HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - At the hearing of the Hamburg Parliament on the entry of the world's largest shipping company MSC into the port logistics company HHLA, several experts expressed concerns, some of them considerable, about the planned deal. In Wednesday's joint meeting of the Committee for Public Enterprises and the Economic Committee, which lasted several hours, the question was raised several times as to whether it would not make more sense for the shipping company to simply acquire a stake in a terminal instead of MSC's planned investment in HHLA itself. Experts were also skeptical about the co-determination guaranteed in the Senate's printed matter and the lack of a market value appraisal. However, there were also experts who had no objections to the planned deal and saw it as an opportunity for more cargo and growth in the port.

Hamburg's red-green Senate wants to bring the Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) on board with Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) in order to stabilize container handling. The city and the company, which is owned by the Italian shipping family Aponte, are to run HHLA as a joint venture in future, with the city holding a majority stake of 50.1 percent. To date, the city has owned around 70 percent of HHLA, which is listed on the stock exchange.

In return, the world's largest shipping company MSC wants to build its German headquarters in Hamburg, increase the cargo volume in the port from 2025 and, according to the printed matter, increase it to one million standard containers (TEU) per year by 2031. MSC and the city also want to increase HHLA's equity by 450 million euros. The port has recently suffered setbacks. Last year, the handling of seaborne cargo fell by 4.7 percent compared to 2022 to 114.3 million tons - the lowest figure since 2009.

The Port of Hamburg's competitiveness has suffered over the past ten years, said Joachim Seeler, Managing Director of HSP Hamburg Invest GmbH. Instead of strengthening this by acquiring further stakes in individual HHLA terminals following the terminal investments by Cosco and Hapag-Lloyd, for example, the city now wants to involve a customer in the management level for all terminals and hinterland traffic for the first time with MSC. "You will have to think very carefully about this," warned Seeler. He also noted that a majority in the company does not necessarily say anything about control. This is because it depends on the articles of association, which usually state quite simply that a simple majority decides. In the case of the MSC deal, however, there is a long tail of exceptions for which unanimity is required - which opens up the possibility of blockades.

The former President of the Port of Hamburg Business Association, Gunther Bonz, was similarly skeptical. For him, for example, there is no competitive analysis as to why the Port of Hamburg has fallen behind. Other ports such as Barcelona or Genoa would have done this long ago. There are also questions regarding tax and competition law. Dorte Fouquet, a lawyer at the law firm Becker Büttner Held, said that she was particularly concerned about the issue of co-determination, which must be secure. The fact that dismissals for operational reasons are to be ruled out for five years, for example, "seems to me (...) to be a very short time".

The chairwoman of DGB Nord, Laura Pooth, called MSC a less than transparent family business that does not disclose its figures and has no culture of co-determination. At the same time, she referred to the trade union Verdi and the HHLA works councils, which rigorously reject MSC's entry. Employees have already taken to the streets twice for this reason, once two weeks ago with around 500 participants and once in September 2023 with around 2,500 participants. In November, HHLA employees also walked off the job for a day in protest in a wildcat strike.

Tim Power, Managing Director of maritime research consultancy Drewry, who flew in from London, has no problems with the deal. Shipping companies are involved in terminals in every major northern European port and direct their freight there, he said. In his view, it is strategically irrelevant whether it is an investment in terminals or in a holding company. MSC is growing and will bring volume to Hamburg. Power referred to Antwerp, for example, where MSC had brought an upswing to the port. Overall, he believes the risk for Hamburg is low, as MSC has a vested interest in modern terminals and the success of the business. Christoph Kumpan, Professor of Capital Markets and Corporate Law at Bucerius Law School, believes that HHLA's co-determination and independence are at least legally guaranteed./klm/DP/nas