[ 150 Years of Hapag-Lloyd tradition and innovation ]

On May 27th 1847 Hamburg-Amerikanische
Packetfahrt-Actien-gesellschaft(Hapag), one of the two companies that
merged to form today’s Hapag-Lloyd AG, was established. Ten years
later Norddeutscher Lloyd was founded in Bremen. Both shipping lines
promoted innovations and set standards in their markets. Today
Hapag-Lloyd is a modern group active in the transport and tourism
sectors.
“On May 27th 1997 Hapag-Lloyd is celebrating its 150th anniversary a
most unusual anniversary even traditions. It shows that, despite the
upheavals caused by two world wars, each involving the loss of the
shipping lines’ fleets, trends have been spotted in due time and new
challenges met,” emphasized Bernd Wrede. Executive Board Chairman of
Hapag-Lloyd Group, at a press conference in Hamburg.
Hamburg businessman founded Hapag on May 27th 1847 with the aim of
participating in the rising tide of emigration to the “New World”.
On its sailing ships each passenger was given a separate bunk-which
was regarded as pure luxury by contemperary competitors. Later Hapag
even built an emigrants’ town in Hamburg to accommodate passengers
prior to embarkation and thus protect them from unscrupulous
profiteers. A comparable service was offerde by North German Lloyd,
which was founded in 1857 and quickly became Hapag’s main rival.
Lloyd and hapag offered the first cruises as early as 1890. Passenger
liners on the North Atlantic could not be fully utilized in the
stormy winter season, and with increasing affluence a new clientele
emerged of well-to-do citizens for ghom a sea vayage was not
primarily a means of bridging distances but a social event in itself.
hapag and Lloyd fitted out their ships accordingly and tried to outdo
one another in terms of luxury appointments. While luxury liners
provided prestige, the commercial basis was provided for by ever
greater networks of cargo shipping services.
The cruise, however, was not the sole new product developed. With the
advent of aviation, both Hapag and Lloyd extended their activities,
previously limited to water, to the air. Thus, Hapag assumed
responsibility for route planning, organization and sales for the
Zeppelins, nicknamed the “flying cigars”. Aircraft were catapulted
from specially equipped ships far out to sea to speed
intercontinental mail deliveries. Hapag and Lloyd were also among the
founding companies of the predecessor of today’s Lufthansa.
In the cargo transport sector, both shipping lines were pioneers in
providing trading companies with regular and reliable liner services
to all parts of the world. Despite all their rivalry, however, both
Hapag and Lloyd also cooperated a great deal in providing joint
services. Both were instrumental in making diesel propulsion
attractive for oceangoing ships. From 1977-79 Hapag-Lloyd deployed
the only German merchant ship with nuclear propulsion, the “otto
Hahn”.
After Hapag and Lloyd had already been cooperating in various areas,
in 1966 they jointly met the challenge presented by the advent of the
container, which involved a new transport technolngy. A new fleet was
needed and an adequate number of containers had to be acquired. The
investment required was substantial and in 1970 prompted Hapag and
Lloyd to merge to form Hapag-Lloyd AG, thereby abandoning a rivalry
of over 110 years standing.
with container transport growing all the time, liner shipping became
increasingly competitive, particularly as a result of the activities
of foreign flags. Hapag-Lloyd, based in a high wage country,
responded by boosting its productivity, in the mid-’80s deploying
modern containerships of the with shipyards. These vessels could
operate with smaller crews thanks to edtensive use of technology and
computer-supported operating systems.
The on-going globalization of the economy with shippers placing
increasign requirements on their carriers meant additional challenges
for Hapag-Lloyd. As one of the “global players” in the worldwide
logistics sector, Hapag-Lloyd offers a comprehensive door-to-door
service from a single supplier. Its highly motivated, well-trained
employees working for a global, decentralized sales and logistics
organization guarantee high levels of expertise and productivity.
In the tourism sector Hapag-Lloyd is now one of Germany’s leading
suppliers-for business travel as well as holiday travel and cruises.
Its product range encompasses cruises on classic luxury liners,
adventure ocean cruises and river cruises. However, its most
important and successful commitment in tourism is its airline, which
primarily serves sunny destinations in the Mediterranean and
Canaries. Hapag-Lloyd also holds a 30 percent share in Touristik
Union International(TUI), the leading European tour operator.
“The last 150 years have witnessed great upgeavals in business,
politics and society in general, and the growth of information
technology will contribute to ensuring that this process of change
continues at increasing speed. Hapag-Lloyd has accepted this
challenge,” Bernd Wrede notes, adding that the Group puts its faith
in principles it has adhered to in the past and will continue to
uphold in the future innovative skills in transport and tourism,
quality of service and, above all, orientation to customer
requirements.
Hapag-Lloyd’s 150th anniversary is also to be celebrated in quite
concrete terms. All Group employees will receive an additional half
month’s remuneration, while the dividend is to be raised from DM 16
to DM 18 plus corporate tax credit of DM 7.71 per DM 50 share. A “
Hapag-Lloyd Foundation” is to be establised with a capital of DM 10
million. A comprehensive anniversary book entitled “Mein Feld ist
die Welt”(”The World is Our Oyster”) will be published following
the official anniversary celebration on June 20th 1997. This book,
work on which began just under three tears ago, outlines the history
of Hpgag, North German Lloyd and Hapag-Lloyd AG over the past one and
a half centuries.