Yara international awards reederei f. Laeisz with the shipmanagement of their



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CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015

YARA INTERNATIONAL AWARDS 

REEDEREI F. LAEISZ WITH THE 

SHIPMANAGEMENT OF THEIR 

NEW BUILDING PROGRAMME

Reederei F. Laeisz has been awarded with the 

ship management of Yara’s LPG newbuildings. 

Following 25 years of close and successful co-

operation between Yara International, being the 

global leader in the production and distribution 

of mineral fertilizer as well as the biggest trader/

transporter of ammonia, and F. Laeisz, an agree-

ment has been signed for the newbuilding super-

vision and ship management of Yara’s two 38.000 

cbm and three 20.600 cbm LPG – Carriers to be 

constructed at Hyundai Mipo Dockyards in Korea.

“The basis for our decision is the quality, the re-

sponsiveness, and the knowledge of our systems 

that F. Laeisz has demonstrated over the past 25 

years, ever since we first chartered LPG Carrier 

M/V “Bussewitz” back in 1991”, said Frederik 

Schütz, Global Head of Supply Chain Procurement 

at Yara.

This contract is an important step for us to in-

crease our industrial service business in shipping 

segments with barriers of entry, possibilities of 

differentiation and high quality awareness.

EDITORIAL

BOOK REVIEWS

DER GEFRORENE OZEAN

Published by Peter Lemke/ 

Stephanie von Neuhoff, 2014

N. H. Schües

Yours truly,

DEAR FRIENDS OF F. LAEISZ

More book reviews on page 12

Summer is coming! Though the 

crisis is far from over there are 

clear signs of recovery in some 

segments that are of importance 

to us. Subpanmax containers are 

firming, car carrier prospects are 

improving and gas carriers hold 

stable at satisfactory levels. Only 

for bulkers forecasts remain lousy, 

which again proves our strategy 

correct: Diversify in unrelated seg-

ments, it does not make you rich, 

but it helps to survive.



Scan QR-Code

with your mobile

and download the 

Fleet News at

www.laeisz.de

SPMS Partner Meeting

See page 2

150

th

 Anniversary of Sea Rescuers

See page 5

Signing Ceremony in Bremerhaven

See page 3

MEETING PRESIDENT OF KIRIBATI

150 YEARS DGZRS

POLARSTERN II

GENERAL ARRANGEMENT

20,6K BAU NR. 8173/174/175

GENERAL ARRANGEMENT

38K BAU NR. 8170/171


CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 2

LUNCH WITH HEAD OF STATE OF SAMOA  

MR. TUI ATUA TUPUA TAMASESE EFI AND 

MEETING WITH KIRIBATI PRESIDENT AND 

SPMS PARTNERS IN HAMBURG

His Excellency Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi 

visited Germany in 2014 and was welcomed 

in Schloss Bellevue by H.E. President Joa-

chim Gauck for lunch. Niko Schües partici-

pated and extended our appreciation for the 

great cooperation.

Earlier this year his Excellency Anote Tong 

came to Hamburg for a courtesy visit and 

met with South Pacific Marine Service 

(SPMS) partners. SPMS presently consists 

of six Hamburg based shipping companies 

namely: Hamburg Süd, F. Laeisz, Reederei 

Nord, Leonhardt & Blumberg, Aug. Bolten 

and Fisser & v. Dornum. For almost 50 years 

SPMS has now trained and employed seafa-

rers from Kiribati. Right now more than 700 

seafarers are on board SPMS vessels while 

Laeisz has a share of around 175 seafarers. 

Total employment was well above 1000 some 

years ago, but the shipping crisis didn’t stop 

in Kiribati. Fortunately in 2015 employment 

statistics show a more positive trend, also 

because of better and more reliable flight 

connections within the Pacific region. 

Prior to his visit to Hamburg the Kiribati Pre-

sident followed an invitation 

for an audience 

with Pope Franzis-

kus in Rome. Besi-

de others, climate 

change was one of 

the main topics on 

the agenda. The 

President trusts on 

the support and influence of Pope Franzis-

kus to help Kiribati and other small island 

nations to reach achievements in UN confe-

rences combatting global warming. 

We shall continue to offer support by offe-

ring employment and appreciate the daily 

efforts of our Kiribati colleagues on board of 

our ships.

SPMS Partners  

with Kiribati President

from the left: 

  

Kiribati President  

Mr. Anote Tong and 

Nikolaus W. Schües

from the left: 

  

Mr. Joachim Gauck/ 

President of Germany, 

Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese 

Efi/Head of state of 

Samoa, Mr. Nikolaus H. 

Schües/CEO



CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 3

In summer 2014 Reederei F. Laeisz  sig-

ned a contract for the building supervision 

and the ship management of the new re-

search icebreaker RV ”Polarstern II” as 

well as for the Neumayer Station III to-

gether with representatives of the Alfred 

Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven. The 

management contract covers a period of at 

least six years after delivery of the vessel, 

which is planned to take place in 2019.

