Claus-Peter Offen is handing over the reins of Germany's largest containership owning company to Arnt Vespermann, who recently stepped down as chairman and chief executive of Hamburg Sud.

The move marks the end of an era for the Hamburg-based Offen Group, which has been overseen by industry veteran Offen as managing owner and sole shareholder since its formation 50 years ago.

Offen's succession by Vespermann, 53, marks a generational shift, although Offen will remain as chairman of a newly established supervisory board.

He will continue to accompany strategic decisions in the group, accompanied by his chief financial officer Ralf Jung.

“I am very happy that with Arnt Vespermann I have found a highly recognised expert of the maritime industry for my company,” Offen said.

Safe hands

Vespermann is a well-known figure in container shipping circles.

In recent years, he helped oversee the integration of liner operator Hamburg Sud into the operations of the AP Moller-Maersk.

Arnt Vespermann stepped down as chief executive of Hamburg Sud in February. Photo: Hamburg Sud

A long-time manager with both Hamburg Sud and its bulker division Rudolf Oetker (RAO), he has experience in container and shipping operations.

Vespermann will oversee a fleet of more than 30 mostly larger containerships, as the Offen Group has in recent years focused its activities on the traditional post-panamax containership segment.

While the Offen fleet has halved in numbers in the past decade, a focus on large capacity boxships means it remains one of the world’s largest tonnage providers.

Shipbroker Clarksons lists the company as the fifth-largest containership tonnage provider in the world.

Offen Group is also the only German company in the top 10 of global boxship tonnage providers.

It owns 38 boxships, mainly from 5,500 teu to 14,000 teu, according to Alphaliner figures.

Most are chartered to European liner operators Mediterranean Shipping Co and CMA CGM.

New chapter begins in 2022

Vespermann will officially take on the new position on 1 January.

This marks a new chapter following 20 years with Hamburg Sud where he had been a member of the management board since 2009.

“I am looking forward to lead a well-established family company like the Offen Group and to strategically expand their activities,” Vespermann said.

Vespermann rose through the ranks at Hamburg Sud, which he joined in 1999 as head of its legal department.

He ended his time there as chief executive when the company was sold to Maersk by the Oetker Group at the end of 2017.

Vespermann said of his departure from Hamburg Sud in February this year that it was “the ideal time for me to relinquish the helm”.

Reederei Claus-Peter Offen was established in June 1971 and became synonymous with the expansion of the German fleet.

The company grew its presence in container shipping by building at German shipyards until the early 2000s when orders were placed at South Korean yards.

Up until a decade ago, the fleet managed by Offen Group was the largest of any containership tonnage provider with a total capacity of more than 500,000 teu.