Hamburg’s Fleet Management
Flotte Hamburg (“Fleet of Hamburg”) is a full-service provider, offering both bareboat charter as well as charter arrangements that include qualified personnel.
Since 2017 Flotte Hamburg has bundled the city’s vessels into one fleet. By establishing its own fleet, Hamburg has created added value for the city and the port. Hamburg’s city fleet currently comprises about 50 ships. The majority of these ships are river vessels fulfilling a wide variety of functions – from firefighting boats, police boats, and hydrographic surveying vessels to pilot boats, transport ships, and icebreakers. In addition, the fleet operates a wet dredger, a suction dredger station, and 40 barges.
This fleet management system creates synergy effects. Ships can be maintained, repaired, and purchased in a standardised manner. A clever pooling strategy and multifunctional deployment capabilities ensure that the ships can be operated cost-effectively. The building of new vessels and additional investments are financed by the fleet itself.
The team comprises around 130 employees, most of which are vessel crew members, such as skippers and ship mechanics. These employees work around the clock 365 days a year to keep the Port of Hamburg running smoothly. A small, highly efficient team takes care of scheduling, maintenance management, new construction projects, and administration.
The creation of the fleet dates back to a resolution made by the Hamburg Senate in April 2016. The Senate decided to merge the fleets of the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), fire department, WSP (water police), and the LSGB (Hamburg Agency of Roads, Bridges and Waterways) into one municipal fleet to be managed by the HPA. At the same time, the fleet management team was charged with the renewal of Hamburg’s fleet of firefighting vessels. Following a project phase of about 1 year, preparations were completed, and the new fleet management team was able to commence operations on July 1, 2017. In order to enable independent and entrepreneurial business activities as well as to ensure a high level of transparency, the fleet management was simultaneously spun off as a subsidiary of the HPA in the form of a GmbH & Co KG.
Flotte Hamburg was set up to operate and charter out ships and floating facilities with and without personnel. We see ourselves as an overall fleet manager for the river vessels of the City of Hamburg. We stand for high availability, transparency, and cost stability and create added value through synergies. We also continue to see ourselves as pioneers in environmental protection and digitalisation.
The Flotte Hamburg fleet currently comprises around 50 vessels. Most of these are river vessels that operate within the port. We also operate a wet dredger, a suction dredger station, and 40 barges.
