Travelogue: Study Trip to Hamburg

CBS students and faculty at Kühne Logistics University. Foto: CBS Maritime

CBS Maritime, together with The Minor in Maritime Business at the Master of Science (M.Sc.) study program in Economics and Business Administration (cand.merc), recently organized a study trip to Hamburg, which dedicated five complete days to the maritime industry in the heart of the Port of Hamburg from the 16th to the 20th of March 2015.
 

Affiliated PhD-fellow, Maitane Elorriaga sent us this informative travelogue from the trip to Hamburg:

A group of 23 individuals, including faculty and PhD fellows associated with CBS Maritime, as well as master students at The Minor in Maritime Business at the Master of Science (M.Sc.) study program in Economics and Business Administration (cand.merc) at CBS, who are all actively contributing to the further development of knowledge on the maritime industry through their research, have jointly enjoyed this unique learning experience for 5 days.

Hosted by Kühne Logistics University (KLU), located in Hamburg's Hafen City, the trip provided insightful lectures and lively experiences during the overall sunny trip-days. During the first day, attendees were equipped with a broad and dense knowledge on the dynamics of the maritime industry, in a privileged location with a panoramic view to the port and all kinds of ships. Guided by Assistant professor of Maritime Logistics, Michele Acciaro, the morning lectures consisted of presentations about Michele’s undergoing research on innovation and green shipping in the maritime industry. In the afternoon, a detailed overview on maritime logistics followed, with a special focus on port operations and paradigms, as well as green ports. The day ended with a welcome dinner in a renovated historic building that used to be a warehouse, surrounded by canals and maritime related historic atmosphere.

On the second day, the group visited the Technischen Universität Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH). Guided by research associates Johann Bergmann and Jürgen Weigell, participants had the opportunity to play an enjoyable business game on maritime logistics. Enhancing learning-by-doing activities and team dynamics, the game proofed to be an efficient learning tool to understand complex supply-chain processes and to foster participants’ creativity and thinking regarding efficient logistic processes. The game was also an excellent tool to understand the complexity of Liner Shipping logistics with a special consideration on ports operations.

The third day started with a round table with representatives from the industry, involving the container shipping companies Hapag Lloyd and Hamburg-Süd and the classification society DNV-GL. From both technical and logistic perspectives, participants had the possibility to learn from a practical and business oriented viewpoint about current shipping company challenges. The session ended with an engaging strategic discussion about the future of shipping companies with the invited business representatives, in which key points to succeed in this business were highlighted. After this intriguing session, participants attended a presentation about the smart port of Hamburg, focusing on the efficiency and green and sustainable projects that currently constitute the strategic key issues of the port. During the afternoon, a guided city tour around the surroundings of the port, the maritime museum and the impressive new buildings of the area provided a good overview of the city in relationship with the maritime history. After the tour, a unique social event called “Dialogue in the dark” was prepared for the participants. Guided by a blind person, small groups had the chance to experience real life situations, sounds, smells and activities in complete darkness, including traveling by boat. This team-building activity gave the participants the chance to intensely live a very special activity.

The last days were reserved to port excursions. After a several hours bus trip to world's largest dry port Duisport in Duisburg the group had the opportunity to see this dry port and learn about the railway connections to transport cargo to different European and distant Asian destinations in an efficient way. Similarly, the last day was dedicated to the fantastic visit to the port of Hamburg, starting with an exciting boat trip that allowed participants to see very different kinds of vessels, including large-sized ones from a short distance, as well as different terminals inside the port. The view was beautiful and although the weather was a bit foggy, the eclipse could be clearly seen in the sky, all of which contributed to an unforgettable experience. The day followed with an excursion to the Altenwerder terminal in the port of Hamburg, in which the group had the chance to see automatized processes of containerization in real time and understand the dynamics of one of the most important ports in Europe.
Definitely an outstanding maritime and social experience surrounded by the river Elbe.
Thank you, CBS Maritime!