 The present research icebreaker RV ”Polar-

stern” has been in service since December 

1982. RV “Polarstern“ has taken people and 

material to the Arctic and Antarctic Ocean, 

covering more than 1.5 million nautical mi-

les, in over 31 years. That corresponds to a 

distance of over 2.7 million kilometres and 

thus more than 67 circumnavigations of the 

POLARSTERN II

from left:  

Dr. Uwe Nixdorf/Administration director, Mr. 

Roland Pallutz/Commercial Director, Mrs. Karin Lochte/

Managing Director, Nikolaus H. Schües/CEO

globe at the equator. Reederei F. Laeisz took 

over the management of RV “Polarstern” on 

1 January 1996.

But even before RV “Polarstern II” goes 

into operation, Reederei F. Laeisz will play 

a special role. In the framework of a Euro-

pe-wide public tender procedure, conduc-

ted by BMBF, Reederei F. Laeisz was awar-

ded with a contract for consulting services 

regarding the shipbuilding design. The ex-

perience of our company in operating ice-

breakers was a key factor for the contract 

award. A special Reederei-team led by 

Capt. Uwe Pahl, former master of RV “Po-

larstern” for many years, will contribute 

practical experiences from the operating 

of the vessel into the design and building 

of RV “Polarstern II”.

GL 5 STAR EXCELLENCE

Our shipping company F. Laeisz with offi-

ces in Hamburg, Rostock and Bremerhaven 

has received the “GL Excellence – 5 Stars” 

certificate of Germanischer Lloyd in Februa-

ry 2008 and keeps it till now. It is awarded 

for the introduction of high and up-to-date 

safety, environment protection and quality 

standards. International standards and ma-

nagement systems improve and constantly 

monitor safety, environmental compatibility 

as well as operation processes of vessels. The 

“GL Excellence” certificate of Germanischer 

Lloyd documents the implementation of such 

standards – both obligatory and voluntary 

ones. Consequently, organisations can prove 

their voluntary commitment to better quality, 

reliability, safety and social compatibility by 

presenting an independent certificate. Com-

panies are entitled to receive the “GL Excel-

lence – 5 Stars” certificate if they meet the 

obligatory requirements – amongst others at 

least five management systems such as ISO 

9001, ISO 14001, Occupational Health & 

Safety, Maritime Social Responsibility Stan-

dard, the ISM and the ISPS Code. Our com-

pany F. Laeisz has received the certificate 

for the GL classed fleet of containerships, 

gas tankers, car carrier and research vessels. 

The management systems ISO 9001 and ISO 

14001 as well as the ISM Code, ISPS Codes 

and the Occupational Health & Safety have 

been implemented successfully on all Laeisz 

vessels. In addition, the introduction of an in-

dustrial safety management system has been 

verified and F. Laeisz has also registered for 

the Emergency Response Service of Germa-

nischer Lloyd. Therefore, “GL Excellence” 

serves as evidence for reliable ship operation 

and documents the compliance of above-ave-

rage safety and quality standards. 

The “GL Excellence – 5 Stars” certification is 

verified every three years along with ISM and 

ISO audits. 

We work for every success in future, and that 

we can maintain this high level of standard.



GL Excellence certificate


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CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 4

Looking for new office premises in Bremerhaven, 

we at F. Laeisz took the opportunity to buy the 

Schuchmann Villa from BG Verkehr in July 2014. 

It is especially important to us and we therefore 

take special care to renovate the villa very care-

fully in order to preserve the authentic character 

of the building, not least because it was built for 

the Schuchmann family, today related to our ow-

ners, the Schües family.

Our colleagues in the Bremerhaven branch office 

are very delighted to move into their new offices 

and to perform their management service for the 

research icebreaker RV „Polarstern“ as well as 

for the Neumayer Station III from such a historic 

site. We expect to move to the new office in June 

of this year.

The villa at the Bartelstraße in Bremerhaven 

Geestemünde with the mighty columns to the 

right and left of the entrance was built in 1922 

by the Schuchmann family. The beautiful villa 

located at one of the oldest docks, south of 

Geeste, forms together with the former Principal 

Customs Office, the historic canal swing bridge 

and the headquarters of the „North Sea“ one of 

the most visually attractive ensembles in Bre-

merhaven. On the quay in front of the villa were 

not only Schuchmann tugs safely moored, but 

also the famous tall ship „Potosi“, one of the fa-

mous „Flying P-Liner“.



OUR NEW OFFICE IN BREMERHAVEN 

LAEISZHOF IS PART OF THE BID 

NIKOLAIQUARTIER

Laeiszhof, our historic office building in 

Hamburg, is part of the BID Nikolai-

quartier. In this Business Improvement 

District all real estate owners are investing 

together in new and wider pedestrian 

walks, lighting, chairs and banks to sit on 

as well as plants and trees. On 18

th

 March 


2015 the works were officially started. All 

around Laeiszhof pedestrian walks will be 

enlarged, parking zones reduced and quite 

a few trees will be planted to give the sur-

roundings the feeling of an almost park-like 

large open space rather than simply a 

street. We wish the common effort of the 

BID Nikolaiquartier every success.



