HGK Shipping has agreed to acquire the entire tank container logistics business of Köppen GmbH, which has around 1,000 tank containers in service. The move represents an expansion of HGK Shipping’s business into the pre-carriage and on-carriage of tank containers, creating important synergy effects for customers in the chemical industry.

By taking over the three business sites in Duisburg, Hamburg and Ludwigshafen, HGK Shipping is in a position to efficiently connect the production sites of the most important centres of the chemical industry with the container terminals, both in the region and at the ARA ports. The extended portfolio of services includes intermodal traffic for liquid and temperature-controlled chemicals as well as compressed gases. As a result, customers get integrated logistics services that are geared towards their needs and make use of inland waterway shipping, rail and truck operations, all from one source. Road services to transport tank containers will continue to be handled in close partnership with Köppen GmbH.

“Intermodal services, which use inland waterway vessels, have proven their worth as a climate-friendly transport option for the chemical industry. This acquisition provides an ideal growth platform and extends the business portfolio of our company, but also of the HGK Group as a whole. The Group’s objective is to provide an integrated supply chain using all the means of transport available,” says Steffen Bauer, CEO of HGK Shipping. “We can offer our existing customers and new clients attractive one-stop logistics services through our extended service portfolio and also increase the resilience of our customers’ supply chains, particularly during phases when water levels are low.”

The acquired business will fit within HGK Chemical Logistics, which Dirk Czelinksi is moving from Köppen to run, having been instrumental in setting up the company’s freight forwarding centres that are an integral part of the deal.