoming mango and grape season in South America.The international logistics service provider said in a press release that with a transit time of eleven days, the service provides exporters in Peru and US importers a premium product designed specifically with these sensitive cargoes in mind.The release quoted Frank Smet, Chief Commercial Officer Hamburg Süd as saying: "At Hamburg Süd being customer-oriented also entails reacting flexibly to the demands of our customers. This includes making our transport capacities available to them when they are particularly needed."He added: "After the successful launch last year…

While Maersk Line relaunched Asia-Europe Network to increase schedule reliability, Hamburg Süd upgraded schedule reliability in Asia – Europe/Mediterranean network. Maersk Line announced changes to its services connecting Asia and Europe to focus on improving the reliability of the world’s most comprehensive Asia-Europe network. Enhancements address customers’ needs for stable and efficient services and allow for competitive coverage of ports and main markets in both Asia and Europe. “We are pleased to provide our customers with this revised network, which will offer them a higher level of cargo arrival reliability”, comments Johan Sigsgaard, Maersk Line’s Head of Europe Trade.

Hamburg Süd remains a commercially independent brand under new owner – Significantly greater product range through global service network – Own sales force provides unchanged level of care to Hamburg Süd customers. With yesterday’s (November 30) closing, the Hamburg Süd Group is now part of the Danish company Maersk Line and thus a subsidiary of the world’s market leader in container shipping. “Under this new umbrella, we can strengthen Hamburg Süd’s position worldwide in a challenging market environment, improve our market position, and offer our customers many advantages,” said Dr. Arnt Vespermann, new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hamburg Süd. Dr. Arnt Vespermann has been with Hamburg Süd for 18 years and a member of the Executive Board since 2009.

The transportation of pharmaceutical products in reefer equipment is subject to the particularly strict guidelines of the Good Distribution Practice (GDP) scheme. Hamburg Süd will be meeting the requirements with regard to calibration processes as of July and therefore be able to respond flexibly to corresponding customer wishes. The guidelines for GDP are specified by the World Health Organization as well as the European Commission. They stipulate that the temperature-regulating sensors of the reefer machinery not only monitor each other automatically, but also that calibration has to take place, and be documented, at regular intervals.

Hamburg Süd takes first place in the SeaIntel Global Liner Performance Report for the month of February 2017 in the category Schedule Reliability for the third time in succession. The company had already reached this top spot in December 2016 as well as January 2017. On the average for 2016, Hamburg Süd achieved second place among 20 container lines rated. “Hamburg Süd takes schedule reliability very serious. Our customers can rely on punctual delivery of their cargo. Within the value chain, this avoids, for instance, additional costs for expensive warehousing or production delays,” says Frank Smet, Member of the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd. Punctuality plays an important role, particularly in the transportation of perishable goods.

Container shippers Maersk Line and Hamburg Süd announced a slot purchase agreement for Hamburg Süd’s volumes on the East–West trades to be shipped on vessels in the 2M network. Maersk Line acquired Hamburg Süd in December 2016, and the two are party to a number of such operational agreements worldwide. Due to changes in the global liner alliances, the agreement follows commercial negotiations in anticipation of the termination of Hamburg Süd’s current slot purchase arrangements on the East–West trades.

With the christening of the new container ship “Vicente Pinzón”, the Hamburg Süd subsidiary Alianҫa has -- for the moment -- completed the expansion and modernization of its fleet. In the past two years, Alianҫa has launched a total of six newbuildings for its cabotage services, four of which feature a slot capacity of 3,800 TEU each and two with 4,800 TEU each. All newbuildings have set new standards in the Brazilian coastal routes in terms of their capacity and environmental characteristic.

With the christening of the new container ship “Vicente Pinzón”, the Hamburg Süd subsidiary Alianҫa has momentarily completed the expansion and modernisation of its cabotage fleet. In the past two years, Alianҫa has launched a total of six newbuildings for its cabotage services, four of which feature a slot capacity of 3,800 TEU each and two with 4,800 TEU each. All newbuildings have set new standards in the Brazilian coastal routes in terms of their capacity and environmental friendliness. The christening took place on 20 June in front of some 500 guests at the Terminal Marítimo de Passageiros in the Port of Santos. This port is not only by far the most important for the shipping group in South America in terms of the number of transports, Santos is also the No.

Hamburg Süd christened its third container vessel in the new San class yesterday, officially naming newbuild San Vicente at the Cuenca del Plata terminal in Montevideo. The new ship class in the Hamburg Süd fleet has a nominal container slot capacity of around 9,000 TEU and with 1,370 reefer slots for refrigerated containers a correspondingly high reefer capacity. San Vicente’s sponsor is Elisa Maier, wife of Roland Maier, owner of the Swiss Commodity Supplies AG, with which Hamburg Süd has been working for many years.

After 18 years on the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd, Joachim A Konrad, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, is to retire at the end of April, 2012. The Advisory Board of Hamburg Süd has appointed Peter Frederiksen and Frank Smet to succeed him. They will be joining the Executive Board  May 1, 2012. The scale and importance of the duties performed by Joachim A Konrad in past years prompted the Advisory Board to split the scope of responsibilities in the future. Joachim A Konrad’s career in shipping began in 1963 with a traineeship at Norddeutscher Lloyd. Following the amalgamation of Norddeutscher Lloyd and Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft in 1970 to form Hapag-Lloyd…