BID Nikolai Quartier foundation stone 

OUR NEW OFFICE IN GRABOW

On 1


st

 April 2014 a reception marked the official 

opening of Reederei F. Laeisz G.m.b.H. ´s newest 

office in Grabow/Mecklenburg. The historic 

building, built in 1787 by the Grand Duke Frie-

drich Franz I, was acquired by F. Laeisz and now, 

after renovation, offers modern office space in 

historic ambiance.  Grabow, the home town of 

our CFO Annette Schroeder-Smakman, was cho-

sen for being situated conveniently half way be-

tween our offices in Hamburg and Rostock. Sev-

eral shipping and non shipping activities of F. 

Laeisz group are now managed from Grabow un-

der the leadership of Annette Schroeder-Smak-

man and Volker Redersborg.



CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 5

This year the German Society for Saving Lives from Emergencies at Sea 

celebrates it’s 150

th

 anniversary. Throughout these years F. Laeisz has 



always been – and still is – closely linked to the „Sea Rescuers“

In 1861 F. Laeisz founded the Hamburgische Rettungsverein that beca-

me founding member of the German society in 1865. The Hamburg 

based representation started in our office building at Trostbrücke 1 and 

still is there today. Capt. Ralf Krogmann organizes from here PR and 

fundraising and our colleague Mr. Klaus Stüwe, who works together with 

Mr. Ralph Leineweber and takes care of our small island Kirr on the 

Baltic coast, are among of the voluntary „Sea Rescuer“ for 25 years, 

who – in case of need – selflessly risk their own life’s to save others.

150 YEARS DGZRS

Mr. Klaus Stüwe in his 

„German Society for 

Saving Lives from  

Emergencies at Sea“ 

uniform. He is  

member since 1990 

 of the society.

Life saving ship „Hamburg I“/photo 

probably from the year 1920

Life saving ship from today,  

M/V “Hannes Glogner“



CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 6

ANNIVERSARIES 2015 | CONGRATULATIONS!

ASHORE

10 years

Carola Titze, Felix Riess, Udo Wolf, Maria Stüwe



25 years

Dagmar Tempel



30 years

Christine Wichmann, Uwe Hauer,  

Annett Krüger, Heike Dembeck

40 years

Ruth Ohlrich, Birgit Reimann, Thomas Hundt,  

Veronika Topitsch

45 years

Peter Winter



ON BOARD

10 years

Yong Sheng Sun, Kai- Stephan Böhlen, Michael Maaß, 

Henning Westphal, Henrik Stolze, Uwe Wende

25 years

Andreas Sedlak, Fred Klum



30 years

Tom Kohler, Christoph Schröder, Michael Fölster



40 years

Michael Martens, Martin Fleischer, Holger Fallei,  

Holger Petrat, Jürgen Schramm, Eckhard Kroesche

45 years

Dieter Klitz, Lothar Gladow, Joachim Luckow,  

Lutz Klatt, Georg Jasmand

BIRTHDAYS 2015 | CONGRATULATIONS!

ASHORE

60 years

Elke Duckstein, Ingrid Taube, Dagmar Degenkolb, 

Dorothea Fischer, Stefan Werner, Klaus Stüwe

65 years

Klaus Wunderlich, Manfred Strobach, Renate Panter



ON BOARD

50 years

Igor Reshetov, Sergey Skorokhodov, Sergei Selin, Efren 

Natividad Awat, Sergey Kudryashov, Roberto Rodenas 

Oblipias, Joseph Arturo Estraza, Aladino Jr. Dalaorao 

Alolor, Andrey Kulbakov, Joel  Remolacio Ranara, Frank 

Wienekamp, Alesandro Olita Yap, Quan Lun Chen, 

Laurence Delica Ramos, Joseph Isidro Hipolito, York 

Koch, Vladimir Tikhomirov, Joerg Preussner, Andrey 

Glebov, Bernardo Jr. Tadios Vendiola

60 years

Ralf- Dieter Müller- Homburg, Joerg–Michael Griese, 

Martin Froeb, Detlef Landmann, Mario Zumarraga 

Fernandez, Detlef Beth, Andreas Deckner, Sergey 

Pustotin, Rolf Egon Woesthoff, Joerg Suhnel, Eckhard 

Puschmann, Bernd Farysch, Wilfredo Villaco Talaoc



65 years

Werner Hampf, Anatoly Mozhaev, Pedro Nuneza, Heino 

Wendt, Nikolay Romanov, Norbert Spilok, Siegfried Forster

45 YEARS ASHORE

A CAREER FOR THE SEA

After more than 40 years with our company, Peter Geitmann 

joins Ver.di. When Mr. Geitmann joined Deutsche Seereederei 

in September 1973 for sure he did not expect to become a 

decisive figure in the present struggle to safeguard German sea 

personal also for the future. After almost 20 years at sea he 

joined our workers‘council and proved a firm but trustworthy 

representative of our seamen’s 

interest.   

