The Link Between Inland and Maritime Shipping
Interview with Björn Zirotzki, Managing Director of HSW Logistics GmbH
HSW Logistics ensures that steel coils and other industrial products from companies along the Rhine and Ruhr reliably reach their destinations in Norway and the UK – thanks to a rail connection at the destination port ideally right to the last mile. In the interview with Wirtschaftsforum, Managing Director Björn Zirotzki reveals the challenges that need to be overcome from water levels to Brexit, and how he views the future of the industrial and shipping location Germany.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Zirotzki, under the slogan 'We know the Sea', HSW Logistics offers reliable Short-Sea transport across Europe – how do you support your customers in this?
Björn Zirotzki: With our location in Duisburg, we primarily see ourselves as a link between inland shipping and sea shipping – we are the ones who connect logistics chains. We offer Short-Sea services on our lines from the Rhine and Ruhr area to the UK and Norway, particularly in the context of conventional liner shipping, where we transport steel coils, sheets, and related products via various ports – in the UK, we also take care of the corresponding warehousing and the final mile to the recipient.
Wirtschaftsforum: What are the biggest challenges along this way?
Björn Zirotzki: A large part of it is certainly due to the highly fluctuating water levels on the Rhine, especially in the summer and towards autumn, as they become less predictable from year to year – a topic that obviously concerns the entire shipping industry. Due to climate change, this problem is likely to intensify in the future, unfortunately. In addition, our ships must always be piloted on our usual route from Rotterdam to Duisburg and back, because our sea captains are not allowed to navigate independently there – this also ties up resources. Then there are the challenges caused by Brexit – since then, goods destined for the UK cannot leave until they have been properly cleared through customs. By now, we have naturally implemented appropriate standards and IT systems to simplify these processes as much as possible. However, we do not see this issue as resolved, but are constantly developing our processes further, as necessary.
Wirtschaftsforum: What happens next at the destination port?
Björn Zirotzki: Thanks to the rail connection in the Port of Boston – which is rather rare in British ports – we can now also carry out carriage paid to door deliveries in the UK, and transport goods by complete trainloads directly to the recipients. In Swindon, for example, we supply the factory where the Mini Cooper is manufactured, and also regularly deliver to the main industrial centers in the West Midlands, especially the Greater Birmingham area. In addition to providing maximum efficiency for our customers, we also see this as an important contribution to minimizing CO2 emissions in the supply chains involved.
Wirtschaftsforum: Will the range of services offered by HSW Logistics change in the future?
Björn Zirotzki: We would like to get even closer to our customers in the future and are constantly asking ourselves where we could take over more work for them in logistics, so they can concentrate even more on their core business, namely the development and manufacturing of their products. In addition to transport, we would therefore like to take on important value-added services such as warehousing, customs clearance, the packing and unpacking of goods, and the corresponding documentation in the future. To do this, we must of course understand in depth exactly what the concerns and pain points of our customers are. That is why we are currently engaging in a very close exchange with them to find out exactly that in detail – and to then maintain our long-term partnerships on this basis even more sustainably afterwards.
Wirtschaftsforum: How do you view the future of the inland shipping industry in Germany and Northwestern Europe?
Björn Zirotzki: We are convinced that shipping on the Rhine – despite all challenges – will have a great future. After all, many large industrial companies are located here and in the Ruhr area, whose products must be delivered reliably to their destinations. This must and will continue. Nevertheless, we are also concerned about the declining volumes in the German steel industry and the increasing imports from Asia – not just from a business perspective, but also in the context of the associated overall economic disruptions, particularly the rising unemployment, as we are already experiencing in the Duisburg area. HSW Logistics will remain closely connected with the steel and automotive industries in the future. In addition to BMW and Nissan, our recipients include many other prominent names. We are clear: without the industry, we are nothing, and the industry is nothing without us – because at the end of the day, we all need each other.
Wirtschaftsforum: In the coming years, major investments will be required in Germany to upgrade the infrastructure – does this also apply to inland waterway traffic?
Björn Zirotzki: If you look at the West German canal area, you'll notice that there are a lot of locks – unfortunately, many of them are in a rather dilapidated state. If a lock is defective, it directly causes extreme costs. This should be proactively avoided – because in the end, it also weakens our industrial location. For years, politicians have been talking about transporting more goods in an environmentally friendly manner via Germany's rivers and canals. But the industry is still facing challenges related to the existing infrastructure.