Nils Aden says his surprise switch from Zeaborn Ship Management to head up V.Ships Germany was a “great opportunity” to use his experience and knowledge in helping the world’s largest third-party marine support services provider meet the fast-changing needs of the industry.
Managing director Aden says it is important in his new role to be part of the “transformation” of shipmanagement and not only of V.Ships’ Hamburg operations.
He took over at V.Ships Germany on 2 January and, among other things, is tasked with developing it as a so-called centre of excellence for managing containerships, not only locally but for the group globally.
But it is part of a broader group “roadmap, an ambitious plan”, to transform the business and make it “fit for the future”.
Professional service
Aden says there is a clear trend of shipowners demanding an increasingly professional service from managers.
As a global organisation, V.Ships is well placed to deliver on requirements that go “beyond pure technical management, that focus especially on safety and compliance, and being able to proactively ensure the performance of vessels, no matter where in the world they are trading”, he says.
The executive adds that he has brought to the table several years of management experience with Germany’s ER Schiffahrt — a group he joined in 2004 — and subsequently Rickmers Shipmanagement.
ER Schiffahrt was transformed from being an in-house manager to a third-party shipmanagement service provider, a process that sharpened views on what clients required and what it means “to be perceived as a good manager”.
No doubt Aden's track record in mergers also contributed to his appointment by V.Ships. He was handed the chief executive’s role at ER Schiffahrt in February 2015 following the departure of Hermann Klein and the earlier tie-up with Komrowski Group.
In February 2018, Zeaborn followed up its acquisition of Rickmers Shipmanagement with the takeover of ER Schiffahrt — and Aden became chief executive.
At V.Ships Germany, Aden is now tasked with overseeing the dovetailing of Norddeutsche Reederei H Schuldt (NRS) and its 47 managed boxships, which range in size from feeders to post-panamaxes and total around 230,000 teu.
It marks a sharp increase on V.Ships Germany's existing 13-vessel containership fleet but Aden also says NRS has brought with it a lot of containership experience into the organisation.
He took over the reins at V.Ships Germany almost immediately after his pre-Christmas departure from Zeaborn.
“We still have a good relationship,” Aden says of his former employer, while quashing any suggestions that the mid-December announcement of the separate departure of Zeaborn managing director Isabelle Rickmers was anything more than coincidence.
Explaining the timing of his departure, Aden says: “We had more or less completed the merger of Rickmers and ER Schiffahrt under the umbrella of Zeaborn towards the end of last year.
“In a situation where companies are about to merge or [are] at the beginning of the merger, the master doesn’t leave the bridge [until the job is finished].”
The point was reached at Zeaborn when, Aden says, he “felt comfortable towards my former colleagues to opt for a change”. There had been no falling out.
Centre for containerships
The NRS acquisition has clearly been the trigger to turn V.Ships Germany into the group’s centre for boxships, not only in Germany but worldwide. Other offices will continue to manage boxships but draw on Hamburg’s expertise.
The maritime capital of Germany is not the cheapest place to run a shipmanagement operation, but Aden says to deliver both safety and quality requires knowledge and experience — and that is where Hamburg scores highly.
It is the know-how of the people in the teams of NRS and V.Ships in Hamburg which is contributing to this process of transformation
Nils Aden, managing director of V.Ships Germany
It has decades of containership know-how, not only in pure management but also ownership, finance and suppliers — the “whole range in one place”.
“It is the know-how of the people in the teams of NRS and V.Ships in Hamburg which is contributing to this process of transformation,” Aden says, referring to reshaping the business and shipmanagement industry generally.
He says V.Group’s aim is to drive change by further developing state-of-the-art services, an ambition that has already seen it invest heavily in digitalisation, including its ShipSure software suite.
“It is about the operating model of the company and having the tools in place to facilitate growth,” Aden says.
The clear objective is to grow, both organically and potentially through further mergers and acquisitions. Tools such as ShipSure can play a vital role in a global organisation operating in different time zones, different cultures and “in a world that is more and more complex in terms of requirements", he says.
“It isn’t just about counting vessels but developing the company and, in this respect, we are focusing on clients that share our values… to make sure we are aligned in terms of quality and safety of the vessels and the crews,” he adds.
“It is really important in this role for me to be part of the transformation of the industry, not only of this office and Hamburg. It is a great opportunity to be part of this voyage.”
Parent supports strategy
Although Aden does not subscribe to the view that the shipping industry has an excessive amount of third-party managers, he sees “room for consolidation”.
“I firmly believe size is a strong argument going forward,” he says.
One reason is that investing in digital tools is beyond the financial scope of many companies.
“Size is a big advantage in keeping up with the speed of digitalisation and driving this transformation,” Aden says.
It is also important to have a global footprint, represented in different locations, and able to deliver different services.
Organic growth potential stems from the fact that a large proportion of ships are not outsourced to professional managers and Aden claims the opportunity exists to “convince owners that it makes sense”.
Size is a big advantage in keeping up with the speed of digitalisation and driving this transformation
Nils Aden, managing director of V.Ships Germany
Advent, the private equity owner of V.Group, is said to be behind the company’s strategy and further investment in acquisitions, provided the “right partner” is found.
In Germany, Aden sees various players lacking sufficient scale to deliver services globally and at competitive rates.
The collapse of the KG (limited partnership) funding system had seen many disappearing or consolidating, while others had been left unable to “prepare for what is next”.
Aden says both V.Ships and NRS in Germany are “fairly lean” operations. It is intended to maintain employee numbers following the takeover as the group’s policy is to invest in people, grow, and use the knowledge and experience of those people to develop its boxship centre of excellence concept.
However, V.Ships Germany will also continue to focus on the technical management of tankers, as well as other segments.