Peter Geitmann now joined Ver.

di to become secretary for ship-

ping affairs. Though the tasks of 

the unions and the ones of our 

company may not always be 

aligned and the routes may be 

different, in the end we share 

the same goal: to keep German 

seamanship alive in order to 

safeguard knowhow for future 

generations.



45 YEARS ON BOARD

Lothar Gladow

Georg Jasmand

Lutz Klatt

Joachim Luckow

Dieter Klitz

Peter Winter


CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 7

BRIDGES – OUR NEXT PHOTO CONTEST

All readers of Fleet News are invited to join 

our next photo contest covering the theme 

„Bridges“.

Compact Digital Camera 

220,- Euro 



Smart Phone 

120,- Euro



 Archaeology of Bridges  

(German / English) 

50,- Euro

We will expect your photos of Golden Gate 

Bridge in San Francisco, Rialto Bridge in Venice 

or Köhlbrand-Bridge in Hamburg or any other 

bridge you feel you have taken a good picture 

of. The best three entries will be announced 

in the next edition.  As in previous contests 

we need your name, address and e-mail 

as well as the photo title and the date when 

it was taken. All images published will credit 

your name. Again only digital entries can be ac-

cepted. Closing date is the 31

st

 August 2015.



Please send your photos to ueckert@laeisz.de. 

We look forward getting many „bridges“.



1.Price:

2.Price:

3.Price:

*these picture of the camera is not the price which you will win at our photo contest it is only for promotion purposes

MECKLENBURGER FESTSPIELE

Reederei F. Laeisz GmbH has been spon-

soring the Audience Award of the Fest-

spiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a classic 

music festival, for many years now. Every 

year young musicians enter the competition 

for being voted Best Musician by the audi-

ence. On 24

th

 August 2014 the prize was 



awarded to the brothers Arthur and Lucas 

Jussen for their joint piano performance in 

2013. The prize giving ceremony was part 

of a concert called Piano Summit that took 

place in the picturesque town of Putbus on 

the island of Rügen. With Menahem 

Pressler (*1923), brothers Hans-Peter 

(*1960) and Volker Stenzl  and of course 

the Jussen Brothers, aged 17 and 19 years, 

three generations of fantastic pianists 

amazed the audience. The prize was hand-

ed over by our Chief Financial Officer Mrs. 

Annette Schroeder-Smakman.

Picture from the left: Mrs. Anette 

Schroeder-Smakmann, Arthur and  

Lucas Jussen

100.000 RUNNING HOURS -  

A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE

Five vessels in our fleet have achieved more 

than 100.000 running hours on their main 

engines. Namely these are M/V „Pusan“, 

M/V „Hanjin Mundra” (Penang), M/V „Hanjin 

Haiphong” (Peking), M/V “Hanjin San Diego” 

(Portland) and M/V „Portugal“. The ves-

sels were built at Hyundai Heavy Industries 

(HHI) in Ulsan, Korea in 1997/98. The main 

engines are MAN Diesel & Turbo and were 

manufactured by HHI Engine Manufactur-

ing Department (HHI EMD). The engine type 

is 9K90MC-C MK V delivering an output of 

41.040 kilowatt at 104 revolutions per min-

ute. The engine type indicates that it is an 

engine with nine cylinder units and a bore of 

90 centimetres.

Honouring the 100.000 running hours on the 

said vessels Dr. Tilmann Greiner, Head of MAN 

Diesel & Turbo, Hamburg handed over brass 

plaques of remembrance to Harald Schlot-

feldt, Managing Technical Director of Reederei 

F. Laeisz. The event took place in the famous 

International Maritime Museum in the historic 

warehouse district in the port of Hamburg.

from the left:

 Mr. Harald Schlotfeldt/Technical Director and Mr. Dr. Tilmann Greiner, Head of MAN 

Diesel



CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 8

MY VOYAGE ON M/V „PASSAMA“ 

WRITTEN BY WOLFGANG P. SCHÜES

The flight from Hamburg via Frankfurt to Bo-

gota and from there to Cartagena was on time 

on the 24

th

 January 2015. The taxi driver, how-



ever, who was sent by the agent to pick me up 

could neither read nor write. Amongst the crowd 

in the arrival hall I spotted a man holding a sign 

in his hands: “Eva Schulz”. It was obviously not 

me whom he was looking for. Somewhat embar-

rassed I chose another taxi. Upon arrival at the 

hotel the agent’s taxi driver came up to me hold-

ing his plate with my name on it. “Sorry Sir…” 

he simply mixed up the names.

My ship – the M/V “PASSAMA” – was a couple of 

days late, because of a delayed departure from 

Houston.


Well, my first obligation was to visit the immigra-

tion office in order to get the departure stamp in 

my passport. Back at the hotel, well after mid-

night, I was told to wait. It was 2.00 a.m. on 

29

th

 January when the same taxi driver, who had 



missed me at the airport some days ago, came 

to pick me up.

Hurrah, hurrah, off we go to Cartagena port. One 

can hardly believe the hellish taxi drive I was now 

in. At night all red traffic lights are systematically 

ignored in Cartagena. However, sitting in a little 

motorcar speeding at more than 100 km/h, reg-

gae music on full blast, through narrow bumpy 

roads – it was the fastest taxi drive I ever experi-

enced. I was thinking of Sebastian Vettel.

