Hamburg counts among top ten maritime cities

3 May 2024

City moves up to eighth place, LMC Report 2024 says - Singapore remains leader

The City of Hamburg now ranks eighth in the "Leading Maritime Cities (LMC) Report 2024", a press release said Monday (April 15, 2024). The ranking, which puts Singapore in the top position followed by Rotterdam, London and Shanghai, is compiled by Norway's DNV registrar and Menon Economics consulting. The ranking is based on five categories including shipping centres, maritime finance and law, maritime technology, port and logistics as well as attractiveness and competitiveness. The ranking also takes into account the views of 190 executives worldwide.

Hamburg moves up from ninth to eighth

"Global tensions have been felt across the maritime industry since the publication of the 2022 edition of the Leading Maritime Cities report. Yet, the shipping industry as a whole has shown remarkable resilience," said Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO Maritime of DNV. Hamburg has moved up from ninth to eighth place overall and ranked fifth in the categories shipping centres, port and logistics and attractiveness and competitiveness

Global centre of shipping operations

Hamburg is now a global centre of shipping operations and is home to leading shipping companies such as Hapag Lloyd in the container ship segment and Oldendorff Carriers in the bulk carrier segment. German shipowners have also expressed optimism about returning business. Global experts now count Hamburg among the top five cities in terms of relocating shipping operations. More than 100 shipping companies with a diverse portfolio of ships are headquartered in Hamburg.

Top marks for Hamburg's alternative fuel strategy

Shipowners have begun equipping new ships with engines that run on alternative fuels such as LNG, LPG, ammonia or methanol in line with the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) strategy to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 100 per cent by 2050. Athens and Tokyo have the fleets with the highest tonnage of low-carbon fuel types with around 2.1 and 1.7 million gross registered tonnes (GT) of alternative fuel-capable tonnage respectively. Hamburg and Singapore follow with over one million GT.

European cities ahead with smart technologies

European cities including Rotterdam, Hamburg and Copenhagen are at the forefront of innovation and are introducing smart technologies based on the Internet of Things (IoT), improving energy efficiency, urban transport, and access to open data, according to the Global Innovation Index (GII). GII lists the most innovative economies worldwide out of 132 economies and identifies the 100 leading science and technology innovation clusters. Experts predict that Hamburg will rank seventh leading maritime centre in 2029.

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