With the signing of the S&P agreement regarding Maersk’s acquisition of Hamburg Süd earlier this month, concerns have again been expressed about the future of the German line’s head office in Hamburg, which employs around 1100 staff, as well as the rest of the global payroll numbering some 4900 shore staff and seamen.

The fact is that no job guarantees have been given by Hamburg Süd or Maersk. The head of the Hamburg Süd Works Council, Sabine Fischbach, who has been with the company for over 40 years, said that neither she nor her colleagues on the Works Council were involved in the sale talks. No details of the sale price have been published, but it is believed to be around €4.7B.

“We were told only that nothing would change for the staff, but there were no guarantees, not even for one year after completion of the deal,” Frau Fischbach told Hamburger Abendblatt. In February, staff wrote to Dr August Oetker, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Oetker Group, and asked for job guarantees until 2020, but this was turned down, on the basis that there is no precedent for this in the Oetker Group and because the prevailing market situation in container shipping requires flexibility.

Søren Skou, CEO Maersk, has stated that he expects substantial “synergy effects” from the takeover, while Dr Ottmar Gast, CEO of Hamburg Süd said “this is not an emergency sale, but we saw the necessity to act as Hamburg Süd has to become part of a bigger organisation.” Dr Gast’s main job now is to manage the transition before he retires by the end of 2017.

“Some long-time employees have applied for redundancy, and others are waiting to see how things pan out,” says Frau Fischbach. The Hamburg government, which previously provided support for Hapag-Lloyd, has to date not come up with any proposals.