My prayers were heard and we finally reached the 

port gate. The taxi driver with a smile offloaded 

my suit case, went off quickly and left me with a 

custom officer who by all means was not amused 

to deal with a tourist in the earliest morning hours 

or better: in the middle of the night.

The questions he asked me I simply could not an-

swer, obviously due to my very limited knowledge 

of the Spanish language. He was, however, kind 

enough as to offer me his little plastic chair. Some 

time went by when a young rather tired water clerk 

arrived and to my surprise a boarder police officer 

showed up as well. It must have been great fun 

for this young policeman to rifle through my neatly 

folded laundry. I asked the water clerk “What is 

this all around?” The answer: “Drugs”. A major 

problem in Colombia! After passing the control 

there she was: M/V “PASSAMA”.

A warm welcome on board was extended to me 

by the master, Capt. Tena and his chief mate 

Mr. Medalla, the latter led me to my cabin. 

Although this was a bit smaller than I had ex-

pected. It was a very cosy “state room” after 

all. Come to think of it. All you need is a bed, 

a sofa, a table and a desk to write on and a 

shower of course!

I was fast asleep when we departed at 6.30 a.m. 

Master and deck officers were Filipinos whereas 

the engine room was in the command of Rus-

sians. Without exception extremely nice men, 

very friendly and polite. No wonder – I am pas-

senger on a F. LAEISZ vessel!

It was not far to our first port of call Manzanillo, 

Panama. Actually we were instructed to go at 

anchorage, however, all of a sudden a new or-

der: “Pilot will board any minute from now.”  But 

shortly thereafter: “Wait.” This wonderful word I 

had to learn already on my many trips around the 

continent of Africa and China. However, I had al-

most forgotten over the past years of retirement 

living in a punctual world. In South America I 

had to get used to do it again. Pilot boarding was 

set for midnight and from that moment on I was 

really flabbergasted. Remember M/V “PASSA-

MA” is a huge car carrier and of enormous size, 

and to bring such a “monster” safely alongside 

its berth by the pilot and the master is an admi-

rable piece of work. The last 8 m to bring the 

vessel safely alongside (despite a strong wind) 

took almost 45 minutes. 

Whilst writing these notes steward Oscar knocks 

at my cabin door and brought my laundry washed 

and pressed, what top Asiatic service! 

It was not worth to went ashore since the loading 

was completed within a few hours. Comes mid-

night, we were off again. Next port was Aruba, 

Netherlands Antilles. The ship started rolling 

heavily, but I fell asleep like a baby. Next morn-

ing: Sunshine, lots of wind again and 30° C. 

Time to find a shadow place and to make yourself 



from the left: 

Captain Radito S. Tena, Wolfgang P. Schües, Chief Officer Noel E. Medalla


CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 9

comfortable in a deck chair. Walking on deck was 

not that easy because of the wind and constant 

movement of the vessel. My dear wife at home 

in Hamburg will be glad to read that I was eating 

lots of greens and fruit. Very little carbohydrates! I 

must not put on weight! (That’s what she told me 

when we said good bye.) The master, Capt. Tena, 

is of middle size and he is permanently fighting 

the excess kilos. Chief mate Mr. Medalla young 

and smart. Second and Third Officers are quite 

young. All of them are skilfully and are aware of 

their responsibilities. They are well mannered, 

very kind and always ready to explain things when 

being asked. Apart from their duties they were al-

ways ready for a joke and laughter. At 6.30 p.m. 

2.5 miles off Aruba the pilot was boarding. The 

poor man, he became soaking wet by entering 

the pilot ladder, well, these guys are used to it. I 

missed the departure from Aruba and the arrival 

at Willemstad, Curacao, as it was just a short pas-

sage during the night. 

My WLAN did not work at sea. Chief Andrey 

kindly offered me to use his PC in his office. 

We were going to stay the entire day in Willem-

stad, and I shall had sufficient time to go ashore 

for a guided sightseeing tour. Captain Tena re-

quested the agent to make arrangements. 

No agent in sight. Immigration officers were sit-

ting in master’s office and were quite happy “to 

rest” whilst waiting for the agent.

In the morning I asked my new old friend, Stew-

ard Oscar, that I would require his help when 

“feeding” me. Low calories only! Oscar’s reply: 

“Okay, Sir, will make sure you are not becom-

ing fat, Sir. But, Sir, you are in very good shape, 

Sir!” Well, dear friends and readers, such a re-

mark can only come from a true friend! Mean-

time there was again a large fruit basket in my 

cabin. In this part of the world fruit is plentiful.

I watched the deck crew fight the rust by using 

a sandblaster. It is hard and dirty work. The ship 

is pico bello clean and in good shape, one has 

the feeling that M/V ”PASSAMA” is their home, 

which has to be kept clean and tidy at all times. 

