Sustainability Report 2025
Since the publication of our first sustainability report for the year 2022, we have built a dedicated team, established clear responsibilities, and implemented processes that make sustainability a permanent part of how we operate. Across the company - on board and ashore - our colleagues contribute their experience to how these processes take shape in daily operations. From shared performance data to crew input on standards that shape their daily life, they directly inform how we can improve our operations.
This report outlines our progress, objectives, and the challenges that remain as we navigate the transition towards a lower-emission shipping industry. It is prepared in line with the VSME and SASB reporting standards and informed by our Double Materiality Assessment.
Read the full report here.
Sustainability Report 2022
Our first Sustainability Report 2022 marks the beginning of a journey towards greater transparency in our ESG activities. The preparation of this report has been a meaningful internal engagement with our sustainability strategy. We continuously reevaluate, adjust and improve our the strategy, goals and targets.
Read the full report here.
F. Laeisz Award for Maritime Innovation
For the first time and together with Universität Hamburg, we recognised innovative projects from the DACH-region that contribute to the transformation of the maritime industry. The first prize went to Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon for a hydrogen fuel cell that draws oxygen directly from seawater.
Learn more here.
Certifications & Publications
Certifications, guidelines and reports at a glance: from our ISO certificates to our compliance and conduct policies and our sustainability reports.
Learn more here.
Research Engagement
The Research Shipping activities are steered from our Bremerhaven office with the support of the larger shipmanagement organisation in Rostock. For more than two decades our specialised crew has been operating the vessels under demanding conditions, working alongside scientists to make research at sea and in polar regions possible.
Through these business activities we have taken part in some of the most interesting and daring research projects, topped by the MOSAiC Expedition in 2019. Starting in 2027, the new POLARSTERN for the Alfred Wegener Institute will be built at the Thyssenkrupp shipyard. As with theexisting POLARSTERN, we will continue ship management for the new POLARSTERN from 2030 onwards. The new vessel succeeds the research icebreaker that has been in service for 40 years and improves it in efficiency and sustainability through dual-fuel propulsion, heat recovery, and modern filtration technology. Additionaly, the sailing research vessel EUGEN SEIBOLD and the CORIOLIS – which uses a hydrogen fuel cell for onboard power – extend our involvement in oceanographic research. Data gathered on these expeditions, including sea ice extent and oceanic CO₂ absorption, feeds directly into international climate models.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Our environmental management system has been certified to ISO 14001 since 1997 – the first certification of its kind among German shipping companies. It covers our activities at sea and ashore and sets out how we monitor and reduce the environmental impact of our operations.
HEALTH, SAFETY & QUALITY
As a globally operating shipping company, our corporate strategy is built on five pillars: safety, efficiency, innovation & technology, emission reduction and reliability.
Compliance driven:
ISM Code – International Safety Management · ISPS Code – Ship & Port Security · MLC – Maritime Labour Convention | since 2013
Above compliance:
ISO Certifications (covering fleet and shore-based facilities) · ISO 9001 – Quality Management · ISO 14001 – Environmental Management · ISO 50001 – Energy Management · ISO 45001 – Occupational Health & Safety · TMSA – Tanker Management and Self-Assessment · VSME · SASB
Safety, Occupational Health & Security
We strive for occupational health, safety, and security with the long-term goal and aspiration of zero incidents and zero pollution. The safety of everyone on board and ashore is a shared responsibility. We rely on structured reporting, regular training, and the direct experience of our crews to work towards our long-term goal of zero incidents and zero pollution. Concerns can be raised at any time, confidentially, through our SpeakUp Channel.
Energy & Economic Efficiency
We factor energy efficiency into vessel operation and investment decisions alongside economic considerations. Our crew plays a direct role here – from voyage planning to day-to-day operational choices that reduce fuel consumption.
Innovation & Technology
We continuously monitor and invest in energy saving technologies and energy efficient assets. Ideas from both our crew on board and colleagues ashore can feed into these decisions, based on their first-hand operational experience.
Emissions Reduction
We monitor emissions on an ongoing basis and adjust vessel operation and energy use accordingly. Our reduction efforts are guided by the targets of the IMO's 2023 GHG Strategy, which calls for net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping by or around 2050, with indicative checkpoints of at least 20% by 2030 and at least 70% by 2040, both relative to 2008 levels. Meeting these targets depends on the daily commitment of our seafarers and shore staff, whose operational know-how shapes how emission reduction measures are implemented in practice.
Reliability
We strive for customer satisfaction through reliable and consistent operations. This reliability rests on the experience and consistency of our seafarers and shore teams, many of whom have worked with us for years.
LOCAL & INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT
Culture & Community
Beyond our core business, we support various cultural and social initiatives. This includes long-standing support for maritime welfare organisations such as the Deutsche Seemannsmission and the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger (DGzRS), as well as regional maritime bodies including the Stiftung Hamburg Maritim and the Deutscher Nautischer Verein. In the arts, the company maintains its own foundation, the Kunststiftung Christa und Nikolaus Schües, alongside the art collection of Deutsche Seereederei Rostock and support for the Symphoniker Hamburg and the Freundeskreis Elbphilharmonie + Laeiszhalle. A further, long-standing line of engagement connects the company to Jewish-Hamburg cultural life, including support for the Förderverein Jewish Museum Hamburg, the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Hamburg and the University of Haifa.
Industry Bodies
Our workforce actively engages and devotes commitment with national and international shipping institutions supporting industry initiatives, based on the firm belief that only a sound international and global framework may provide the right environment to work in. We are members of BIMCO, the IG of P&I Clubs, Verband Deutscher Reeder, ITOPF and the IACS classification societies, and support their work on shipping regulation. As a member of the H2Global Business Council, we follow developments in the hydrogen economy – contributing maritime expertise across the value chain and gaining insight into hydrogen market developments.
