What remains of the North German shipping company H. Schuldt?

Once a major German container shipping company, Norddeutsche Reederei H. Schuldt has all but disappeared after its fleet was acquired by V.Ships in 2019. Since then, many vessels have been sold, particularly to industry leader MSC, which recently acquired four more units.

Among the latest are the post-Panamax ships Northern Javalin and Northern Jamboree, each with a capacity of 8,814 TEU and built by Korea’s DSME. The last remaining ship, Northern Juvenile, is also expected to join the MSC fleet.

V.Ships Germany, based in Hamburg, took over H. Schuldt’s 35 ships through the creation of Northern Shipping Holding. However, the fleet has since been steadily sold off to major carriers like MSC, Maersk, and CMA CGM.

As of late 2023, only 12 ships remained under V.Ships’ management, down from 33 earlier that year. Meanwhile, MSC continues its rapid growth, having reached 900 ships with the acquisition of the LNG newbuild MSC Germany—and with 132 more on order, it is moving toward a 1,000-ship fleet.