Two New Carriers for German Bulk Freight Shipping Group

CHINA – GERMANY – Later this month the second of two new Kamsarmax bulk carriers built on behalf of A.O. Schiffahrt at the yard of Taizhou Catic Shipbuilding, near Shanghai will be christened. The Ida Oetker will be named on the 26th June following the christening of her sister ship the Caroline Oetker last month. A Kamsarmax class is basically an 82,000 dwt Panamax bulk carrier with an increased overall length of 229 metres and named after Port Kamsar in Equatorial Guinea, the largest freight vessel able to load at the world’s largest bauxite port.

With the christening of the two vessels, A.O. Schiffahrt says it is uniquely combining present and past, since, on the one hand, the two bulk carriers are fitted with cutting-edge technology and, on the other, they recall important milestones of German shipping and historical figures from the Oetker company. The Ida Oetker is named after the wife of Richard Kaselowsky, who guided the fortunes of the Dr. Oetker company from the 1920s to the 1940s whilst the Caroline Oetker is the second ship to bear this name. The first Caroline Oetker, a turbine tanker, was delivered to Hamburg Süd by Deutsche Werft AG in Hamburg on 26th February 1957 and was the largest vessel in the German merchant fleet at the time. Both ships take their name from Caroline Oetker, the wife of company founder Dr August Oetker.

A.O. Schiffahrt was founded in 2003 and is owned and managed by Alexander Oetker the son of Dr hc August Oetker, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Dr. August Oetker KG, the muesli to lager group and great, great grandson of the founder, and whose wife Daniela sponsored the latest vessel ‘Caroline’. The shipping company operates bulk carriers which transport iron ore, grain and coal, as well as other bulk cargoes, for customers worldwide and after the christenings the two vessels will be placed under long-term charter with Rudolf A. Oetker, which has been an integral part of the Hamburg Süd Group's tramp operations for 60 years.

Photo: The naming of the latest Caroline Oetker on the 19th May by Daniela and husband Alexander Oetker.