HSH Nordbank and Hamburg shipping companies endow Chair for maritime research at the University of Hamburg

• Junior professorship in “Maritime Management” at the Faculty of Business Administration financed by the newly established “Stiftung Maritime Forschung” of HSH Nordbank
• Hamburg’s position as a maritime location enhanced by close collaboration between science and industry
• New “Research Center for Maritime Management” at the University of Hamburg based on cooperation between the Foundation’s junior professorship and the existing Chair for corporate and ship finance and on the research cluster “logistics and digital services “ at the Faculty of Business Administration

Hamburg/Kiel, April 29, 2015 - HSH Nordbank is endowing the “Stiftung Maritime Forschung” (“Foundation for Maritime Research”), the research projects of which will focus on the areas of business administration, technology and market analysis. The Foundation is making use of donations from the Hamburg shipping companies Ahrenkiel Steamship GmbH & Co. KG, E. R. Capital Holding GmbH & Cie. KG, Claus-Peter Offen GmbH & Co. KG, Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG, Rickmers Holding GmbH & Co. KG and the ship owners Dr. Bernd Kortüm, and Bernhard Schulte as well as HSH Nordbank to first establish a junior professorship in “Maritime Management” at the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Hamburg. In setting up this Foundation HSH Nordbank demonstrates a sense of responsibility vis-à-vis the shipping sector, which is hugely important for northern Germany, and at the same time strengthens Hamburg as a maritime location. The objective of the Foundation is to support the maritime sector by means of academic research.

“To date we have no answer to the question as to which ships will be underway on the world’s oceans or in very concrete terms on the Elbe in ten years’ time. This and similar questions, which are of key importance for the shipping companies and thus for us as a ship financer as well, are to be the subject of research projects financed by the Foundation for Maritime Research,” says Wolfgang Topp, “Generalbevollmächtigter” of HSH Nordbank. “By closely linking up research and practical application we are creating direct added value for Hamburg as a maritime location. A deeper understanding of the complex interrelations in the industry helps to reduce uncertainties and thus the risks for all market players, thereby making then more manageable. We would like to thank Hamburg’s shipping companies for their donations, which have made it possible to establish the junior professorship, and hope that they will become actively involved and so make a major contribution to the success of the new research center,” added Topp.

The Foundation will finance the junior professorship and the doctoral researcher positions. Strategic management is in the hands of Dr. Wolfgang Drobetz, professor for corporate and ship finance at the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Hamburg. The current research ranking published by the Handelsblatt, the most highly regarded research ranking for business econcomics in the German-speaking word, dated December 2014 ranks the business economists of the University of Hamburg second in Germany. The finance for the research center, amounting to EUR 450,000 per annum, is secured for three years by donations from the shipping companies and HSH Nordbank. In addition to its financial involvement, HSH Nordbank also manages the Foundation. The Foundation’s Management Board include Wolfgang Topp (Chairman), Norbert Krüger, Head of Credit Assessment & Decision and Torsten Heick, Head of Wealth Management, all at HSH Nordbank. The appointment procedure is to follow soon afterwards so that the future incumbent of the Chair can start work in the course of this year.

“The endowed Chair ideally complements the research areas of corporate and ship finance and operations & supply chain management already existing at the Faculty of Business Administration. In establishing the “Research Center for Maritime Management” it supports an innovative focus of research at the Faculty of Business Administration,“ said Professor Jetta Frost, Vice-President of the University of Hamburg and Curator of the Foundation for Maritime Research. “The planned transfer of know-how will strengthen Hamburg both as a shipping and academic location in the field of maritime management.”