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| Company type | A/S |
|---|---|
| Industry | Transport |
| Founded | 1871 |
| Defunct | 2023 |
| Fate | Sold toMaersk |
| Headquarters | Hamburg, Germany |
Key people | Poul Hestbaek (CEO) |
| Products | Container shipping Freight distribution Supply chain management |
| Revenue | Turnover 5,637 (2016) |
Number of employees | 6,301 (2016) |
| Parent | Maersk Line |
Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft A/S & Co KG, widely known asHamburg Süd, was a German container shipping company. Founded in 1871, Hamburg Süd was among the market leaders in the North–South trade. It also served all significant East–West trade lanes.[1]
The shipping entity was formerly part of theOetker Group, but was sold toMaersk Line in 2017.[2][3]
In 2023, the Mark Livery and the red colour were phased out in favour of the Maersk brand.[4][5]
In 1871,Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft (Hamburg–South America Steam Shipping Company, or Hamburg South America Line) was established by a conglomerate of 11 Hamburg-based merchant houses.[6] Three steam-ships totalling 4,000GRT provided a monthly shipping service to Brazil and Argentina.[6]
By 1914, the company was operating over 50 ships, totaling about 325,000 GRT. World War I culminated in the loss of all Hamburg Süd's ships, and the company was forced to begin again by chartering ships.
The early 1950s saw the company embark ontramp shipping andtanker shipping, and caused the large growth of refrigerated cargo. In 1955, the Dr.August Oetker company took over the entity, and began rapid expansion on its liner and passenger services.
The takeover of Deutsche Levante Linie in 1956 saw the company commence its first foray into the Mediterranean. In 1957, liner services began between North America and Australia/New Zealand, with theColumbus New Zealand being the first container ship to ply trade lanes in the region in 1971, pioneeringcontainerization in the Pacific.
Cap Trafalgar was a brand-new passenger liner, having been completed only on March 1, 1914 and had commenced her maiden voyage only on March 10, 1914. Germany had lightly armed the ship with two 10.5 cm guns and six heavy machine guns, and had removed one of her three funnels and re-painted the ship to disguise it as a British liner. She encountered the more heavily armedRoyal Navyarmed merchant cruiser HMSCarmania, which also was a converted passenger liner, about 700 miles east of the Brazilian coast, near the island ofTrindade, at 9:30 a.m. on September 14, 1914. After a heated exchange of fire between the two ships,Cap Trafalgar began listing to port, then sank bow-first.
Cap Arcona was converted to serve theKriegsmarine (German Navy) as a transport ship in 1940. At the end of 1944 she was commandeered as atroopship, primarily transporting refugees and prisoners of war on theBaltic Sea. Loaded with 4,500 prisoners atLübeck Bay, she was attacked and sunk byRoyal Air ForceTyphoons in anair-raid. It remained capsized in Lübeck Bay until 1950 and was then dismantled by divers over a period of several years and scrapped. The wreckage was registered and photographed in detail byRolls-Royce, which had producedthe RAF's rockets, to assess their effectiveness.
Hamburg Süd also ownedBrazilian operator Aliança. It has taken over many companies over the years includingEllerman, Kien Hung, South Seas Steamship, Deutsche-Nah-Ost-Linie,Royal Mail Line,Pacific Steam Navigation Company,Swedish Laser Lines, Rotterdam Zuid-America Lijn (RZAL), Havenlijn and the Inter-America services ofCrowley American Transport, and in 2015 the ChileanCCNI.[8][9]
In the past parts of Hamburg Süd have been known as Columbus Line. Since 2004, the services of Columbus Line are directly integrated into Hamburg-Süd.
The current container fleet of dry boxes has a distinctive red color with a huge flag and white HAMBURG SÜD logo on the side. The refrigerated boxes are white with the flag and navy blue lettering.
In 2023, Maersk announced the brand would be retired.[10][11][12]
Hamburg Süd supports international aid organisations with in-house shipping facilities. In the shortest possible time, relief supplies and technical or medical equipment are transported where needed, typically after natural disasters such ashurricanes,earthquakes, andvolcanic eruptions.
Hamburg Süd maintains a long-term relationship toSOS Children's Villages, supporting their projects in different countries. Hamburg Süd also supports various initiatives in the fields of education and culture, including theUnited Buddy Bears exhibitions.[13]
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