Ernst Russ shipping company

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Soot chimney mark of the cargo ship CCNI Magallanes

The Ernst Russ shipping company was founded in 1893 by Ernst Russ based in Hamburg . The shipping company's office flag shows a star in front of the initials “ER”, which goes back to a saying by the company's founder, Martha Russ, that a star should guide the company's path .

In 2014 the company had an average of 15 employees (excluding hired ship crews ) and had total assets of EUR 8.5 million. In April 2016 it was taken over by HCI Capital , which later renamed Ernst Russ AG .

History and fleet

Tanker Ernst G. Russ at the ESSO station Projensdorf, Kiel Canal, 1966

In 1892 the shipping company acquired the steamer Falke as the first ship , which was built as a cargo ship in 1866 and received a composite steam engine in 1874 ; in 1893 the ship went down. In 1899 the shipping company acquired the 1870-built steamship Secunda its second freighter.

After the opening of the Kiel Canal in 1895, the shipowner established a liner service with his ships between Hamburg and the cities in Finland and Russia, in particular Turku , Helsinki , Kotka , Vyborg and St. Petersburg . The shipowner named the steamship acquired in 1899 after his wife Martha Russ , which was in service for 64 years, 21 of them under the Russ shipping company flag. The steamer Johannes Russ acquired in 1904 was lost in the chaos of war in 1915. Two smaller steamers followed, the Christian Russ and Helen Russ , which had been in the service of the shipping company for 50 years. In 1910 the Margarete Russ had an accident on an Atlantic voyage to the port of destination Amsterdam. Up until the First World War , the shipping fleet consisted of 16 ships that were in service on the North and Baltic Seas and on the North and South Atlantic voyages . 10 ships were lost in the war.

In 1926 Paul Lorenz-Meyer married Tilly Russ, the shipowner's only child, and became a partner in the shipping company. With the new partner, the new ship names were given the initials LM with the ending Russ (like Ernst L.-M. Russ , built in 1937 by the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, 2957 GRT, 2000 HP).

In 1939 the fleet again consisted of 39 ships, 13 of which were lost in World War II and 20 were delivered to the Allies .

After the war, Ernst Russ built up his company for the third time. After the Allies approved trading in Germany in 1951, the shipping fleet was increased by 11 ships. In 1953 the 18,300 ton tanker, the Ernst G. Russ, was added to the fleet, which was then the largest German merchant ship, built at the German shipyard in Finkenwerder. When Ernst Russ died in 1957 at the age of almost 90, he left behind a fleet of 21 ships.

Between 1953 and 1957, the shipping company had 6 cargo ships from the Bleichen series built at the Nobiskrug shipyard in Rendsburg:

MS Gisela Russ in roadstead off Turku in 1963
Construction year Surname GRT L.ü.A. width engine Horsepower
1953 Gisela Russ 1329 90.2 12.35 9 cyl. MaK 1575
1953 Use Russ 1330 90.2 12.35 9 cyl. MaK 1575
1954 Botilla Russ 962 76.5 11.37 8 cyl. MaK 1500
1954 Theresa Russ 962 76.4 11.37 8 cyl. Deutz 1500
1957 Nanni Russ 1373 93.4 12.35 6 cyl. Deutz 1500
1957 Helga Russ 1373 93.4 12.35 6 cyl. Deutz 1500

In 1960 the grandson of the late shipowner, Ernst-Roland Lorenz-Mayer, joined the company. A year later his father Paul Lorenz-Meyer dies. In 1968 the company acquires the second Ernst G. Russ , with 99,500 tons it is again the flagship of the shipping company. In 1969 the Paula Howaldt Russ was built by the Bremer Vulkan shipyard. In 1971 two 140,000 ton dry cargo ships added to the fleet. With the shipping crisis in the 1980s, the shipping fleet shrank to a minimum. In 1990, after 19 years, the fleet was again expanded to include the paper freighter, the Martha Russ . In 1993 the founder's great-grandson, Robert Lorenz-Meyer, took over the company.

Norrland (formerly Martha Russ )
StoRo ship Caroline Russ
The Pauline Russ , Kiel Fjord, 2005

Container ships of the shipping company

Construction year Surname GRT L.ü.A. width Horsepower shipyard
1994 Christian Russ 7.167 134 19.7 6,933 Galatz , Romania
1996 Helene Russ 16,800 184 25.3 18,109 Szczecinska , Poland
1996 Sofia Russ 16,800 184 25.3 18,109 Szczecinska
1998 Antje Russ 5,056 119 18.2 7,831 Sietas , Germany
2006 Johanna Russ 9,956 148 23.3 13.228 Jiangdong, China
2006 Marta Russ 9,956 148 23.3 13.228 Jiangdong

RoRo ships of the shipping company

Construction year Surname GRT L.ü.A. width Horsepower shipyard
1999 Caroline Russ 10,488 153.5 20.6 21,210 Sietas
1999 Elisabeth Russ 10,471 153.5 20.6 17,130 Sietas
1999 Friedrich Russ 10,471 153.5 20.6 17,130 Sietas
2000 Louise Russ 18,265 174.00 25.4 22,840 Sietas
1999 Pauline Russ 10,488 153.5 20.6 21,210 Sietas

The previously family-run company - with a fleet of seven container and four RoRo ships - was taken over by the issuing house HCI Capital in April 2016 . With the acquisition of Ernst Russ Reederei, HCI now has around 40 ships under active management. On May 3, 2016, the shipping company changed its name from Ernst Russ GmbH & Co. KG to Ernst Russ Reederei GmbH & Co. KG . In June 2016, HCI Capital, which had previously also operated the König & Cie . had taken over the change of name from HCI Capital AG to Ernst Russ AG and took effect on July 25, 2016.

Ernst Russ AG

The fleet list of Ernst Russ AG includes (as of June 2018): 59 container ships , 5 bulk carriers (sizes Capesize , Panamax , Handymax and Handysize ), 12 multi-purpose , 5 RoRo ships , 12 tankers and 1 LPG tanker.

Web links

Commons : Reederei Ernst Russ  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2014 annual financial statements of Ernst Russ GmbH & Co. KG. In: Bundesanzeiger , December 23, 2015, accessed on September 11, 2015.
  2. ↑ Hans Szymansk, Die Dampfschiffahrt in Niedersachsen and in the adjacent areas from 1817 to 1867 , Europäische Hochschulverlag, 2011, accessed on February 2, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c Thomas Kunadt: Hamburg shipowners and their ships , Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-7822-1007-2 .
  4. ↑ Ships of the BLEICHEN series , Volker Stark, September 2008, from Handbook for German Merchant Shipping 1960, Federal Minister of Transport, accessed on January 26, 2019.
  5. ^ The company Ernst Russ , accessed on January 26, 2019.
  6. ↑ HCI buys traditional Hamburg shipping company, Cash.Online, April 21, 2016, accessed on January 28, 2019.
  7. ↑ HCI Capital AG : Name changed to Ernst Russ AG . Ernst Russ AG press release , July 26, 2016, accessed on September 11, 2016.
  8. ↑ Ernst Russ AG fleet list (as of June 2018) .