Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 331
Henning Oldendorff returned to
Lübeck in 1980 and worked alongside
his father for three-and-a-half years.
His first major deals for the familyowned company were the acquisition
of the six-month old Panamax
bulker SEA SCOUT (ex-KAREN T.)
and negotiating the order for the
subsequent sistership newbuildings.
His father died when Henning
Oldendorff was 26 years of age.
During the last 14 years he bought
about 60 ships of which half were
newbuildings or newbuilding re-sales.
The average age of the EO fleet has
been reduced from 12.5 to 7.5 years.
At the turn of the years 1995/1996,
Egon Oldendorff and its associated
companies employ about 2,100 staff
in shipping and shipbuilding. The
current fleet list of about 78 ships
(including 23 ships on timecharter)
totals some 2,500,000 tdw and about
40,000 TEU, comprising bulk carriers,
self-unloaders, open-hatch vessels,
containerships as also tweendeck/
container multipurpose vessels.
Approximately 1,400 seafarers from
43 countries serve on board the EO
fleet. Just under 100 staff work in
the offices of Egon Oldendorff and
Concept Carriers in Lübeck and of
Oldendorff Asia in Singapore.
The shipbuilding subsidiary, FSG
of Flensburg employs 600 staff.
The Oldendorff companies are also
engaged in real estate and farming.
The Oldendorff companies continue
to be fully family owned. Henning
Oldendorff values his independence
since quick decision-making without
prior reference to outsiders is vital in
the cyclical shipping industry.
Egon Oldendorff celebrates its 75th
anniversary more than a decade after
its founder died on 9 May 1984. He
started the firm in Hamburg from
HELGA (2)
1974-1993
Panamax bulk carrier
327
humble beginnings in 1921 and built up
a respectable fleet twice, before and
after world War II. His son, Henning
Oldendorff, characterises him as having
been conservative and bold at the same
time, cost conscious down to minute
detail but generous when he sensed a
rewarding business opportunity:
“He had the courage to go his own
way and did not listen to the fainthearted. But he was cautious enough
to steer a prudent course for the
long-term benefit of the company and
his employees. All of us, afloat and
ashore, will continue to live up to the
founder’s standards of commitment
and responsibility, which had always
been high.”
The rejuvenated fleet may have
changed its face over the years, the
company expanded into shipbuilding
and timecharter/cargo operator
activities, but the spirit of the founder,
Egon Oldendorff, lives on.
