As Oldendorff Carriers celebrates its centenary, chairman Henning Oldendorff credits a youthful, ambitious approach to business for the dramatic growth that has transformed it into one of the world’s largest dry bulk companies.

Youth has been a theme for those 100 years.

Oldendorff’s father, Egon Oldendorff, was just 21 when he became a partner in a small Hamburg shipping business, Lillienfeld & Oldendorff, on 19 February 1921.

Henning Oldendorff was 23 years old when he took over from his father in 1980 to create Oldendorff Carriers, a modern dry bulk giant with an owned and operated fleet of 700 ships.

Asked what the secret of its ­success has been, Oldendorff pointed to the dynamic attitude he has encouraged among his staff.

Turning point

“We wanted a company full of ambitious people at all levels, striving to achieve more, questioning things, challenging themselves and others to get to the next level,” he said.

His partner in building the ­modern company has been chief executive Peter Twiss.

For Twiss, the merger of the old Egon Oldendorff with Concept Bulk Carriers in the mid-1990s was the turning point in the development of Oldendorff Carriers.

“For over 70 years, the business of Oldendorff had been all about investing in ships. In the mid-1990s, it suddenly changed when we purchased the business of Concept Bulk Carriers and renamed it Concept Carriers. We invested in a trade and in people — and these people were unlike any working at the company at the time,” he said.

The merger also contributed to the distinct working culture that is part of the company’s identity.

A young Egon Oldendorff. Photo: Oldendorff Carriers

“Under Peter’s leadership the company was transformed further. Our people have become entrepreneurs in their own right. Peter puts them in the right place and then trusts them to do the right thing,” Oldendorff said.

“The Oldendorff way is to find independent thinkers, give them a lot of freedom — and to trust them to put their heart and soul into finding the best solution. After all, life’s what you make it.”

The company has developed a strong operating profile but is also known for its asset play, with opportunistic investment and timely sales.

Oldendorff heads the sale-and-purchase team. This side of the business interests him the most. He said the desk is backed by a strong research unit and its main objective is to provide the operating team with the right ships.

Passion for asset play

Oldendorff Carriers' office in Lubeck is among the company's 19 locations worldwide. Photo: Oldendorff Carriers

“I get to enjoy my passion, which lies in dealmaking on the asset side, trying to buy and sell ships at the right time. Since 2013 alone, our little S&P team has ­concluded 235 transactions. We are decidedly countercyclical when riding the waves of the market, with one of our mottos being: ‘Buy cheaply, and we can navigate on autopilot. Buy expensively, and we will struggle forever’.”

The company’s owned and long-term chartered fleet has grown to about 175 out of 700 ships. Having control of environmental performance is an important driver behind the growth of owned tonnage, according to Twiss.

Chief executive Peter Twiss has played a key role in the development of the company. Photo: Oldendorff Carriers

A vital part of the strategy has been to “balance risk” through its involvement with the physical and paper markets.

“It is im­­portant to have enough critical mass to feel the pulse of changes in the spot and forward markets. Although we have a ­basket of contracts of various ­durations, we also maintain a spot market presence in each ­segment,” Twiss explained.

The most recent strategy has been to become a market leader in the baby capesize, newcastlemax and post-panamax market.

A transshipment hub has been set up in Trinidad to take multiple handysize cargoes coming out of the draught-restricted Amazon and Orinoco rivers, which are transshipped on baby capesize bulkers.

Now the company is looking to the future, in which the environment will play a key part in its strategy.

Oldendorff said his company has invested $3bn in 90 eco ships and more than 95% of the fleet has enhanced environmental performance. The company is involved in technology development projects to promote environmental performance.

But the big question is whether it can generate the capital required for investment in high-performance environmental tonnage as a private family-owned company, as it began life 100 years ago. ­Oldendorff is adamant that it can.

“Fortunately, we have been profitable for the past 14 consecutive years. Profits are not paid out as dividends, but retained for future investments, so we can pursue a long-term countercyclical strategy,” he said.

“We are confident that we can continue to operate as a privately owned dry bulk shipowner and operator. We have been able to grow our own fleet without investor money and intend to keep it that way.”