Q: What is the status of the ZIM transaction?
A: "We signed in February. On the 30th of April, there was the extraordinary general meeting where the transaction was approved. Now we go through all the regulatory processes, on the one hand in Israel, but also globally we have to file in quite a few jurisdictions because of antitrust."

Q: Why does the company still believe the transaction makes strategic sense?
A: "The deal rationale is pretty clear: securing our position in the market, get access to an efficient and modern fleet, access to a great team and a broad customer base. And of course, in the end, it's also about synergies, which we expect to be between 300 and 500 million dollars."

Q: How does Hapag-Lloyd assess the outcome of ZIM’s Extraordinary General Meeting vote?
A: “We are very pleased that ZIM’s General Meeting has voted in favor of a merger with Hapag-Lloyd. Following this important milestone, we will now continue to focus on completing the transaction toward the end of the year.”

Q: How optimistic are you to get the green light by the Israeli government, and by the competition authorities?
A: “We are working diligently with all the authorities and regulators to get the required approvals. Of course, with everything that's going on in the Middle East, some of these processes go a little bit slower than they would normally go probably, but right now we are still aiming to get all the approvals somewhere towards the end of this year.”

Q: Given the geopolitical environment, is now really the best time to be taking over an Israel liner company?
A: “If you look at consolidation in an industry, sometimes there are opportunities and then you have to decide whether you want to engage or not. And we decided to engage. We think that the combination of Hapag-Lloyd and ZIM is very powerful and good for everyone.”

Q: What is the current impact on container transport into the Gulf region?
A: “Container trade into the Gulf has been significantly affected. Many countries in the region depend on container traffic for supplies from around the world. While cargo is still moving via alternative land bridges, overall volumes into the region are clearly down - realistically by around 60 to 80 percent.”

Q: Are alternative land routes able to replace regular maritime connections into the Gulf?
A: “The alternative routes are mainly truck-based and their capacity is limited. The infrastructure in the region was not built to replace regular maritime flows at this scale. Distances from alternative ports to final destinations are long, and land-side capacity cannot fully compensate for the loss of normal ocean connections.”

Q: Would Hapag-Lloyd permanently change its network to become less dependent on Gulf ports such as Jebel Ali?
A: “At this stage, we do not expect a permanent reconfiguration. Once the situation normalizes and there is a reasonable perspective of stability, key ports such as Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi will remain very important. They are simply much more efficient than moving large volumes over long distances by truck.”

Q: What does the crisis show about Hapag-Lloyd’s network resilience?
A: “This crisis has shown that our network is resilient. The impact on the rest of our global network has been limited, and the hub-and-spoke structure we operate in Gemini together with Maersk has again proven to be robust. It underlines that such a structure can be more resilient than purely point-to-point operations.”

Q: Would Hapag-Lloyd be prepared to pay tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz?
A: “It would be fundamentally wrong to charge tolls for passage through international waters. Tolls for infrastructure such as the Suez Canal or Panama Canal are different, because they reflect major infrastructure investments. That is not the case in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Q: When could Hapag-Lloyd return to the Suez Canal?
A: “A return to Suez is still likely to take time. If the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is resolved, we would then look again at Suez step by step.”

Q: How is Hapag-Lloyd responding?
A: "We have adjusted our network, temporarily suspended selected services, and rerouted vessels to avoid high-risk areas. At the same time, we are offering alternative connections via safer ports as well as inland solutions. However, these options are limited in capacity and cannot fully replace the regular maritime routes through the region."

Q: What are the economic impacts of the situation?
A: "The current situation is leading to significantly higher costs, particularly for fuel and insurance. At present, this results in additional costs of up to USD 60 million per week. These costs cannot be reduced in the short term. Therefore, we have introduced surcharges to offset part of these additional burdens - not to generate additional profits."

Q: What do you make of Washington's most recent IMO paper, which rules out a CO2 levy in shipping and constraints on certain fuels and asks the IMO to revisit the net zero framework?
 A: "I think we see a lot of opinions on what kind of rules we should get in the future. I believe that we will still need to reduce emissions in the future. And as such, continuing to invest in sustainability creates sense. How that then will exactly look, we will have to see what comes out of the IMO at some point. But I think that if we fast forward five or ten years, we will see that there is considerable pressure to further decarbonize and to reduce emissions. In many cases that pushes us"

Q: What are Hapag-Lloyd's short-term and long-term targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and how do they align with international regulations like the IMO's 2050 net-zero goal?
A: "At Hapag-Lloyd, we have set ambitious decarbonisation targets as part of our Strategy 2030. By 2030, we aim to cut the absolute emissions of our fleet by about one third compared with 2022, reducing them to around 10 million tonnes of CO₂e on a well-to-wake basis. At the same time, we plan to improve the average carbon intensity of our fleet by more than 50%. Looking further ahead, we have committed to becoming fully net zero by 2045 – five years earlier than the IMO’s global 2050 goal. Our pathway is fully aligned with the 1.5°C trajectory of the Paris Agreement, underlining our commitment to international climate objectives."

Q: How do you assess the discussion around overcapacity in container shipping?
A: "Global trade continues to grow at a solid pace, by around 6.5% in 2024, with approximately 5% growth expected for 2025. Against this backdrop, the frequently cited issue of overcapacity needs to be put into perspective."

Q: What is your outlook for ship recycling in the coming years?
A: "We expect recycling to increase noticeably in the second half of the decade. Many older vessels are still tied to long-term charters that expire between 2026 and 2028. Once those contracts run out, we’ll see more ships leave the market. The industry remains cyclical, so 2028–29 could be more challenging depending on how demand develops."

Q: How do you assess current market demand despite weaker economic indicators in Europe?
A: "When we look at volumes and also if we look at demand, that still looks strong. We don't see any real softening in demand for cargo at this point, and when we talk to customers, most of them expect a pretty decent peak season."

Q: Are you concerned about structural overcapacity in 2026 and 2027?
A: "I think that risk is always there to some extent. I would say though that risk is actually lower than we probably thought one or two years ago because we've seen such strong growth on a number of these dominant legs."