Kuehne suggests Hamburg-Süd/Hapag-Lloyd merge

   Klaus-Michael Kuehne, honorary chairman of forwarder Kuehne+Nagel and the largest investor in the container carrier Hapag-Lloyd, believes the other leading German container carrier, Hamburg Süd, would be an ideal merger partner for Hapag-Lloyd.
   Kuehne floated the idea of a combination of the two carriers in an interview with Germany’s Wirtschaftswoche magazine.
   Kuehne said only through a merger could Hapag-Lloyd once again return to the top of the list of container carriers, the range inhabited by giants such as Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co.
   Hamburg Süd is part of the Oetker conglomerate and the two companies discussed an alliance in 2010, said the magazine. Kuehne said an alliance with a Far East company, such as Neptune Orient Line, the parent of container carrier APL, was also a possibility.
   According to Alphaliner, Maersk has 15.8 percent share of global container capacity and MSC 13.4 percent, compared to Hapag-Lloyd’s 3.9 percent, APL’s 3.7 percent, and Hamburg-Süd’s  2.5 percent share. – Chris Dupin