Karsten Kunibert Krüger-Kopiske - Die deutsche Kühlschifffahrt - German Reefer Shipping

In addition to our own texts, we have also brought together texts by experts in this field, which provide a better understanding of the connections and show the structural changes.

Kevin Harding outlines the current situation. Questions will be put to Yntze Buitenwerf, President of the Seatrade Group, the world’s leading reefer shipping company. Godfried Steenkamp comments on the environmental compatibility of coolants.

The ship continues to occupy the central place in the book. Each type ship is presented in the well-known side outlines of “K4” on a scale of 1:1250 and, in addition, a number of foreign units that set the standard for the technical development of this type of ship. With the photos we want to show examples from the German refrigerated ship fleet.

Shipping was and is always international and THE shipping language is English. For this reason, we have decided to present all the texts gathered here in two languages to give readers from other countries access to this interesting topic. For the ship biographies and technical details we have limited ourselves to the English version, as the most important terms in the introduction to the “Fleet Section” have been translated.

We have assigned the described ships to their German-based shipping companies or operators/shipmanagement companies, which are sorted alphabetically. If a ship has been operated for more than one German shipowner/operator, the ship data are listed with the company that was active first. In the shipping company descriptions we limit ourselves to their involvement in refrigerated shipping, including the ships.

At Kludas/Witthohn, the focus was on ships sailing under the German flag, as this also applied to most ships at the time. This aspect no longer plays a role today, as the shipping companies based in Germany use the full range of flag state registration for their vessels. Currently, no refrigerated ship sails under the German flag. In total, about 13 % of the ships ordered by German shipping companies still fly the German flag, with the flags of Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Antigua & Barbuda and Portugal being much more strongly represented.

So the question remains what—irrespective of the German flag—is a “German” ship. Here we have focused on the ship manager, i. e. the company that looks after the ship technically, equips it and employs the crew. The ships are assigned to the shipping company or the ship manager with whom the owner has concluded a ship management contract. If the shipowner operates his business from Germany, the ships operated by the company are German ships.

Over the past four decades, shipping has undergone structural changes that could not have been foreseen in 1981. This also applies to refrigerated shipping. The reefer container has fundamentally changed the business and reefer operators have faced enormous challenges. As with the liner shipping companies, consolidation was inevitable. While there were 34 larger reefer operators in 2000, the number had shrunk to eight by 2015. In June 2020, six market participants remained with Lavinia/Frigoship, Baltic Cool, Fresh Carriers, GreenSea, Seatrade and Star Reefers.

One important question remains to be resolved. In defining the term “reefer ship”, we are taking up where Kludas/Witthohn left off, according to which reefer ships are “cargo ships whose entire cargo hold consists of insulated cold stores”. We know that this definition is not without controversy. In the English-speaking world, the term “refrigerated vessel” includes ships on which either all or only some of the holds are fitted with refrigeration equipment. In the German-speaking world, the term “refrigerated vessel” has become generally accepted for units whose spaces are completely insulated and which are able to transport cargoes within specified temperature ranges by means of refrigeration equipment.

The term “Specialised Reefer” has established itself in the industry and is used by the industry organisation “360 Quality Association”. The translation “Specialised Reefer Ships” is a bit bulky and therefore we decided to use the term “Reefer Ships” or “Reefer”. From the book “Snow in the Tropics”, published in 2019, we would like to quote the following sentences: “Many of the early ships were multi-purpose, being able to carry general cargo, passengers, and some of their holds were insulated and could be refrigerated. These vessels are occasionally referred to as reefers, or part-reefers. However, in this book, we do not define these general cargo ships with some refrigerated capacity as reefers”. In the English-speaking world, too, this topic is currently handled in accordance with our approach.

In June 2020 there are still two shipping companies in Germany operating refrigerated ships. Worldwide, one reefer were under construction at Japanese shipyards for delivery in 2020 and four for 2021.

It seems doubtful whether a broader basis for a German reefer shipping industry can ever develop again on the basis of this minimal influx of tonnage. The scales have clearly tipped in the direction of containerization. Germany is among the leaders in container shipping and the reefer container capacity of the ships is impressive.

Let’s take as an example the CAP SAN LORENZO of Hamburg Süd, which entered service in 2014. The 9,600 TEU vessel is one of the six units of the CAP SAN-class. The 2,100 reefer container connections on board enable a total of 4,476,000 cbf to be transported. This is roughly equivalent to the refrigerated space available to the entire fleet of 17 vessels operated by Union Reederei. The example of a single ship clearly shows the changes that have taken place in the maritime transport of refrigerated goods through the use of container ships.

But that is not what this book is about. In addition to the commercial, historical and technical aspects, the present volume focuses primarily on the chapter on shipping, which, at least temporarily, was characterized by the image of white refrigerated ships with a yacht-like appearance.

As already indicated above, more and more people contribute to the success of a book than those who appear on the title. We would therefore like to thank all those who have actively supported our project.

Our special thanks go to them:

Mareike Kaulvers for insights into the reefer-business

Heinrich Schoeller (Schoeller Holdings Ltd., Limassol/Cyprus), who helped in the search for traces in the past.

Mark Jansen and Danielle van der Eide (Seatrade Groningen) for their help with the research.

Yntze Buitenwerf, Kevin Harding, Pieter Hartog and Godfried Steenkamp for their text contributions

Luke Tippett from Döhle Isle of Man, who proofread the English text parts and without whose help we would not have dared to do this translation.

Gert Uwe Detlefsen, who contributed valuable tips on design and content.

Hans-Jürgen Abert, who manages and documents the biographies of all German ships.

Peter Ballreich for the information on the history of the shipping company Thien & Heyenga.

Robert G. Lloyd, whose beautiful paintings we are allowed to print here.

Dr. Axel Griessmer and Eva Graumann from IMM Hamburg for the friendly conversations and the fantastic photos.

Ralf Witthohn, who more than generously provided photos from his archive.

For wonderful photos: Chris Parker, Marcel Coster, Arne Münster, Henk Jungerius, Mareike Hilbig, Tim Johannsen, Fotoflite, Seatrade, Bernard McCall, Claus-Dieter Hilbig (†), Jean Otten (†) Ed Connell (†), Hans Engler (†).

Juliane Sachse and Karin Freese as representatives of the community of heirs of Jochen Sachse. Without them we would not have been able to show the great pictures of the marine painter Jochen Sachse.

Peter Tamm jr., in whose Maximilian publishing house this book is published and has supported the project from the very first moment. Thomas Bantle, Stephan Alpen, Sarah Winter, Anita Böning and Harald Grätz with special thanks for the excellent cooperation during the whole time of its creation.