We had to wait again before departing as two 

cruise ships were to be berthed first. They enjoy 

priority at all times! The passages are so tight 

and narrow that only one vessel can be attended 

to at a time. Finally the pilot boarded at 3.00 

a.m. a smart, good looking young former Navy 

Captain. We came to talk and he explained the 

political and social situation of Curacao. Out of 

the 155,000 inhabitants 85 % are working for 

the tourist industry and are poorly paid. 

Again the passage was very narrow. One had the 

feeling that we had 20 m space each side only. 

Once we were in the open sea the ship start-

ed rolling and it was already 4.30 a.m. when I 

closed my eyes and went to sleep immediately. 

Again a sunny morning with blue skies, lots of 

wind and wonderful temperature. What more can 

you expect? There always was a sheltered place 

for me on deck (protected against the wind) to 

read my e-book. I must not forget to mention that 

we had a small swimming pool on board to cool 

off from time to time and it was of perfect size. 

It was advisable, however, not to use it when the 

ship was rolling! It can be quite painful if you bang 

against the iron walls. My poor feet (which suffer 

from osteoarthritis) hurt like hell when climbing 

the iron rungs which were round and not flat. Oh, 

thank God, the ship started rolling again.

During the long passage from the Caribbean to 

the next port of call it was time for “drills”. The 

crew had to exercise all steps to be taken in case 

of fire, ship in distress, man over board etc. The 

Master was kind enough as to let me stay on the 

bridge and to watch the scenery from above. After 

the successful drill Master and Chief Mate were 

all smiles and obviously satisfied with the crew.

Vitoria in Brazil was our next destination. We 

were steaming against the wind and current, 

therefore, 12 to 13 knots speed only. All of a 

sudden, we were hit by, although foreseen on 

the radar, a tropical shower of such an intensity 

which one can hardly imagine. Visibility less than 

20 m but we were warm and cosy in the safety 

of the bridge. On Sunday, 8

th

 February 2015, at 



7.20 a.m., we crossed the Equator. Here, the 

ocean is 3,647 m deep! For all readers who may 

not know: The UNESCO invested a lot of money 

for a satellite control enlightened band, 50 m 

wide and quite easy to see from the knock. All 

ships are requested to slow-down and to cross 

the line at “dead slow” speed in order not to 

damage this precious investment. A very impres-

sive moment!

After nine days at sea we were heading for Vi-

toria. Most of the time we enjoyed wonderful 

weather with lots of sunshine. I was grateful 

the permanent swell which brought the ship in 

a rocking chair position did not affect me and 

which when walking on deck it looked and felt 

like being drunk. By the way, I had my last glass 

of beer more than a week ago …

Twice we watched dolphin school escorting the 

ship. Up to 70 dolphins, amongst the crowd little 

ones, keeping up with us. They were not curious 

only, but looked for fish they might catch which 

were usually been pushed up by the ship’s speed. 

An incident which took me more than a week to 

explain to the Officers on board was that every 

day I heard a knock on my cabin door: “Tak, tak, 

tak”. When I answered “Yes, please, come in!” 

Nobody there. It turned out to be the fridge in my 

cabin and whilst the Officers were amused they 

admitted that they have had the same experience. 

One observation I made was that it takes a lot 

of time and patience when entering the various 

ports of call may it be Vitoria, Santos, Parana-

gua – always the same procedure. Anchoring 

and waiting to come alongside. The wind was 

blowing strongly, tropical rain showers with an 

enormous intensity. Powerful lightening’s on 

top. We left the Brazilian ports behind us and 

proceeded to Montevideo, Uruguay. Just a few 

cars in and out and off we went again. Destina-

tion Zarate, Argentina. Thereafter a long passage 

across the delta of Rio de la Plata. The narrow 

seaway is 116 m wide and 117 km long. To the 

left and right of the buoys the depth is less than 

7 m! We passed the skyline of Buenos Aires and 

went up the Rio Parana de Las Palmas versus 

Zarate. The river was flowing in zick-zack turns. 

We passed small weekend cottages which can 

only be reached by boat. A water taxi is collect-

ing people in the morning and brings them back 

at night. No alligators, but millions of mosquitos! 

The passage to and from Zarate lasted 24 hours 

on the river.

At night we saw a sunset we cannot forget! A big 

round globe of pure gold.

After two days at Zarate we set sail for our long 

way back to Cartagena. On quiet evenings Cap-

tain Tena ordered barbeque which for the crew 

was a highlight after a hard day’s work. Tender 

Argentina beef at its best! Music of all kind, ac-

companied by a crew member’s guitar and lots 

of laughter from happy sailors.

“PASSAMA barbeque party”.

On our way back we witnessed a jubilee. The 

pilot who brought us into the port of Vitoria came 

on board again to take us out. It was his 1.010 

piloting job and this fact made him a “full pilot”. 

In order to obtain this qualification a pilot has to 

perform these many trips. Great joy for him and 

myself: We exchanged caps – my FL-cap for his 

Navy cap.



TO SUM UP:

What makes such a trip so interesting and de-

sirable for any passenger?

