A fifth generation of the Eitzen clan is set to join the family shipowning business at a time when chief executive Axel Eitzen has been accelerating its resurgence.
Fridtjof C Eitzen will join Camillo Eitzen & Co in August, his father revealed to TradeWinds in an interview in Oslo.
Fridtjof is the eldest of Eitzen’s three sons and had been working in a commercial role for Tor Olav Troim’s Golar LNG.
The other Eitzen brothers are also in shipping: Nicolai with finance specialist North Cape Capital and Christopher at Clarksons Platou Securities.
Family affair
The Eitzen shipping story began when Captain Camillo Eitzen founded the family business in 1883. At the peak of the last upcycle in 2008, Axel Eitzen controlled four publicly listed companies and a fleet of 150 ships.
After the global financial crash, he lost control of the companies and went from employing 7,400 staff to just two.
Eitzen and his wife Nina have since rebuilt Camillo Eitzen & Co with a stake in four gas carriers and a bulker.
Last year, Eitzen led the takeover of chemical tanker specialist Herning Shipping. The company has since been renamed Christiania Shipping, with Eitzen named as the chief executive.
Nina Eitzen has worked closely with her husband in shipping since the 1990s.
“Going from 7,400 employees down to two, she played a very important role,” Eitzen told TradeWinds. “Here in the office, it is just the two of us. She is still playing a very important part.”
Axel Eitzen’s latest comeback marks the second time he has rebuilt his position. Previously in 1986, the year Fridtjof was born, he had reinvested in shipping with capital of just $10,000.
After his post-financial crisis difficulties, Eitzen says he has never considered walking away from the industry.
I used to use a metaphor of the moving pavements you have in the airports. If you stand still you go backwards and if you go slowly, you stand still
Axel Eitzen
“I have had a very, very interesting life in shipping and very inspiring colleagues and partners,” he said.
“It’s been great to work in shipping and I never wanted to do anything else.
“I never evaluated any other possibilities other than to try and find a way of coming back.”
Moving forward
The shipowner believes the family has entered the market at a good time with Christiania Shipping.
The company has a fleet of 19 owned and chartered ships, and growth is again on the menu for Eitzen.
“I used to use a metaphor of the moving pavements you have in the airports,” Eitzen said.
“If you stand still, you go backwards and if you go slowly, you stand still.
“We have to force a little bit forwards in order to go forwards. It’s good for the organisation, it’s good for your commercial partners to see that you are trying to increase the service and increase the performance .
“You can’t just sit still and utilise the same ships all the time, otherwise in 20 years it’s finished.”
Christiania Shipping is Camillo Eitzen’s largest shipping investment today and expansion of its existing business and related areas are also on the agenda.
Securing finance
For that to happen, it will need financing, with both the capital markets and the Norwegian KS (limited partnership) system — used in Eitzen’s latest comeback — potential avenues.
“I would not exclude either of those,” Eitzen said. “We have been using both those markets before and I hope to be using them again. As a shipowning company, you need a certain size to be able to develop in the right way.
“You need to invest in new tonnage and adapt to a new set of rules and trading standards and patterns.”
