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

Detlefsen, der wertvolle Hinweise zu Gestaltung und Inhalt beigesteuert hat.

      Hans-Jürgen Abert, der die Biografien aller deutschen Schiffe verwaltet und dokumentiert.

      Peter Ballreich für die Informationen zur Geschichte der Reederei Thien & Heyenga.

      Robert G. Lloyd, dessen wunderschöne Gemälde wir hier abdrucken dürfen.

      Dr. Axel Griessmer und Eva Graumann vom IMM Hamburg für die freundlichen Gespräche und die fantastischen Fotos.

      Ralf Witthohn, der mehr als großzügig Fotos aus seinem Archiv zur Verfügung gestellt hat.

Major Reefer/Freezer Operator January 2020
Name	Country	No Vessels	Mio. Cbf	Avg Built
Alpha Reefer Transport/Frigoship	Germany	36	13,5	1994
Baltic Cool	Russia	35	21,3	1997
Fresh Carriers	Japan	15	7,7	2001
Green Sea	Belgium	42	12,7	1996
Seatrade Reefer Chartering	Belgium	28	16,0	1996
Star Reefers	Norway	21	12,5	2005
Total Major Six		177	83,7
Total Fleet World Fleet		557	180,5
Major Six’ Share		32 %	46 %

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

      Juliane Sachse und Karin Freese als Vertreterinnen der Erbengemeinschaft Jochen Sachse. Ohne sie hätten wir die großartigen Bilder des Marinemalers Jochen Sachse nicht zeigen können.

      Peter Tamm jr., in dessen Maximilian Verlag dieses Buch erscheint und der das Projekt vom ersten Moment an unterstützt hat. Thomas Bantle, Stephan Alpen, Sarah Winter, Anita Böning und Harald Grätz mit besonderem Dank für die hervorragende Zusammenarbeit während der gesamten Zeit der Entstehung.

      Unseren Familien und Freunden, im Speziellen Angela und Sabine, die uns vieles nachsahen, wenn wir uns mal wieder hinter dem Computer festgesessen hatten oder in unseren täglichen Videokonferenzen die Schifffahrt und manchmal auch die Welt retteten.

      Leer/Hamburg im August 2020

      Karl-Heinz Hilbig und Karsten Kunibert Krüger-Kopiske

      LOMBOK STRAIT/LUZON STRAIT, Triton Schiffahrts GmbH, in der / passing Singapore Strait

      (Gemälde / painting Robert G. Lloyd, mit freundlicher Genehmigung der / courtesy of Seatrade Reefer Chartering)

      POLAR COSTA RICA, Hamburg Süd / RAO in Hamburg-Süd-Farben / colours unter / under RAO-Flagge / flag (Arne Münster)

      The book “Die deutschen Kühlschiffe” by Arnold Kludas and Ralf Witthohn, published by Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft in 1981, has been a standard reference work for almost 40 years now. Shortly before its publication, the last two refrigerated ships were sold abroad under the German flag. But the history of German reefer shipping was far from over, as German reefer shipping experienced a renaissance after 1981 with new shipping companies or those who expanded their activities into the reefer market. The work presented here serves two different purposes. On the one hand, the ships that have been in the German merchant fleet since then are also presented here—after all, more than 170 new ships. In total, 375 ships with their technical data and biographies are collected in this book. In addition, the historical, technical and economic background of this market is also illuminated, which also expands the subject matter.

      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