Firstly, it is always the weather, i.e. tempera-

ture above 27° C at all times, almost constant 

sunshine, a cooling breeze and the visit to the 

various ports of call.

It is really exciting to watch the work of the highly 

professional and skilful master, officers and pi-

lots to safely berth a vessel of this size; some-

times under most difficult conditions may it be 

strong winds or narrow passages or even both.

Once the vessel is safely secured alongside you 

will be surprised to see the huge parking areas 

packed with seemingly endless array of motor 

cars.


The next interesting step then is the fast load-

ing or discharging of the cargo (motor cars): 

there are always 2 teams involved, one team 

drives the cars up to the vessel’s ramp from 

where the next team takes over to drive the cars 

into the vessels belly, everything happening at 

an enormous speed.

Upon completion of this operation these teams 

are being transported back by mini buses to 

their original positions.

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed having been a pas-

senger for 6 weeks on this comfortable and 

well-maintained vessel, last but not least due 

to the openness and friendliness of the Filipino/

Russian officers and the Filipino crew, never 

forgetting the master of the vessel, Captain Ra-

dito S. Tena a wonderful seaman with enormous 

experience.

It really was a great enjoyment to sail on board 

the M/V “PASSAMA” up and down the east 

coast of South America, whereby the ship con-

tributed a lot towards this unforgettable sea-

voyage.



CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 10

F. LAEISZ



Stark

 

für


für Unternehmer

Stark


CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 11

COMPANY HISTORY

REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD HAMBURG CITIZEN – PART 8

Having worked as a journeyman for nearly 

two years, I felt I had enough training to 

make my way to Leipzig and Berlin, the 

leading towns in the bookbinders‘ trade.

I wandered, therefore, to Leipzig, via Magde-

burg, but was not able to find suitable work 

there, so I went to Dresden and Breslau. 

Eventually I reached Berlin in the summer of 

1821.


Although there were many book-binding 

journeymen looking for work there, I soon 

found a privileged job in a business which 

employed about twenty journeymen and 

which was run more like a factory. I earned 

five to eight „Taler“ weekly. Here I also 

learnt how to make different kinds of fancy 

goods, and when silk hats came into fash-

ion, we also opened up in this branch of 

business and therein I became very skilled. 

This proved extremely useful to me later on.

Although I was earning a good wage now, I 

did not save any money; I spent it on 

amusements and clothes in the Berlin fash-

ion, i. e. elegant to the eye, but with shabby 

underwear, or, as the Hamburg people say: 

„Buten bunt, binnen Schund!“ (On top 

natty, underneath ratty).

I did not think it necessary at that time to 

deprive myself of anything for thrifty rea-

sons for I did not believe it possible to get 

rich by saving „Groschen“ and „Taler“ – I 

wanted to enjoy life. But this was a mis-

take, and my own experience soon convert-

ed me to another way of thinking. 

The Crown Prince, later King Friedrich Wil-

helm IV, was celebrating his wedding in 

Berlin during my stay there and I was 

standing amidst a crowd of spectators on 

the Palace Bridge as it collapsed under the 

weight of us all and many people were 

killed.


An intrigue of my master put an end to my 

working in his business. He was an immoral 

man who wanted a divorce from his wife 

and so tried to get me involved in a scan-

dal. I did not fall into the trap though. I quit 

the business and took on an even better job 

with one of his competitors.

After two years in Berlin, I received a letter 

from my mother asking me to return to 

Hamburg to help her in the business which 

she show mainly ran alone in the stead of 

my ageing father. As I wanted to get an im-

pression of the commercial towns along the 

Baltic Sea coast, I made my way to Ham-

burg via Rostock, Wismar and Lübeck, and 

reached my home town on the 24

th

 March, 


1824, after five years’ absence. My parents 

now lived at 105, Kurze Mühren Street and 

I moved into an attic room there.

As business was bad in my parents ‘shop, I 

started up on my own making silk hats. As 

soon as two dozen were ready, I put an ad-

vertisement in the „Hamburger Nach-

richten“ (Hamburg News). A hatter named 

DITTMER answered the advert. and bought 

up my whole stock for 10 Marks each, a 

price which brought me a considerable 

profit. Encouraged by this, I ordered from 

„Velpel“, a famous hat maker in Berlin, and 

started working so much that, in the course 

of the first year, I only had about ten Sun-

days off, apart from having a minimum of 

sleep. I worked so hard, firstly because, ac-

cording to general opinion, such hats would 

soon go out of fashion and, secondly, be-

cause I could not find a capable assistant. 

My mother and sister helped me to trim the 

hats and so earned themselves quite a sum 

of money from which my sister, at a later 

date, bought her trousseau. I gradually had 

so many customers that it displeased the 

Hatters’ Guild and they tried to hinder me 

in carrying out my business as it interfered 

with their privileges. However, the charge 

brought against me, mainly by their Elder-

man CREUTZBURG, my future father-in-

law, was dismissed.

Once I had a large order to finish quickly 

and, having slept very little the nights be-

fore, I tried to keep myself awake by drink-

ing a bottle of champagne. However, the 

effect was just the opposite and when my 

customers came to collect their orders the 

next morning, they found me fast asleep. 

