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Management

We would like to introduce you to the members of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG with their career profiles.
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Michael Behrendt
Chairman of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG

Michael Behrendt

Michael Behrendt was born on June 19th 1951 in Hamburg. He studied law at the University of Hamburg, finalising his training at Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court) and graduating by passing the “Assessor” examination.

While being a student, Michael Behrendt gained practical experience at various companies in the US. He joined VTG Vereinigte Tanklager und Transportmittel GmbH in 1985 and was appointed Managing Director in 1994.

Following the merger between VTG and Lehnkering AG, Michael Behrendt was appointed Executive Board Chairman of VTG Lehnkering AG and Member of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG in 1999. He has been Chairman of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG since January 1st 2002, where he is responsible for inter alia, strategic and corporate development as well as finance and group communication.

Additionally, Michael Behrendt was appointed  Executive Board Member of TUI AG with effect from May 10th 2006.

Michael Behrendt is also Vice President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and a member of various supervisory and advisory boards.

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Adolf Adrion
Member of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG

Adolf Adrion

Adolf Adrion was born on March 22nd, 1940 in Hamburg. In 1957, he joined Hapag, one of the shipping lines that later merged to become Hapag-Lloyd. He went to sea for 13 years and during this time obtained his master's certificate. 

In 1970, Adolf Adrion was appointed head of the Hapag-Lloyd container service area, where he was responsible for worldwide container logistics, global terminal operations and container management. In 1983 he took over the management of the Indonesian trade. Two years later, Adolf Adrion was appointed Managing Director of European Sales and Marketing. In 1997, he was appointed Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd Container Line responsible for Region Europe.


Adolf Adrion was appointed a member of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG in 2004.

On January 25th 2006 Adrion was appointed Divisional Director Shipping to the TUI Group's Executive Committee.

In light  of his retirement end of this year, Adolf Adrion has transferred all operational responsibilities to Ulrich Kranich as of June 2008.

As a board member of Hapag-Lloyd, he will continue to represent the interests of the company in international organisations such as the Box Club (Chairman), the Far Eastern Freight Conference FEFC (Chairman) and the World Shipping Council (Chairman) until December 2008.


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Ulrich Kranich
Member of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG

Ulrich Kranich

Ulrich Kranich was born on March 10th 1950 in Hamburg. After training as a forwarding professional, from 1972 he studied business management in Bremen from 1972, graduating in 1974.

Ulrich Kranich has been with Hapag-Lloyd since 1975, serving in various positions in Germany and other countries, particularly in the cost management and controlling areas, as well as assuming responsibility for the profit centers of various trades.

He was appointed Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd Container Line GmbH in 1997 where he was responsible for the entire fleet expansion and for the controlling of ship and container costs worldwide. In 2005, he was put in charge of group finances and granted general power of attorney. 

Ulrich Kranich was appointed to the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG with effect from July 1st, 2006. Within this position he was responsible for the group financial area, including HR and IT.

As of June 2008 Ulrich Kranich has taken over the responsibility for the global operations of Hapag-Lloyd from Adolf Adrion and remains responsible for HR.