Only 72 bulkers are owned by Danish shipping companies, according to shipbroker Clarksons. That total is far less than the 341 containerships, 281 tankers and even the 84 cruise and passenger vessels in Danish hands.
But the data disguises the emergence, or some argue the re-emergence, of Copenhagen as a hub for dry bulk shipping.
Claes Devantier, who has been leading the expansion of Maersk Broker’s dry cargo operations, says the Danish capital is now home to more than 30 bulker owners and operators.
“It seems Copenhagen has evolved into a cluster for dry cargo,” he says.
New faces
Staples of the Danish dry cargo cluster, such as Norden, J Lauritzen and Ultrabulk, have been joined by a host of new names.
One high-profile arrival was German giant Oldendorff Carriers, which set up shop in the middle of 2017 with Jens Jacobsen returning from Asia to lead the office. Other big names include Noble, via Atlantic Chartering, as well as SwissMarine, Centurion Bulk and Nordic Bulk Carriers.
New names have also appeared on the shipowning side, such as BW Dry Cargo, which launched in 2016 with Christian Bonfils at the helm. Private equity-backed Celsius Shipping, and Navigare Capital Partners, with support from pension funds, have also been building dry cargo exposure into their increasingly diversified fleets.
Carsten Mortensen, who was chief executive of BW Group at the time it returned to the bulker market, explains that while the new names are notable, dry cargo is not a fresh business in Copenhagen.
Historic hub
“There is a very long tradition for the dry cargo space, it goes back decades and decades,” he says. “I think it starts with education and the people, and then having the infrastructure and the education.”
He believes Denmark’s tradition as a home to traders is helping drive the development of dry bulk in Copenhagen.
“Dry cargo, to a vast extent, is about trading ships and cargo, whereas Sweden was more large industrials, in Norway they found the oil,” he says. “We had smaller companies, but we were a trading nation.”
Mads Peter Zacho, chief executive of J Lauritzen, says Denmark’s stable political climate for shipping has helped to attract competing firms to the country and could also motivate some people to “jump out of their old shop and set up on their own”.
Raising the bar
Despite the increasing number of competitors, Zacho welcomes the trend.
“The more we can be here, the stronger it is as a hub and the stronger we will be,” he says. “Our ability to attract skilled, well-educated shipping professionals is becoming better and also that we will have all the suppliers, the banks, the leasing companies, coming here. I think it’s a huge plus for us as a company.
We are all benefiting from competition and we are making each other better
Mads Peter Zacho
“We are all benefiting from competition and we are making each other better.”
Zacho believes this competition for talent raises the bar for companies to be attractive employers. “We know our people will have alternatives, so we have to make sure that the working conditions make this an attractive place to be,” he says.
“I think this makes us a little bit sharper. I’m genuinely a firm believer in competition and that the Danish shipping hub is strengthening."
Per Lange, chief executive of Ultrabulk, which typically controls a fleet of between 130 and 160 ships, also sees the benefits of a competitive environment.
“We hate to lose cargoes and ships to another Danish operator,” he says. "We also recognise the challenges to shipping in the years ahead, nobody can lift that on their own. So we need to have a dialogue on non-competitive things, including digitalisation, technology and the environment.”
Christian Vinther Christensen, head of dry cargo at Copenhagen-listed Norden, believes the movement of people between Copenhagen’s dry cargo companies has slowed, with distinct differences between the various players.
Distinct culture
“I think the profile of the companies is quite clear now,” he says. “We are quite different, culturally, in ownership and risk appetite.”
Despite the large number of dry operators in the Copenhagen area, the nature of the business means significant consolidation is unlikely.
“If we want to grow, it makes no sense to buy an operator, but we will take teams and hire the people who fit into the culture,” Christensen says. “You will not see the operator involved in consolidation as such, as it's more about company cultures.”
Zacho agrees, noting it is hard to see the benefits of consolidation among dry cargo operators. “I think a number of the smaller operators have a very lean setup,” he says.
“It will always be dynamic with some companies moving together and some splitting up, some growing, some becoming smaller. But I don’t see a big scope for a consolidation game in the dry bulk sector.”