The only amusement I occasionally had, 

was a visit to the theatre (in the gallery, of 

course), a pastime, which I had actively 

cultivated in Berlin. My everlasting love for 

the theatre had a favourable influence on 

my education which had been rather ne-

glected under sad conditions of my early 

youth.


When my sister and faithful assistant AU-

GUSTE was married to the merchant NOL-

TE, he became a good friend and I was 

able to sell a large quantity of hats at a 

good profit to various business connec-

tions which he had produced for me in 

Bremen. I endeavoured to expand my busi-

ness and employed several assistants, 

whom, however, I first had to train. In 

1825, I asked a friend of mine, a captain, 

if he could take a parcel of hats overseas 

to Buenos Aires and try to sell them there. 

This venture was so successful that I soon 

considered establishing business abroad 

as this promised to be more profitable. I 

extended my activities to include every-

thing to do with the hat-trade and became, 

on the 26

th 

May, 1826, as master-hatter, a 



citizen of Hamburg.

In the meantime, I had been thinking of set-

ting up my own home. During an evening 

stroll I nearly got engaged to a pretty girl, 

the daughter of a family we were acquainted 

with, but we were disturbed by a dog bark-

ing, who then, in turn, called all the neigh-

bours’ attention to us. This girl became very 

ill a little later and so the friendship came to 

an end. Later I became acquainted with the 

twenty-year-old daughter of the Elderman-

hatter CREUTZBURG and I liked her even 

more than her predecessor. After we had 

known each other for a short time, she con-

sented to marry me. Her parents were very 

strict, however, and had brought their 

daughter up to work very hard and did not 

want to part with her just yet. I had to court 

her for nearly a year until we could marry. 

We got married at last on the 04

th

 June, 


1826, and that was the beginning of a long 

and happy union with my faithful partner of 

life. On the Jungfernstieg, (it was not ele-

gant avenue it is now), we rented a house 

with little furniture as my wife’s dowry was 

very small. But my wife’s diligent, thrifty 

disposition and her tireless activity and dex-

terity were much more valuable for me than 

the most magnificent dowry. She was soon 

my best co-worker in the business. The 

birth of our only son on the 29

th

 April, 1828 



crowned our domestic life.

To be continued in Fleetnews no. 19




CORPORATE INFORMATION OF THE F. LAEISZ GROUP

ISSUE NO. 18 | JUNE 2015 | PAGE 12

PUBLISHED BY:

Reederei F. Laeisz G.m.b.H. · Phone: +49 40 36808-229 · Fax: +49 40 36808-257 

E-Mail: 


gebhardt@laeisz.de

 · 


www.laeisz.de

 · Design & Layout: 

www.matrix-design.com

BOOK REVIEWS

Author  


Photograph Martin Elsen

Title  




Faszination Nordsee“ 

Published by   MCE-Verlag (Medien Contor Elbe)

ISBN 978-3-938097359

The North Sea is one of the fascina-

ting oceans and an important eco-

nomical region for Germany with the 

ports Bremerhaven/Bremen, Wil-

helmshaven and Hamburg. With her 

wonderful mudflat she belongs to 

the World Cultural Heritage and in-

ternational significant natural region.

In the foreground of this picture book are the North Sea and parts of 

North Sea isles with also details from the public beach St. Peter Or-

ding, the mudflat and sandbanks in all their colours. The book shows 

the whole area of the North Sea coast from the Netherlandic until 

the Danish frontier with the isles, but also the Elbe and Weser river 

from Bremerhaven until Hamburg. All introduction texts and picture 

descriptions has been also translated into English language.



FASZINATION NORDSEE

BOOK REVIEWS

DER GEFRORENE OZEAN

Author  


 Peter Lemke, Stephanie von Neuhoff

Title  


„Der gefrorene Ozean“

Published by   Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft

ISBN 978-3-7822-1210-6

This book takes the rea-

der on a breath-taking 

Antarctic expedition and 

shows the prettiness of 

the frozen ocean and gi-

ves us an in depth look 

into the polar research 

and the day on board of 

a research vessel. 

For the winter expe-

dition the researcher 

choose the route from 

Capetown in the sou-

th direction to the Antarctic and from there to North West to 

the peak of the Antarctic peninsulas. Operated by Capt. Uwe 

Pahl and his crew, the international expedition team came sa-

fely through the Polar Sea and reached after over 9 weeks port 

Punta Arenas.

This book shows in pictures together with exciting texts the fasci-

nation and power of the frozen ocean.

BIMCO ELECTS NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

On the 3


rd

 of June 2015 the AGM of BIMCO - the world’s most trusted 

authority of the industry, empowered by expertise – elected Phillippe 

Luis-Dreyfus as the new President for a term of two years. Among oth-

ers Niko Schües was co-opted to become a member of the Executive 

Board. Our Peter Eckhardt represents Germany on the Documentary 



Committee.

Philippe Luis-Dreyfus (centre) – the new President and his Executive Committee

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