Shipping companies earn billions as crisis winners

Berlin With a net profit of 18 billion euros, Hapag-Lloyd is expected to replace car manufacturer VW as the most profitable company in Germany this year. The investment house Blue Alpha Capital expects Hamburg to earn a whopping 256 billion dollars together with the world’s ten largest container shipping companies – 73 percent more than in the previous year.

The market power of the largest container shipping companies is consequently coming under more and more criticism: after all, the companies are benefiting from three global cartels with which they have been coordinating port calls and routes for years – and even with the approval of the EU Commission.

One of the ringleaders these days is the Central Association of German Seaport Companies (ZDS), which includes port operators such as HHLA in Hamburg and the Bremen terminal company Eurogate, along with a further 150 maritime service providers. A strict end must be put to the overwhelming superiority of the alliances, demands their managing director Daniel Hosseus. The joint purchase of port services and hinterland traffic must be prohibited.