QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Columbus, containers and pizza

Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts Gesellschaft – more simply known as Hamburg Süd – was formed by a consortium of 11 Hamburg merchants in 1871. Three steamers barely totalling 4,000 GRT began monthly services to South America, initially to Rio de Janeiro and Brazilian ports, extending to the River Plate the following year. The fleet had increased to more than 50 ships, of about 325,000 GRT, by 1914. Many were captured or interned at the outbreak of war, but some were converted to raiders; one, paradoxically named Cap Trafalgar, was sunk after fighting the only liner-to-liner sea battle in history with her British counterpart Carmania in the South Atlantic. As with NDL, the Hamburg Süd fleet was lost as reparations at the end of the conflict. Rebuilding with chartered vessels, the company extended to passenger cruising, making something of a splash with the Cap Arcona , held by many to be the most beautiful liner of her time. Management successions in the early 1930s saw the son of the founding chairman join his father on the board. A ‘non-Hamburger’, Dr August Oetker from Bielefeld, became a partner in Hamburg Süd in 1934, and his grandson later also joined the board. By 1939, the fleet had been rebuilt to 52 ships of over 400,000 GRT … only to see history repeat itself with the Second World War. Resumption of services, with tramp shipping and tankers, in the early 1950s was followed by Dr Oetker’s takeover of the group in 1955. Rapid extensions of passenger and cargo liner service followed. Another famous name from the past vanished when the Middle East operations of Bock & Godeffroy – better known as the Deutsche Levante Linie or DLL – were taken over in 1956.

The next year, cargo services were reopened to the Americas under the Columbus Line brand with the striking red hulls and white upperworks. Services were extended from North America to Australia and New Zealand in 1963. New-build vessels Columbus Australia , Columbus America and Columbus New Zealand were the line’s first purpose-built container ships, the last named pioneering trans-Pacific containerised services in 1971. Columbus and Hamburg Süd further cemented the German connection with Queensland when, on 9 August 1981, Columbus Queensland herself became the first ship to use the Port of Brisbane’s new No.1 Container Terminal at the expanding Fisherman Islands facility. Expansion in the 1980s and ’90s saw Hamburg Süd acquire more famous shipping names, like Furness Withy, Pacific Steam Navigation Co., and the Royal Mail Line. From 2004, the Columbus Line identity was wholly replaced by the Hamburg Süd brand, today among the 20 biggest shipping companies worldwide. Amongst its 50 or so regular sailings, services continue to connect Europe with Australia and North America. Hamburg Süd operates a fleet of over 170 ships, a container pool of over 340,000 units, and employs around 4,200 people around the world in a major transport logistics operation that has moved well beyond shipping. Today, Hamburg Süd is a subsidiary of Rudolf A Oetker, with a presence on the world’s oceans in bulk and product tanker shipping under the names Rudolf A. Oetker (RAO), Furness Withy Chartering and Aliança Bulk (Aliabulk). Most of the fleet is now listed under the associate Columbus Shipmanagement GmbH – preserving the tradition of a great shipping name.

The keel of Columbus Queensland was laid down at Bremerhaven on 26 February 1979, she was launched four months later, on 28 June, and delivered to Hamburg-Süd in December that year. A 24,200 GRT vessel with a capacity of over 1,200 TEU, she and her sisters were regular visitors to Brisbane, before her sale in 2003, and her disposal to Bangladeshi breakers in 2006. Photo by Dr Allan Ryszka-Onions via shipspotting.com

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